Red oil light/bleep on ignition

[Biggss2]

Hi all

Got in my car today, key in ignition was having a fiddle with the Matt dash wipes when all off a sudden I hear some beeps and a red oil light flashing On the computer.

I'm 90% sure (last time I checked) it had enough oil, this only happens on ignition the oil pressure gauge stays dead until i start the car?!

Is this normal? If not any ideas?

Many thanks 

[Biggss2]

It's an ABY coupe 94 thanks

[Error404]

It shouldn't do that. I've had the same problem before, it was the autocheck unit that had gone bad. It could also be the oil pressure sender or a short in the wiring. HTH

[Colesy]

Check the brake fluid level, had this a few times on mine. - Red light on dash and a loud beep.

[Biggss2]

Thanks mate thats helpful Hmm quite a few things to go on there, colesy the brakes have been changed very recently (3 days ago!) how would that cause oil light to come on I wonder? I will check fluids, the fact that it doesn't show any oil pressure on ignition could this be a sender/switch?! Or is it normal for the oil pressure gauge to remain inoperative until engine is started?

Again, very Much obliged

[benntenn67]

I'm 90% sure (last time I checked) it had enough oil, this only happens on ignition the oil pressure gauge stays dead until i start the car?!

Check the oil level on the dip stick - It might be low on oil ???

[K Simmonds]

Or is it normal for the oil pressure gauge to remain inoperative until engine is started.

As the ignition is switched on you should see the needle of pressure gauge move a couple of millimetres. If this isn't happening then there's a problem with the sender or connections, BTDT.

[Biggss2]

Yup Just parked it on a flat surface and waiting for it to cool down.. That is my first port of call 

Got a good feeling oil level is going to be spot on though..

[Biggss2]

''As the ignition is switched on you should see the needle of pressure gauge move a couple of millimetres. If this isn't happening then there's a problem with the sender or connections, BTDT.''

Nope it stays dead as a dodo until it fires up!

My 2 questions would be

1) where is the oil sender/switch located?
2) will this cause any problems if I continue to drive it as it is?

Obviously once having checked fluid levels and all being ok..

[K Simmonds]

Yup Just parked it on a flat surface and waiting for it to cool down.. That is my first port of call 

Got a good feeling oil level is going to be spot on though..

If the oil light is coming on due to low level you have big problems and would be able to hear it. The light is not in any way a level indicator, it's activated by pressure or in this case a lack of it. If the oil level falls this low then serious engine damage will have happened if it's been run for more than seconds.

[QuattroFever]

in a real pig of a place. next to the rad on the block waaaay down in the guts of that mess. its possible with a flexi handle ratchet and a deep socket thats cut down. Need to find one with the splines that go deep into the socket if that makes sense.

remove the aux water pump for a bit more space...and literally dive in. Will cost you some grazed knuckles and a few scractches though

[driftin jo]

There is no engine oil level sender at all, only oil pressure and temp and this is only checked when the engine is running, it may give a warning if the wiring to the sender is broken without starting
but I'm not sure.
Are you sure that this is an oil warning and not a hydraulic or brake fluid warning as these do have level senders.
Do you have oil pressure when it is running if not then stop and check as if it is not a wiring issue your going to **** your engine.

[K Simmonds]

Nope it stays dead as a dodo until it fires up!

Now that's odd, if the gauge is working with the engine running then by rights it should be getting power with the ignition on.

Without solving the problem the only way to say for sure whether it's safe to run the car or not is to do a test with a proper oil pressure gauge.

There are Two senders, the one for the gauge is the round thing on the block roughly in the centre of this pic, there is another oil pressure sender above it. My first thoughts are that there is something wrong with one of the senders or the connections. You don't want bodged connections like those in the pic.

[Colesy]

colesy the brakes have been changed very recently (3 days ago!) how would that cause oil light to come on I wonder?

The light I was talking about is just a general fluids light, I can't remember the symbol, all I remember is that it was red. It beeped and lit up when the ignition was turned on. If you've done the brakes recently then just put a splash more fluid in the reservoir and see if this fixes it. My reservoir has to be surprisingly full for it to be happy. As mentioned this same warning comes on for the hydraulic fluid too so worth checking that as well.

[Biggss2]

Sorry, I'm sitting in the car right now.. It does go up a notch or so with ignition all 3 gauges do.. Battery one more The warning/beep light I'm getting is a tub of oil with oil dripping out of it  lol