Red oil light

Robert

Robert

Robert

Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,171
Location
North West
Just driving in a 20 zone and noticed a bit of engine stutter, then noticed the red oil light.

I was very close to home, so got here and as far as I can tell - the dip stick is sitting in the middle between min/max

Can this just be a case of cold weather? Looking online it's either oil pressure or low oil. My local garage is booked up beyond Christmas and the only other one I've used is trust Ford in Wilmslow who will generally try to bend you over :/

It's a 2015 1 litre ecoboost.
 
When was your last oil change?

It could be the sensor is "sensitive" and you might need to top it up very slightly.

My Volvo is like that, the stutter could be a red herring and possibly this cold weather if the engine was not up to temp.

Assuming there are no leaks, obvious oil in the engine bay?
 
Red oil light looks at oil pressure not level.

Could be looking at pump failure which means cambelt job on ecobooms so £££s
 
Could be the dreaded wet belt, don't run the engine again. I'd have it towed to be looked at.

The wet timing belt can degrade and block the oil pickup. This then triggers low oil pressure warnings.

Has it been serviced regularly, using correct spec oil and no flushes?

I'm on a ford forum and see this way too often unfortunately. I just hope that the engine is salvagable, but often by the time the light comes on it's too late :(
 
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Had this on my old car. Turned out to be a wire had broken on the pressure sensor plug.

Edit the light was permanently on as it wasn’t getting a signal.
 
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Might be lucky and it's a sensor, but I definitely wouldn't drive it any further without getting somebody to look at it, especially as you had a physical symptom (engine stutter)

If there's a fault with the oil pump, you might wreck your engine, so deffo get it looked at.
 
It came on nearby to home (round the corner) and flashed on off a few times. Just moved it onto the road to get a level oil reading. The light came on intermittently.

Current update, I've called the aa with a possible view to being recovered to trustford Wilmslow.
 
seems like a safe bet i remember reading somewhere recent where someone else had similar problem and had it towed to the dealer luckily (or unluckily) turned out to be just the belt etc needed changing before damage occured. they were told if they had driven it , it could have been a new engine :) still fairly expensive for the belt , how many miles has it done if i may ask?
 
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yeah 100% get it recovered, not worth the risk if it was genuine low oil pressure, if it flickered you may get lucky but more often than not the solid red oil light is the engine dead light as by the time the pressure is low enough to trigger the light you're engine is already toast.
 
gc123 said:
seems like a safe bet i remember reading somewhere recent where someone else had similar problem and had it towed to the dealer luckily (or unluckily) turned out to be just the belt etc needed changing before damage occured. they were told if they had driven it , it could have been a new engine :) still fairly expensive for the belt , how many miles has it done if i may ask?
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About 110,000. I've had it since new
 
Shudder was probably low engine speed for one reason or another.
Low oil pressure is normal at low rpm.
The oil pump is usually driven by the engine.
I would be worried if the red light had stayed on at idle.
 
Needs an external mechanical oil pressure gauge connecting in lieu of the pressure switch and the actual oil pressure readings taken at idle and faster RPM. The oil pressure warning light on with the engine running at all is BAD, budget for the worst, but be lucky...
 
Chris Wilson said:
Needs an external mechanical oil pressure gauge connecting in lieu of the pressure switch and the actual oil pressure readings taken at idle and faster RPM. The oil pressure warning light on with the engine running at all is BAD, budget for the worst, but be lucky...
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How much are we talking?
 
Robert said:
How much are we talking?
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To test about £30, to fix, God knows, could be as simple as a faulty oil pressure warning light switch, a few quid, to next removing and cleaning out the sump and renewing the oil pump strainer, mainly labour, it's not an engine I am familiar with, synthetic belts running in oil is not a situation I would choose myself <LOL>, but a couple or three hundred minimum I guess? Worst case there's oil pump and engine bearing damage, a good used engine is probably the only economically viable fix.

But I rarely see anyone selling a knackered used engine, they are all nearly always "good runners" that often prove to be anything but when fitted. Safest bet is to buy one you can hear and see running. I don't supply used engines, the customer always buys them, I just fit them, if they are buggered they still eat it and pay!

You NEED to get it transported to a garage and have them read the oil pressure. Don't run it until it's ready to test with a gauge fitted! If the switch is easily accessible you could buy a cheap Ebay universal oil pressure gauge kit and do it yourself. DO NOT overtighten the adaptor or the switch and snap it off. They don't need to be very tight!!!

E.G: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284354587576?hash=item4234daabb8:g:QV4AAOSwpQ9g3WtX&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA4NSGOoMf5UaPxNDIHmggP094ogWlRvtulJ79ncsVXcDqzDdgoiFZiBzsUPup0YZAgEv8N4YnZfMbSopCAjs897mKmWRgX/pyzPzT/VIz9d8w9mt3kVVXRwSI6OuFm73GHP2miKuXQdxp3uhz0J0rcyabILCY0cfYC3f58gpS352JmljP5tduEaTtHHiV/AND/hY1VTNnfoar+lrFMGoKfLt5IA8TSxXbrIrAxHCPMaNv4V1xQZzh6rjhjDlTI4og2MzxQLpuraHVn2Sped0dVdit4oUh7oAkimAdEGeSHUcW|tkp:BFBMwrej0aJh
 
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Chris Wilson said:
To test about £30, to fix, God knows, could be as simple as a faulty oil pressure warning light switch, a few quid, to next cleaning the sump and renewing the oil pump strainer, mainly labour, it's not an engine I am fmiliar with, synthetic belts running in oil is not s ituation I would choose myself <LOL>, but a couple or three hundred minimum I guess?
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If there's that much accumulation in the sump/strainer, and at that mileage then it likely needs the wetbelt replacing, which is a ~£770 job at an independent (according to clickmechanic), or around £1100+ at main dealer.
 
So ended up at a local garage as my preferred ones are booked up, other than the local ford. We have friends who've used them and said they're ok and generally reviews are ok (if legit) however the guy told me to drive it there...so not feeling confident (it's a 5 minute drive, but still). Currently trying to book AA in to recover the vehicle to the garage.
 
Robert said:
So ended up at a local garage as my preferred ones are booked up, other than the local ford. We have friends who've used them and said they're ok and generally reviews are ok (if legit) however the guy told me to drive it there...so not feeling confident (it's a 5 minute drive, but still). Currently trying to book AA in to recover the vehicle to the garage.
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DO NOT drive it, the risk of serious damage, or more damage is too great. Engines run with no or very low oil pressure don't last long at all....
 
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