Oil Pressure

[Gayle]

My oil pressure warning light comes on and stays on for a few seconds when I start the car. (the one that is shaped like an oil can. ) The word message would come on when I shut the car off. It is not low on oil. I thought it must be the sensor and that replaced. The word message hasn't been coming on when I shut the car off but the oil can light still seems to be there too long in the beginning and I think the word message is still there sometimes in the beginning. The oil can light is pretty consistent and the word message is intermittent.

When this problem first started a few months ago and I was trying to decide which set of lines the oil was supposed to be between, I very slightly overfilled it. That made the light go away. I had the oil changed the next week (please don't flame me that I didn't do it myself) and the problem came back.

I think I remember reading about a certain amount of oil is supposed to stay in the oil pump when you turn the engine off and if doesn't you get this oil pressure warning pattern. I also think I remember that it is a problem with the mounts and is expensive to fix.

Can anyone enlighten me? I know I am always telling people to do a search but do you have any idea how many threads come up in response to this search

I talked to my indy briefly when scheduling to take it in. He said yeah, his car was doing it do. Doesn't most of the engine wear happen in the first couple seconds it is running? Or did I dream that? Is this no big deal or should I be concerned?

[shogun]

The answer, you need a new 'ball'
http://www.e32fixes.com/results.asp?...ow_fix&fixid=5

[Gayle]

Thanks Erich

So how bad on the car is it that this has been going on for 6 months? It is never cold here at least.

[Morgenster]

My oil pressure warning light comes on and stays on for a few seconds when I start the car. (the one that is shaped like an oil can. )

Wasn't this supposed to be somewhat normal?
I thought oil pressure only gets to an acceptable level after a second or two on account of the oil pump just kicking in.
From what I've read it should worry you more if the light didn't come on at all.
I'm clueless about the message thing and so much more of course.

About the startup protection: Is it any good to use Castrol Magnatec synthetic to cover for this (other than being gentle with the car until warmed up)?

@Shogun: the fix you posted describes the symptoms to be there on shutdown, not startup. Is there a difference?

[Robin-535im]

Thanks Erich

So how bad on the car is it that this has been going on for 6 months? It is never cold here at least.

Here's one thing you can do that costs nothing: Park nose down. If you're on an incline, parking with the nose down keep more oil in the right place and the light goes off faster.

My first 535 did the same thing, and although I knew it was still broke, parking nose down made the light go off faster and I didn't worry about it so much. Considering the cannister is so expensive... I liked the cheap bandaid in this case.

[Gayle]

Wasn't this supposed to be somewhat normal?
I thought oil pressure only gets to an acceptable level after a second or two on account of the oil pump just kicking in.

That is sort of the question. How long is too long? The first six months I owned the car the oil pressure light went out quicker. It went out with all the other start up lights. Now it lingers. It doesn't linger that long, but it is a definite increase in how long it stays on.

[632 Regal]

shouldnt come on at all if the canister dont drain back. if the oil holds and stays then its solid pressure as soon as the engine is turned.

time to look into the canister, they should only be about $400.00 at the dealer.

[Gayle]

shouldnt come on at all if the canister dont drain back. if the oil holds and stays then its solid pressure as soon as the engine is turned.

time to look into the canister, they should only be about $400.00 at the dealer.

ouch

.

[632 Regal]

your the only one on here with money, me personally id try the shogun ball fixer.

ouch

.

[Bill R.]

normally the oil filter canister is always full of oil pumped up to it from the oil pump. There is a one way or check valve that always oil to pump up to it but won't let it drain back down,

So when you shut the engine off this check valve in the oil canister keeps the canister full of oil all the time , you start the engine after sitting all night and the canisters full already so oil gets up to the oil pressure sending unit and the rest of the motor right away and the oil light goes off.

When the check valve or one way valve goes bad then when you shut the car off for a long period of time , such as overnight, the oil slowly drains out of the canister back down the lines and into the crankcase, so now the canister is empty when you start the car in the morning and the light won't go off until the canister fills up completely then the oil goes to the pressure switch cam ,bearings etc.

This is a fairly common problem on the older m30, mine did it a few times when i was running 20w50 oil. My check valve is probably bad , When i switched to the bmw 5w30 synthetic and then switched again to the mobil ! 0w40 it doesn't do it since these oils don't thicken up as much when they are cold (cold meaning less than 100F).

The oil pump has a hard time sucking thick oil up to it from the pickup, once its at the pump then it can pump it under pressure , no problem but the suction side or pickup side of the pump is where it has a hard time picking up the cold thick oil. Using 0w40 mobil currently , it is much thinner when cold so it picks it up easily like drinking soda through a straw as opposed to drinking a really thick milkshake through a straw.

Since this oil is nice and pourable when cold its pulled up to the pump faster and the light blinks off quickly even if it drained down overnight. When you heat the oil up to operating temp it still a 40 weight thickness so you still get superior protection at higher temps but the lower viscosity or thickness when cold allows the pump to pump it easily and quickly .

Since i switched a few years back from 20w50 i haven't had any problems with it staying on a few seconds like it did before. 0w40 the light blinks off almost immediately, i have the valve cover off every couple of months and the cam lobes look fine , everything is still fine running 0w40 even in my high ambient temps year round.

My oil pressure warning light comes on and stays on for a few seconds when I start the car. (the one that is shaped like an oil can. ) The word message would come on when I shut the car off. It is not low on oil. I thought it must be the sensor and that replaced. The word message hasn't been coming on when I shut the car off but the oil can light still seems to be there too long in the beginning and I think the word message is still there sometimes in the beginning. The oil can light is pretty consistent and the word message is intermittent.

When this problem first started a few months ago and I was trying to decide which set of lines the oil was supposed to be between, I very slightly overfilled it. That made the light go away. I had the oil changed the next week (please don't flame me that I didn't do it myself) and the problem came back.

I think I remember reading about a certain amount of oil is supposed to stay in the oil pump when you turn the engine off and if doesn't you get this oil pressure warning pattern. I also think I remember that it is a problem with the mounts and is expensive to fix.

Can anyone enlighten me? I know I am always telling people to do a search but do you have any idea how many threads come up in response to this search

I talked to my indy briefly when scheduling to take it in. He said yeah, his car was doing it do. Doesn't most of the engine wear happen in the first couple seconds it is running? Or did I dream that? Is this no big deal or should I be concerned?