Question-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
Hi
I have a 1998 Chrysler Intrepid. 2.7L engine.
I had my oil changed 2 days ago and now the oil light keeps coming on. This is the first time that this has happened with the car. There is no oil on the driveway and when I check the oil it is very low.
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks,
Shelly
Answer -
Hi Shelly,
It is very important not to drive with the oil light 'on' other than perhaps while letting the engine idle. At idle, the light may come 'on' because the engine is turning slowly as is the oil pump so the pressure is low enough to cause the warning light to come on if the engine is fully warmed and you have a very low weight of oil installed, but not to such a level of pressure as to be of risk. If the light comes on when you are underway (the engine going any speed above idle) and stays on you MUST stop the car immediately and add oil if the level is below the low mark on the dipstick. Otherwise you risk destroying the engine for all practical purposes. If it is low on oil and you go around a corner it might flash briefly but then should go out, but again the oil level should be high enough to not let that happen.
If you can drive it slowly and gently back to the shop where you had the oil changed and without the light coming on I would do so without adding oil, so long as you stick to my advice given above. That way you can present them with the condition of the oil level as they gave it to you and thus take responsibility for any damage that they caused. You might even want to take a close up photo of the oil level on the dipstick as it stands now in case you have to seek restitution. If you can't drive the car without the light coming on, then go get a quart of oil by some other means of transportation and add enough to bring the level up to the low mark on the dipstick. The amount that you use is calibrated on ounce marks on the side of the container, and that way you will know by how much they underfilled the engine when the oil was changed, another point if this is a damage responsibility issue in court.
Then after they fill the engine to the proper level (full) I would observe how far (miles) you go before the level drops to the low mark, and see how much oil you have to add to bring it up to the full mark at that point (usually 1 quart is the space between full and low). Then you will know how many miles you can drive before you burn a quart of oil which is one measure of engine damage. Compare this to how the engine used oil before the oil change as an assessment of whether this experience has damaged the engine. An engine in good condition should not use more than 1 quart of oil in 1,000 miles, typically. Look for any blue smoke coming out the tail pipe when you accelerate after slowing down, or have a friend drive behind and see if they see blue smoke, another sign of serious oil burning.
Check your owners manual to see how much oil is supposed to be put in when the oil (and the filter, it was changed) is changed and compare that to how much your receipt says they used (or charged you for). They may have charged you for more oil than they put in, or they may not have used sufficient oil when they changed it. Ask them to give you a second receipt saying how much they had to put in to bring the level up to full. (Try to observe this refill to see how much they use, and verify that it is now full).
But don't drive it with the light doing anything more than a flicker ever so often as that light means there is not sufficient pressure in the engine to lubricate all the moving parts, and driving with the light on for more than a matter of 10's of seconds can mean serious damage. The service shop is responsible if they used insufficient oil or didn't install the oil filter or drain plug sufficiently so that the oil leaked out. Small claims court may be a necessary recourse so keep records and notes.
Roland
Hi Roland,
Thank you very much for your help.
I just checked the oil and it is fine, very full.
The light will only flicker on if I am stopped at a light or something. Never when I am driving. Should I take it to a mechanic? If I do how would I go about explaining this?
Thanks again
AnswerHi Shelly,
That sounds like what I described in the first couple of sentences of my answer. The odds are that they used a thinner (lighter weight, lower number) grade of oil than you have been using, or that the engine may not be idling at its usual rpm (notice any vibration at idle for example?)
If the light goes out immediately when you accleratie the engine then that would not be something to worry about. You could check the receipt and see what weight of oil was used and compare it to what the manual says you should use. If that looks o.k., then if you really want to verify that things are o.k you could go to a reliable shop and ask them to verify that the actual oil pressure meets the spec. If the dash has an oil pressure gauge and it reads at idle above the minimum postion of the needle (when the engine is "off") then I would not worry that the pressure is too low. It might be that the brake pressure warning light sensor is a bit inaccurate, but if it is a combination sensor that also sends a voltage signal to the pressure gauge it will be a fairly expensive part to replace (maybe in the $25-50 range). So if the gauge shows an o.k. level of some above minimum pressure at idle then I would feel at ease to ignore the light at idle. If you want to get rid of the light at idle you could use the next higher number oil weight when you change the oil next time. Except for actually measuring the pressure at idle I don't think you need to see a mechanic. But he should know what the spec is supposed to be for the engine (usually in the range of 4-6 pounds per square inch at idle).
Roland
Roland
