Why does my oil light come on when revs drop to below 1000 on an mazda mx3 1.8 v6 24v doch?

Question

I have topped the oil up, and the car drives fine, it has done it for a week or so now so obviousley i thaught oil needed topping up, so ive topped it up and drove it 100 miles or so for it to get round the engine but it still cones on below 1000 revs, can you help?

please could you tell me if its still ok to drive too? as its only when its idling and a rough cost to fix thanks

Answer 1

You may need a new oil pressure sensor. If you have taken care of your car this should not happen. If the new sensor does not cure the problem your oil pump may have an issue. Hope this helped.

Answer 2

The oil light on the car is there to show when the oil pressure drops below the safe required pressure.
Typically when the light comes on at idle and goes out when you rev the engine the main bearings in the engine are suspect.
However it is not unusual for other thing to be the cause.
Things to check first:-
1) Oil Filter if it has not been changed for a long time it is possible that it is blocked and will have gone into a by-pass safety mode that will allow you to drive home but will need replacing asap.
2) Oil pressure sensor will need to be checked at a garage, it is possible for this to be in the process of failing but unfortunately unlikely.
3) Oil pump pressure will need to be checked again at a garage as over time te performance of the pump and fall off as the internal parts wear.
In short you need to get the car down to a good local garage, ideally one that you can trust and they tell you the result of there findings make sure you ask them if they have checked the above.
As far a cost, if it is a mains bearing problem the cost of the repair will be high £500 to £600, if however it is the pump,sender or filter the cost will be about £50 to £150

Answer 3

The oil light comes on because you have low pressure at low rpms. When you are higher than 1000 rpms the engine forces more pressure on the oil so the light doesn' t come on. It is a good idea to top off your oil if it is low but don't go over the recommended amount that you should have in the engine. The dip stick will tell you the maximum and minimum amount of oil recommended. It sounds like you may have an oil leak, if so find the leak and fix it.

But the more likely problem is that your oil pump is going out. Replace the old oil pump and that should fix the problem.

I don't recommend that you drive the car when the oil light is on because that will destroy your engine!! Fix the problem before you start driving the car.

Answer 4

The oil pressure is too low. Might be a bad oil pump, might be worn-out bearings, might be clogged oil passages, or a bad oil pressure sensor. Have a garage check the oil pressure and the sensor. If you're lucky, the sensor is bad. If you have a lot of miles on the car, you may need a rebuild.

Answer 5

Do not run the engine with no oil pressure otherwise serious damage will occur, get a motor mechanic to check it. You could try a thicker grade of oil 10W60 or 10W50.

Answer 6

Oil pressure is dropping below the safe zone

Answer 7

have the oil pressure switch removed and the oil pressure checked if it is below manufacturers recommendations the oil pump is proberly u/s and this will normaly result in premature bearing wear or failure.

Answer 8

main causes are bad oil pump or wore out main bearings. have the shop check it with a gauge.

Answer 9

It's gonna be your oil pressure switch that needs replacing

Answer 10

the engine is not making enoughf pressure for the oil to flow