okay, someone help! my car's oil light keeps coming on. why would this be???

Question

i bought my cadillac catera (1997' 80,000 miles) a couple months ago, and i have kept up with my oil changes. my car always seems to need more oil and antifreeze. one day my oil light came on 5 times, i added more oil to it, and it kept going off. so i took it to a shop to get the oil change and ask why the light keeps coming on. basically they tried to over charge me by checking my sensor....when they could have just checked the oil pump, so i got mad and left. when i went home that day i checked to see that they did everything okay. i noticed there was no antifreeze. so i went and bought some, and added it. the next day i drove my car to work and then i went straight home. when i turned my car off it started smoking ALOT from under the hood. later i checked it again and all the antifreeze was gone. this was within a days time of refilling it! somebody please tell me that this is fixable! it sounds pretty bad to me

Answer 1

Sounds like you have a radiator leak or a coolant leak somewhere in the system. Maybe a head gasket blown.
Do you see any wet spots on the ground ? Lay out a bunch of newspapers or cardboard and drive the car over it and let it run for about 10-15 mins. Then look underneath and see if you can find the spots. Leave your AC off so you don't keep the condensation from that to throw you off. If you don't see any leaks on the ground then your engine is running the coolant through it. That could also explain the oil too.
You may want to have a compression test ran on the engine to see if you have leakage in the cylinders.
A leaking intake manifold gasket will also suck coolant into the engine. Better get it fixed, before it screws up a lot more stuff.

Answer 2

It sounds to me like you have either a bad head gasket or a cracked cylinder head or at the worst, a cracked engine block. Check your oil and see if it appears to be watered down or appears to have water in it (oil and water don't mix, especially in a car engine.) Make sure your antifreeze doesn't have oil in it

Also, make sure there are no leaks under the car. You can do this simply by parking the car over a flattened cardboard box overnight and noting where the leaks are the next morning. Oil is black or brown, antifreeze is green and transmission fluid is red or reddish brown.

A bad cylinder head-gasket is the easiest and simplest fix. A cylinder head is the next worst, and a cracked engine block, well, you'll be looking for a new car.

Answer 3

You have an "interference" type 3.0 Liter V6 DOHC engine which has a timing belt driven water pump. You are nearly due to have your timing belt replaced at 100,000 miles, but since your car is 10 years old, I'd have it changed as soon as possible to prevent damage to your engine if the belt should break. It sounds like your water pump may be leaking from it's "weep" hole which is under the water pump's shaft where you can't see the coolant leaking out and causing the steam. Both the water pump and timing belt can be changed at the same time, which saves you labor costs. They may also change your idler pulley tensioner at the same time as well as put new belts on the car. Make sure you have a technician check the oil pressure with a "shop oil pressure gauge" that the typical quick lube outlet wouldn't have available.

Answer 4

sounds like you may have a leak in your cooling system. check this first. if there are no sings of a leak. the head gasket may be blown. TRY THIS. pull the dipstick , if it has anything white and foamy on it . that is a sing the head gasket is blown. also start the car, let it warm up, go to the back of the car at the tailpipe, and see if you smell antifreeze. this can also be a bad head gasket. this problem is fixable. but it is not cheep !!

Answer 5

You could have a bad water pump or you have a headgasket gone bad or a cracked head. both will cause the problems you have, the caddy in that year is known for it to happen, The car will run fine but the problems you gave us is what will happen if its either of the three i just said

Answer 6

it sounds like you have a seriosly cracked cylinder head does the bottle smell like rotten eggs or does it smell like theres petrol mixed with the water if there is get back to me and i will suggeest what to do as i am a qualified mechanic ok

Answer 7

the light is broke id take it to the shop to see if they can see whats wrong with it dont say oil just say the car needs a check-up, something is wrong with the engine is my guess.

Answer 8

bad sensor, oil pump going out

Answer 9

if you have to keep adding more oil and anti-freeze,then it has to be going somewhere.do you have any leaks?also better be checking,maybe a head gasket.