[S5157]

Dear Guru's,

I have a wagon r which has done 1.26 lacs kms. Now a strange problem has arise,Whenever the engine is about to get stalled or idling at low rpm (less than 1000) the oil pressure warning lights starts blinking.But if RPM goes above 1000 it goes off.The OIL level as per the dipstick is at full level.

Any ideas?

Thanks in Advance.

[SirAlec]

Clear suspect here will be oil pump.

Get it checked.

BTW any other lights like battery etc also lights up?

[Thad E Ginathom]

The OIL level as per the dipstick is at full level.

The Oil warning light really is about pressure not level. The level can be full, but if that pump is not forcing it around, the consequences are disaterous.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by S5157

Dear Guru's,

I have a wagon r which has done 1.26 lacs kms. Now a strange problem has arise,Whenever the engine is about to get stalled or idling at low rpm (less than 1000) the oil pressure warning lights starts blinking.But if RPM goes above 1000 it goes off.The OIL level as per the dipstick is at full level.

Any ideas?

Thanks in Advance.

If the light blinks at idle(engine running steady at say 800 rpm),then it has to be the oil pump .

If the oil pr switch,battery light and check engine light(the yellow one) blink when the engine shudders(as if it is going to shut off),then don't bother.

[gd1418]

Clogged oil pump for sure. If you remove the oil sump (do so only when you are doing an oil change), you shall see a small round filter unit (looks like the shower head). In most of the cases it is clogged. Get it cleaned before your oil pump suffers a cardiac.

Are you changing engnine oil at regular intervals?

BTW, how many Kms on the WagonR's odo?

[S5157]

Thank You all for the valuable suggestions.Please see my answers below

Originally Posted by gd1418

Clogged oil pump for sure. If you remove the oil sump (do so only when you are doing an oil change), you shall see a small round filter unit (looks like the shower head). In most of the cases it is clogged. Get it cleaned before your oil pump suffers a cardiac.

Are you changing engnine oil at regular intervals?

BTW, how many Kms on the WagonR's odo?

I will have it checked tomorrow by MASS. I am getting it serviced tomorrow.Will get an OIL change done as well.
The car has done 125,585 Kms so far and is being serviced regularly at 5k ( +/- 500 kms) intervals.Oil change is done at 10 K intervals.All the service and repairs are done at MASS only.

Originally Posted by vigsom

If the light blinks at idle(engine running steady at say 800 rpm),then it has to be the oil pump .

If the oil pr switch,battery light and check engine light(the yellow one) blink when the engine shudders(as if it is going to shut off),then don't bother.

No other lights comes on when the engine shudders.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

The Oil warning light really is about pressure not level. The level can be full, but if that pump is not forcing it around, the consequences are disaterous.

That my fear as well. Will get it checked tomorrow at the service

Originally Posted by SirAlec

Clear suspect here will be oil pump.

Get it checked.

BTW any other lights like battery etc also lights up?

No Other warning lights comes up. I also noticed that when I start the car in the morning it take an additional two seconds for the OIL pressure light to go off than the other warning lights.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by S5157

I have a wagon r which has done 1.26 lacs kms.
...the oil pressure warning lights starts blinking.But if RPM goes above 1000 it goes off.The OIL level as per the dipstick is at full level.

Any ideas?

Some suggestions:

1. Your oil may have lost its viscosity - can happen if filling wrong grade oil, with water contamination (leaking head gasket or flood water getting in), or when not drained at the correct interval. Change the oil and check if the problem goes away.
2. The oil pressure switch is on the verge of retiring. Open your oil filler cap, rev the engine GENTLY to 1500 rpm, and check to see if some oil spray comes out from the opening. If it does, your switch is at fault. Ten-minute job to replace.
3. If there is no oil spray/splatter visible when the oil filler cap is opened, you may have oil pump failure (a very unlikely thing to happen at 1.26L km unless you've got metal/sand contamination in the sump - could be malicious). Changing the pump is not difficult, but please ask your mechanic to double-check about grit/metal shavings in the bottom of the sump when it's opened up.

[Hashim]

I think its choked/damaged oil filter, anyway get oil with oil filter changed and if warning light disappears then its all good otherwise it could be oil pump gone bad.

[headers]

it could be your compression is bad!! Engine is drinking oil!!

[rajeev k]

Clean the oil pump siction filter and give thorough flush with flushing oil.
The low lube oil pressure switch also could be faulty.

[nitrous]

Do not start the engine.
Have the vehicle towed to a mech.
Check and replace oil pump.

[S5157]

I have called up MASS and asked them to tow the car to their facility.The car has been with me for almost a decade and has built an emotional attachment. Thank you all. I will update tomorrow the findings.

One additional question: Is it advisable to go in for synthetic OIL after a flush for a car which has done 1.25 Lac Kms?

[Thad E Ginathom]

This is a purely instinctive response: do not change the type of oil you use, give the engine what it is used to, and what has been exactly fitting all the worn tolerances over the years.

As I say, instinct speaking: I am not a mechanic or engineer.

[goandude]

This question is not about pressure but oil level.I found a steady drop in oil level in my DzireVDI. At 14000 km it was 2/3 between max and min on dipstick. towards max. after a long 1000 km hard drive banglore mumbai it was down to just above min. There are no oil leaks. Is it normal for an engine to use up oil.

I changed the oil as prescribed at 1K, 5 K and 10 K at MASS.

Moreover, At 14 K the oil viscocity was thin, as confirmed by a mechanic in Bangalore. and he reccommended a change. The carnation chaps in mumbai also advised change so I have changed now.

monitoring oil level, but am interested in finding out the cause of falling oil levels. any takes?

[dadu]

Originally Posted by goandude

This question is not about pressure but oil level.I found a steady drop in oil level in my DzireVDI. At 14000 km it was 2/3 between max and min on dipstick. towards max. after a long 1000 km hard drive banglore mumbai it was down to just above min. There are no oil leaks. Is it normal for an engine to use up oil.

I changed the oil as prescribed at 1K, 5 K and 10 K at MASS.

Moreover, At 14 K the oil viscocity was thin, as confirmed by a mechanic in Bangalore. and he reccommended a change. The carnation chaps in mumbai also advised change so I have changed now.

monitoring oil level, but am interested in finding out the cause of falling oil levels. any takes?

If you are sure about no leaks, then the engine is eating up the oil, do you see visible black smoke at any point of time during your driving.