Oil level light on, but measured level is fine - any ideas?

Turbulent Bill

My oil level light is flashing for 10-15s almost every time I start the car, but the actual level on the dipstick is perfect (midway between max and min). Is this just a dodgy sensor / connection that I can ignore (fix?) or should I be doing something?

Car is a '98 Citroen Xsara BTW, starting and running fine. There's a separate oil pressure light (which is off) so I'm guessing the pump is fine.

Andrew Campbell

1) fill the car to full on the dipstick and see does that improve things
if not
2) Change oil and filter refilling with the exact quantity specified for your engine in the owners manual. Start engine and wait for oil pressure light to go out. then turn off engine. Recheck oil level on dipstick and if level is above MAX you have the wrong dipstick.
3) If light continues to come on when you know you've got the correct quantity replace the level sensor.

Mr.David

I could well be wrong here, but my understanding was that oil pressure is what is measured not oil level?

robtri

chances are its not an oil level light, the normal oil light on the car is an OIL PRESSURE light, so while you might have oil in the car, there is an issue with the pressure.

EDIT: Mr David beat me too it

voxpop

Andrew Campbell wrote: »

1) fill the car to full on the dipstick and see does that improve things
if not
2) Change oil and filter refilling with the exact quantity specified for your engine in the owners manual. Start engine and wait for oil pressure light to go out. then turn off engine. Recheck oil level on dipstick and if level is above MAX you have the wrong dipstick.
3) If light continues to come on when you know you've got the correct quantity replace the level sensor.

No offence - but dont do this

Overfilling an engine with oil can have the same disastrous effects on the engine as underfilling.



Probably a sensor issue

Mr.David wrote: »

I could well be wrong here, but my understanding was that oil pressure is what is measured not oil level?

Old lugana have an oil level sensor - a series of dots on the dash

Turbulent Bill

Thanks for the replys folks.

Andrew Campbell wrote: »

1) fill the car to full on the dipstick and see does that improve things
if not
2) Change oil and filter refilling with the exact quantity specified for your engine in the owners manual. Start engine and wait for oil pressure light to go out. then turn off engine. Recheck oil level on dipstick and if level is above MAX you have the wrong dipstick.
3) If light continues to come on when you know you've got the correct quantity replace the level sensor.

The level on the dipstick is fine (did multiple checks), dipstick is original one supplied with car. The oil level light only comes on for a few seconds after startup, then goes off.

Mr.David wrote: »

I could well be wrong here, but my understanding was that oil pressure is what is measured not oil level?

Maybe, but the Xsara has separate oil level and oil pressure warning lights. The oil pressure light has never come on (except during the normal ignition sequence with battery light etc.).

antodeco

My oil light comes on for around 5 - 10 seconds when the car starts, then disappears. How long has it been doing it for? Also, does it flicker when going around roundabouts or anything?

feelites

might be pressure
might be sensor

i had same thing before
sorted out with new oil and oil filter

lube5150

Have your oil pressure switch changed,that should sort the problem,their around €15-20,

Eric Cartman

voxpop wrote: »

No offence - but dont do this

Overfilling an engine with oil can have the same disastrous effects on the engine as underfilling.



Probably a sensor issue



Old lugana have an oil level sensor - a series of dots on the dash

sensor, my peugot starts with anywhere from no oil to full at random according to the gauge, its just french engineering

Andrew Campbell

Voxpop, you can take offence to this if you like!!!!!
Please have the courtesy to read posts before replying to them.
If you read my post at no time did I say that the car should be overfilled with oil. What I said was to replace the oil with the exact quantity as specified in the owners manual for the car.
However back to the issue. Firstly the owner is confident that the dip stick is accurate so that can be excluded now.
secondly as they have clarified that it only comes on for a few seconds at startup I wonder if this is a normal start up function? again the owners manual will confirm this?

Stoolbend

I had the same problem with a 206 this morning.

Theres a sensor on the front of the block, just above the sump with 2 wires going to it. One of the wires was broken.

There are two diffrent types of level indicators and maybe your Xsara works as intended.

The traditional French level meters are supposed to be read first thing in the morning with ignition on and before engine start. The oil has had time to drop back to the oilpan overnight and the gauge shows the level accurately (similarly to a standard dipstick).

Other type is found in Mercs where the level warning light only activates when engine is running (and the oil temperature has reached at least 60 deg C). This system IMO is better as it can warn driver about dimishing oil level before disaster strikes.

If you see the indicator flickering right follwing the start it's probably because the oil level in the oilpan drops as the oilpump sends cold high viscous oil around the engine and the check circuitry has not switched off yet (they normally have a set time they measure after ignition has been energised).

If the level warning light comes on before engine start -> time to top up. Otherwise -> level is good. If it comes on immediately after start -> does not apply.

Turbulent Bill

antodeco wrote: »

My oil light comes on for around 5 - 10 seconds when the car starts, then disappears. How long has it been doing it for? Also, does it flicker when going around roundabouts or anything?

I've had the car about 3 years, and all the warning/engine lights have always gone off after the car has started. The oil light staying on for 10-15s after starting is a new thing. Used to happen very occasionally but is now a lot more frequent (almost every start). It seems to be time-based, i.e., when the light goes off after 15s or so it never comes back on until the car is restarted.

Andrew Campbell wrote: »

However back to the issue. Firstly the owner is confident that the dip stick is accurate so that can be excluded now.
secondly as they have clarified that it only comes on for a few seconds at startup I wonder if this is a normal start up function? again the owners manual will confirm this?

As above, the light staying on isn't normal in my experience.

I'll check for loose wires from the block later on.