Oil light at idle

Kiwi John

I changed the oil and filter on my Focus 1.6 diesel and the oil light now comes on at idle but goes off as soon as motor increases revs.
Is this faulty oil pump .

v240gltse

hi

dont mean to ask a silly question but did you refill with the correct oil and to the correct level ?

CIP4

Red or yellow oil light there is a fairly big difference between the two.

Kiwi John

Used 5W30 same as I have before and it is red light.
IT was fine before oil change not leaking oil ,filter is screwed right up and oil level a bit high(just above full mark

CJhaughey

Kiwi John wrote: »

Used 5W30 same as I have before and it is red light.
IT was fine before oil change not leaking oil ,filter is screwed right up and oil level a bit high(just above full mark

Oil level high might be the problem, if the oil is frothed up by hitting the crankshaft then the aerated oil won't pressurise properly, it will just compress the air in the oil.
Drain oil and refill to the correct level.

Del2005

Kiwi John wrote: »

Used 5W30 same as I have before and it is red light.
IT was fine before oil change not leaking oil ,filter is screwed right up and oil level a bit high(just above full mark

Have you checked what the level is now?

It's bad to over fill some engines, you should go a bit below the full mark not above it.

Whocare

faulty oil filter

Atlantic Dawn

Some engines don't like non genuine oil filters, was it a genuine Ford filter? Recall simular issue with Qashqai's if non Nissan used.

Lucifer

Filter not sitting right. There is a little bit that sticks up on the end of the filter. This has to sit in a hole on the filter housing or you will be loosing pressure

https://www.amazon.co.uk/COOPERSFIA-FA6584ECO-Engine-Blocks/dp/B076FZ1R8T#

Kiwi John

Thanks for all the help now sorted was filter not sitting in guide hole,will take more care next time.

TheBoyConor

Irreparable damage probably done to the bearings and turbo now anyway. Might not be showing symtopms yet, but having run with low oil pressure that engine can never be trusted now. You'd always be waiting for it to start knocking or seize.

Kiwi John

Don't be so positive luckily just heard world ends 15.14 Friday so should be alright

Esel

Chicken Little is alive and well.

jmreire

Kiwi John wrote: »

Don't be so positive luckily just heard world ends 15.14 Friday so should be alright

How long did you drive the car or even run the engine? Most people who change the oil themselves,,,,will switch it off immediately and investigate any lights that come on. I know I would, especially after doing an oil change.

Kiwi John

Did not say I drove it anywhere just started it and found problem in

jmreire

Kiwi John wrote: »

Did not say I drove it anywhere just started it and found problem in

That's why I asked, and the reason I asked was because the amount of time the engine ran without sufficient oil pressure, will determine how much or how little damage has been done. So if you started it, red light showed, and you switched it off immediately, then possibly little or no permanent damage....on the other hand, if you revved it up several times, then possibly some damage more likely, ...but if you took it for a 5 mile run, then definitely a higher chance of more serious damage, but to what extent, only time will tell. Would have helped if you had mentioned how long the engine was running for in your original post.

TheBoyConor

It might be fine. I'm just saying that now that it has run with low oil pressure, we simply do not know whether any damage has been caused. It could be perfectly fine and last for 100s of thousands of kms yet. On the other hand, a bearing could be badly damaged and just hanging on and could decide to collapse the first it comes under a heavy load. We cannot say one way or the other, we cannot stand over the engine's reliability now and it cannot be trusted.

If this engine was in any critical application like an emergency generator or pumps and this happened it would have to be taken out of service and replaced. It would be too much of a chance to take and the risk would be too high.

I'll put it this way, if your plane engine ran with an oil light on for a few minutes because of a gammy filter, would you be happy to fly in it still?

If you're worried you can drain the new oil and dissect the oil filter and look for traces of metallic colour (=bearing material). If there is none you dodged the bullet. If you really just ran it for a short while without load I suspect that the engine is AOK.

Personally I would not worry if the motor sounds good. Just drive the car. During the next oil change I would definitely take a close look at the drained stuff though.