Over the past few months, about once every two weeks (or more often if I'm driving a long way) I have the oil warning come on.

As I have Connected with the screen, this means a large scary warning taking up the whole screen saying that the oil is low and that I should stop immediately to avoid engine damage.

Here's the thing - the warning goes totally away in about 30 seconds or less. Every time I have checked the oil after such a warning the level has seemed fine, also verified at the dealership that my oil levels were OK. I've tried to have them look at the issue but since it only happens every so often, they cannot reproduce it and see no stored codes...

Does anyone else have any ideas as to what might be causing this? I'd really hate to have a warning that comes on that I have to ignore, in case in the future I really do lose oil pressure...

I think it mostly happens just after I downshift (I have an automatic but mostly use the paddle shifting mode).

Thanks for any insight!

 

if it was me, i would ask for a loaner and let the dealer keep the car until they see the low oil pressure themselves and fix it

it could be faulty wiring, faulty sensor, faulty oil pump or something else entirely

you should tell them, as best you can, the exact circumstances of driving that the light comes on so they can simulate it on a test drive

they may need to have a SA or technician drive the car home and back until it happens to them

scott

 

Yep, it could be anything from a simple electrical issue to a serious engine problem...not something to ignore. I'm going to guess it's a marginal oil pressure switch plus the crankcase vacuum created when you downshift, but that's no more than a guess. Let us know what happens...

 

That might be the next step - I did leave it with them for two days the first time to try and replicate it, but they never saw it come up (as I said I usually see it every other week or so in normal driving). So I might have to arrange for a more extended stay since it keeps coming up.

I was also thinking about getting an ODB reader to try and record any codes that came up while the display was on myself, so I could forward that to them... also I really need to try and verify exactly what kinds of behavior seem to trigger the issue. Then I feel like I could turn it over with a lot higher chance of it being fixed.

I also noticed no alteration in driving performance when the alert comes up so I really think it's some kind of faulty sensor issue which is why I've not been more pressing about having it fixed.

 

I would be careful. It's not likely, but you could have a serious engine lubrication issue and not hear anything abnormal....yet...and by the time you do it could be too late. An engine with marginal oil pressure or an intermittent pressure issue could certainly drive normally...for now.

Also, I'm not an expert on OBD, but I don't think an oil pressure warning would store a code.

 

How about installing an oil pressure gauge and monitoring the pressures on a real analog gauge in real time?

 

This happened also to me in a similar way, but mine was a oil pressure warning... It happened while decelerating... The cause was a out dated oil filter... They changed it with a new version and it was ok...

 

Thanks for the other suggestions - I thought I'd post a followup although there's really not much new to report. Since colder weather set in I have not seen this issue come up again, though I did see the oil warning come on several times after my last post. I plan to have an oil change soon and will ask for a new filter to see if that is the issue.