oil light question

[400exboy2]

hey guys i was just wondering if you have a oil pan gasket leak can you lose oil pressure because my car has a oil pan leak (i hope that is what it is) and it drips oil like every five seconds and my oil light comes on but it has plenty of oil in it so i was think that the oil pressure light is coming on because its losing pressure though the gasket this seem right? thanks for the help

[71Corolla]

Unless the gasket is literally pouring oil, it won't account for your oil light coming on. Your engine has some other problem. It could be something as simple as a bad oil pressure unit, or something more serious like a failing oil pump, clogged oil pickup, sludge in the engine, bad bearings etc.

Firstly, don't drive the car. If it is really having oil pressure problems, driving it can do severe engine damage. Secondly, try replacing the oil sending unit. If that doesn't do it, then you will probably have to open up the engine.

[400exboy2]

ok thanks this is a camry i bought a long time ago and it sat for more then a year not running i been driving my truck around a couple people told me that the oil could be to thick and be clogging up the srceen. what happends is that it will start up and then after about a minute it will blick couple times and then come on for like a minute then blink again if your going around a turn if it was a failing oil pump wouldnt it come on as soon as the motor runs? thanks for the help 71 im going outside right now and replacing my gasket hopefully its the oil pickup and not nothing worse

[renmike]

If you haven't drove it for more than a year and its just been sitting, I'd replace the oil and filter. Then, if the light is still flickering, I'd buy/rent/borrow an oil pressure guage, tap into where the sensor goes and check what pressure you're actually getting with the engine warmed up and according to whatever Toyota specs it out (idle, xxx rpms, etc.). If it checks out okay, then spend the money (15-20 bucks max) to get an oil pressure switch.

If it doesn't meet specs, then I'd start looking into other things (oil pump, etc.).

Also, if its leaking from the oil pan, before you change the oil, go ahead and replace the gasket, then while you're under there you can inspect the screen for any blockage as well.

[400exboy2]

yeah make sense thanks well i went out there to replace the gasket today and i could not get the bolts off for the exhaust since you have to take the front pipe off. i tryed everything air rachet, air gun, and been spraying the bolts with pb blaster but they didnt move at all. anyway i went ahead and changed the oil and oil filter anyway and the car was about 1.5 quarts over then what it should be. put new filter and oil in it and started it up at my friends house and oil light didnt come on. it used to be like as soon as i would get out the driveway it would come on. my friend leaves about .5 miles away and after i put new oil in it i drove it back home and it didnt come on not one time. so i guessing now my oil pump aint bad then i hope. yeah i should be buying a pod for my a-pillar soon and im going to have a electric oil pressure gauge there. thanks for the help

[marc780]

You must have read the dipstick or measured the oil that came out to know it was 1.5 qts over? Anyway yes, its conceivable overfilling oil could cause the oil light to come on - here is my take and one possibility on what may have happened to cause your oil light to come on:
1. Too much oil means the level is too high, of course, which in turn means that the level could be soo high that the crankshaft is whipping around in it like an egg beater!
2. And what THIS could mean is that the engine oil is foamed up from being whipped like pancake batter and as a result, is not lubricating much of anything inside your engine.
3. And the foamy oil has too low oil pressure since most of it is foam and not liquid. This causing the light to come on.

Another possibility: you did not say the milage on the engine but it's possible the engine is worn out, although i hope not. You may want to do a compression check on the engine, along with the oil pressure check renmike suggested, for your own peace of mind if for no other reason.

[400exboy2]

ok well today i finally replaced my oil pan gasket been busy the last week or so and when i took the oil pan off what a mess i had there was alot of junk i guess you could call it sluge in the bottom of the oil pan and tjust about the whole oil pick up screen was filled up with crap. i cleaned out the pan real good cleaned the whole pick up screen real good and got a new gasket for it. but it all back togheter and drove it around the block came back and smoke was coming out of the hood again i looked under the car and there was oil dripping like every second. i found out the vavle cover bolts were loose so i tighten them up and drove it again and never leaked again went to put the car in the garage and the dam oil light came on for a second . and everytime i would rev it and soon as i would let off the gas it would come on real fast then go back off, went to take it around the block again never came on and then pulled up to the garge again and the thing just stayed on at idle and flicker when i was reving it. does this sound like a oil pump problem again or the pick up sreen clogged again. im beginning to think that the car just doesnt want to go in the garge or stop being driven? well thanks guys for the info so far and maybe ill get this shit figured out someday lol

[400exboy2]

also are the oil pumps gear driven and how often do they go out?

[Mike Gerber]

It's time to do what renmike suggested. If you don't feel comfortable doing this yourself, take it in to a shop that can replace the oil sending unit temporarily with an actual oil pressure gage. Then they can take pressure readings at various RPM's and determine whether you have a defective oil sending unit or an actual engine oil pressure problem. A shop shouldn't charge more than 1 hour of labor for this.

Mike