oil pressure light

[Tank988]

Hi,
can anyone help me. I have a Vectra c 1.8 2003 16v. The oil pressure light keeps coming on. I would top it up with 2 letters of oil, and the light would go out for maybe 2 weeks and then come back on. THis happened for a good 3 months.
Then i recently change the oil to see if this would help. I changed the oil and again 2 weeks letter the light has come back on.

Any one ever experianced this?? and how can i fix or test oil pump, pressure valve and oil sucker in sump??

Thanks

[Exclusive BV]

the oil must be going somewhere have you checked for leaks?

is the headgasket gone?
driveshaft seals?

[JJ0063]

Driveshaft seals?!? Since when does engine oil..erm?! Oh dear

[cont1204]

Driveshaft seals?!? Since when does engine oil..erm?! Oh dear

Well he's almost there with the shaft bit! Crankshaft seals would be one to check. You'd see it splashed around the crankshaft pulley at the bottom of the engine, the rear one would be a sod to get to unless there's any bungs in the bottom of the gearbox bellhousing that you could open and see if any oil drained out.

[Tank988]

Thanks for the reply. I doubled checked the warning light and its actual a low oil light warning. Oil can with a wave under it.
There is never any oil puddles or nothing. I do all motorway driver for long periods of time.

Wheres the oil going to?? IF its berning burned i would see smote but I don't. When i check the dipstick after a long drive and when engine is hot, it is clean no oil.

[cont1204]

Then there's not a lot of oil in it to start with! If it was burning that much you'd probably see a lot of smoke and definitely smell it. It has to be leaking out from somewhere but without being able to lie down underneath it or anything, hard to say.

[Tank988]

ok to sum everything up. the oil level light start to come on regular for about 3 months. I would top up with 2 lt, light goes out, 2 weeks latter light back on. I decided to drain and change the oil filling it full to see if that cured the problem. I refilled the oil with 4 lt of new 5-30 fully senthetic. about 2 weeks on the light has returned. I have watched for leaks under the car with nothing leaking out.

Today i had car on ramp. no leaks that i can see. but light was on today. I have added another 1 lt making in total 5 within the 1 month.

I do a lot of motor way driving , about 500 - 600 miles a week.
Any Ideas as i am realy confused. Like post above, no smoke or smells, car runs normal, but dip stick is showing empty??

[C-Owner]

Ensure the oil level is max on the dipstick and the cooling system is at the correct level and the car is parked on flat ground.

Let the car idle at normal temperature till the cooling fan kicks in, this is to allow the engine to reach its normal working tolerances.

Turn off the engine and remove the spark plugs to see if any show signs of oil deposits on them.

This will indicate if your engines burning oil in the cylinders via the piston rings or valve stem seals.

White ash or the obvious wet oily look

plugs.jpg

[Tank988]

hey thanks all for your reply's. I will check the plugs tomorrow and get back to yous. Dam things a torture at the moment lol

[John Bishop]

My old Omega started to go through oil like that a few years ago. I did mostly motorway driving then and never noticed anything, smell or smoke. One day on joining motorway and booting it there was a big but brief cloud of smoke. When eased of the juice it stopped. Turned out it was the piston rings.