Oil Levels - Corolland: the Toyota Corolla Forums

My 2001 Corolla's "Low Oil Pressure Warning Light" came on intermittently yesterday evening and finally remained on most of the time so I searched through these forums and learned that I should add engine oil. This car also had a grinding sound coming from the engine in the past few weeks. It's usually my Mother's car, but I swapped with her for a while. Before we swapped, we took it to our regular, trusted mechanic for an oil change a month ago.

This morning I had to add 1.5 quarts of oil (picked Pennzoil 10W30 from reading these forums) before the dipstick would even show any oil at the bottom, using fishexpo's recommendation of wiping off the stick first, sticking it back in, doing this twice, running the car, and waiting afterwards for the oil to settle in the pan. How much oil must be in the pan before any oil shows up on the dipstick?

In the end, I added 3.2 quarts this morning total for the oil level to reach midway between the "low" and "full" dots on the dipstick. I'll check again in the late afternoon and add it to the "full" dot. Today was my first time working on anything inside the Corolla hood so this is all pretty new to me. The other two Corollas we have were taken to the mechanic for an oil change every 3000-4000 miles as normal and have never had oil consumption problems.

Based on your past experience, how many quarts of oil remaining will cause the "Low Oil Pressure Warning Light" to start appearing? According to many threads on this forum, driving with low engine oil will cause a seized engine eventually. How much damage could've been done to this Corolla from driving around with a dry dipstick? The grinding sound from the engine and the "Low Oil Pressure Warning Light" disappeared after I added 2 quarts of oil this morning and the car seems to run like it used to after adding oil. I still had to add another 1.2 quarts to get closer to the correct level on the dipstick.

Also, the engine oil cap showed 5W30 oil, but I saw some people here used 10W30 and the oil change reminder sticker our mechanic pastes on the window says 10W30 as well. I couldn't take the car to our mechanic today because it's Sunday.

I still plan to take this 2001 Corolla in to be checked out by our mechanic the next time I'm in town. Also, I'll have to check the oil levels at least once a week now; the car does not seem to leak oil onto the driveway.

Thanks!

Bikeman982

Sounds like they failed to put oil in the car when they did the oil change!!

You can check the oil about once a day to see if it is burning any.

Also look under the car after it is parked for a few hours to check for any oil leaking.

You can use the 10W30 oil in place of the 5W30 without any harm to the car.

Different viscosity oils are used depending on the temperature where the car is operated.

As far as the light coming on - don't drive it until you add oil!

The light comes on when the oil is extremely low and it can cause your engine to seize, if you continue to drive it that way.

You would end up spending thousands for an engine change, when all you needed was a couple of quarts of oil.

My 2001 Corolla's "Low Oil Pressure Warning Light" came on intermittently yesterday evening and finally remained on most of the time so I searched through these forums and learned that I should add engine oil. This car also had a grinding sound coming from the engine in the past few weeks. It's usually my Mother's car, but I swapped with her for a while. Before we swapped, we took it to our regular, trusted mechanic for an oil change a month ago.
This morning I had to add 1.5 quarts of oil (picked Pennzoil 10W30 from reading these forums) before the dipstick would even show any oil at the bottom, using fishexpo's recommendation of wiping off the stick first, sticking it back in, doing this twice, running the car, and waiting afterwards for the oil to settle in the pan. How much oil must be in the pan before any oil shows up on the dipstick?
In the end, I added 3.2 quarts this morning total for the oil level to reach midway between the "low" and "full" dots on the dipstick. I'll check again in the late afternoon and add it to the "full" dot. Today was my first time working on anything inside the Corolla hood so this is all pretty new to me. The other two Corollas we have were taken to the mechanic for an oil change every 3000-4000 miles as normal and have never had oil consumption problems.
Based on your past experience, how many quarts of oil remaining will cause the "Low Oil Pressure Warning Light" to start appearing? According to many threads on this forum, driving with low engine oil will cause a seized engine eventually. How much damage could've been done to this Corolla from driving around with a dry dipstick? The grinding sound from the engine and the "Low Oil Pressure Warning Light" disappeared after I added 2 quarts of oil this morning and the car seems to run like it used to after adding oil. I still had to add another 1.2 quarts to get closer to the correct level on the dipstick.
Also, the engine oil cap showed 5W30 oil, but I saw some people here used 10W30 and the oil change reminder sticker our mechanic pastes on the window says 10W30 as well. I couldn't take the car to our mechanic today because it's Sunday.
I still plan to take this 2001 Corolla in to be checked out by our mechanic the next time I'm in town. Also, I'll have to check the oil levels at least once a week now; the car does not seem to leak oil onto the driveway.
Thanks!

Bikemans right about mabye not puttng any oil in with the last change. But the 2001 is also one of the

ones that all of a sudden start consumming vast quantities of oil. I would start checking it every time

befor you drive, at least for a few day. They also seem to consume more during highway driving than

just around town. I have one that I'm having to get a different engine for right now. 700-900 dollars just

for used engine from a salvage yard. Lucky my bother inlaw is a pretty good mechanic and is going

to let me help him. Mechanic shops in my area want more then the car is worth to do the job.

Good luck.

I will check the oil level once a day from now on. The car was driven for at least a week after the oil change, even with a lot of long highway miles, and never showed any deprivation of oil so I'll give our mechanic the benefit of the doubt for now. I will check the oil levels after each oil change to verify. As per your recommendation, I will also look under the car for leaks every day.

How bizarre the 2001 can suddenly start consuming vast quantities of oil. My mother never took it on the freeway or drove it much. It only has about 43,000 miles. It is interesting you mention they seem to consume more during highway driving--the warning light started coming on after a long highway drive. I had driven from Austin to Dallas and back yesterday. Thanks for your input, Bikeman982 and erffuller.

Sounds like the car is not driven much - it is possible to burn quite a bit of oil, especially after a long highway drive - but not to the order of 3 quarts or so. The oil pressure light comes on when there is less than 4 PSI or so of oil pressure, don't tell you how much oil is in there at all. Basically to the point of possible engine damage. I wish they made the lamp a bit more conservative - i.e., a higher pressure threshold. For the oil to just touch the dipstick - I'm guessing anywhere from a little less than a quart to nearly zero oil (the dipstick nearly touches the bottom of the sump, for some - it actually does touch the bottom). The total capacity for generation is 3.9 quarts with filter - adding 3.2 quarts to bring it between the two marks is a very bad sign.

Grinding sound is never a good thing - I'm hoping the bearings are not wiped and/or valvetrain starved for oil. Grinding could come from various other sources, but since this happened right after the oil lamp come on - I'd steel yourself for a hefty repair bill.

Take a look around the drain plug and oil filter - see if there is any evidence of an oil leak. Look for signs of oil soaked undercarriage or streaks of oil on the underbody. It is possible that the shop did fill the crankcase but didn't tighten the drain plug or the filter properly. Even good shops can make mistakes - very easy to get sidetracked and forget to put oil back in the car or accidentally install an oil filter or drainplug without a gasket or with the old gasket stuck on. Since the car is driven at lower speeds, the problem probably didn't manifest itself as quickly as it should.

If you can check the oil levels before you drive everyday - that would be helpful. That way you can track any drops in oil levels and the conditions where they occured (i.e., after a highspeed drive, after idling for extended periods, etc.) At the least - try and check the oil everytime you fillup the tank and after every oil change.

WOW!!!! You can consider yourself a very, very, lucky person!! default_ohmy

From your post, I can tell you that you managed to ward off the complete destruction of your engine, although, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there might be serious problems sometime in the future related to the fact that the engine was driven for quite a while with very little oil in the crankcase. default_huh

Anytime the oil light is on while driving, you should immediately shut it off and add oil as necessary!!!

The grinding noise is not a good sign, thou, again, the added oil seems to have rectified that.

8th Generation Corollas/Prizms can be very oil thirsty, but, it almost sounds like at the last oil change, no oil, or not enough oil was put in.

Like Fishexpo said, it takes roughly 4 P.S.I to make the oil pressure light go off and with the exception of the light going on when you turn the ignition on, you should never, ever see this light come on.

One last thing, the oil light indicates low oil PRESSURE, not low oil LEVEL, like a lot of people like to believe, although, low oil level does cause low oil pressure. There is no substitute for checking the dipstick on a regular basis.....

Anyway, best of luck with your Corolla!

regards,

timkedz.

Guest arctikphox

My 1991 oil light is on all the time. Oil is always fine. I can only assume that my oil pressure sensor is gone or there is a hole somewhere lowering the pressure. I keep checking but so far no problems, no visible leaks, no sludge.

Long story short no idea why the light is on.

You might want to troubleshoot that one. Oil sender switches aren't expensive or difficult to replace.

I'll let some things go but that's one system I want working correctly.

Jay in MA

My 1991 oil light is on all the time. Oil is always fine. I can only assume that my oil pressure sensor is gone or there is a hole somewhere lowering the pressure. I keep checking but so far no problems, no visible leaks, no sludge.
Long story short no idea why the light is on.