So I recently purchased my Disco and after the first oil change the oil pressure light has come on, and stays on, whenever I'm at idle.

Now I really need the vehicle, it's an everyday driver for me, but I'm not going to drive it when the light is on. Also, yes I'm an idiot, but it really needed the change and I took to a quick-lube place to have the oil changed. Immediately afterwards the light would come on whenever I sat idle or went below 1000 rpm. This never, never happened prior to change and the light never so much as flickered.

Anyone have any ideas as to what is causing the low oil pressure? Could it be the **** oil filter they likely put in my vehicle? I'm pulling my hair out over this already, can someone help?

EDIT: To provide some more information, it's a 2004 Discovery II SE7

EDIT: To provide some more information, the vehicle sat for about 2 hours and then when I started it up the oil indicator didn't come on. So I took it around the block and no flashing again. I'm starting to think that Land Rovers are like women and space, no one really understands them.

 

You should probably take it back to the place that did the oil change and make them look it over. Verify that they put the correct amount of oil in and that the correct type of oil was used.

 

Change oil to shell rotella 15w40 plus a good oil filter, not a fram.

 

Ok, so I just took it out again and the oil indicator light did eventually come back on.

I had the place change the oil and the filter at least three times. They started with the recommended level, then a quart over, then a quart under. Then had them change it to 10w30 from the 5w30 they initially had put in. Nothing changed any time.

It sounds like it's running a little rough.

 

I think Buzz is suggesting the light is being caused by low oil pressure due to oil that is too thin.

10w30 is only good up to 90ish degrees F in these trucks, so I hope you live up north.

I doubt you've done much damage, but 5w-40, 15w-40, or even 20w-50 is a better choice for this motor.

5w-30 is too thin for almost any vehicle IMO. Every vehicle I've run it in sounded like **** until I changed it. 5w-40 is as thin as I'd go.

 

Stop driving until resolved. Use mechanical oil gauge to test psi. If pressure low, repairs of serious nature indicated. If light coming on while on the road, too much oil is staying in valve covers due to engine sludge. May have to clean out oil pan, pickup screen, and o ring for screen. Don't use qwikky shops, their choice of filter quality is low.

Without attaching a gauge you won't know if you are making 40 to 50 psi or just 20 when revved up.

New thin oil may have broken loose gunk and blocked screen

Previous owner was running 20w50 plus Lucas oil fix because main bearings are worn.

A new to me Rover with many repairs waiting. If mains, write up how in tech area

 

Would this have anything to do with not changing the oil before the filter like has been mentioned on this forum before? Maybe it's not getting primed? I wouldn't think so after driving it so much as it appears he has, but a thought.

 

First stop driving it, when the light is on you have less then 6 pounds of oil pressure. Second, quit taking it to a quik lube place, they use really cheap filters, that can damage your engine.
When was the last time you actually did a full major on your truck? How many miles on the engine?
There is a slight chance that you have a broken oil pump, semi-common. How mechanical are you.

 

Picked up 6 quarts 10w40 and a decent KN filter. Changed oil out making sure to prime the filter halfway full before placing it. The light stayed on for a moment, then turned off and hasn't made a reappearance. I just ran out to the street and cranked it over, the light turned off immediately.

I bought the truck with the intention of doing most of the work myself, but I have about 1 month left on the dealer's warranty. So I'm going to get the most out of that as well.

As it stands now, the light doesn't come on at any point while driving. I'm think it was probably the cheap filter they used at this point, is that a reasonable guess?

/thanks everyone for helping

 

First thing I would do is buy yourself an oil drip pan and start changing your own oil. A basic oil change at one of the quick stop places use the same oil for every car that comes in there (Probably 10w30 or 5w30 and not the best brands). Rotella 15w-40 is really cheap at walmart (get 1-gallon jug and 2-quart jugs) and you can get a fram oil filter from there too. A couple of good things come from changing your own oil: 1)You know the right kind and amount of oil is going into your engine, 2)While you are under the car you can look for any other problems (Fluid leaks, loose bolts, bad bushing, craked exhaust, metal flakes in your oil, broken driveshaft u-joint, etc..) and fix them before they get worse. I like to hit the zerks on the driveshaft with some grease every oil change since the exhaust cooks the grease pretty fast and if the driveshaft goes I'm looking at a new transmission.

With that said, I don't think your problem is the type of oil because I have tried every weight and type out there and it never caused my oil light to come on. However the cheapest thing to do is to change to a heavy oil like 15w-40 and see if that helps. If that doesn't help then the next step would be to drop the oil pan and check the pickup screen for blockage. If the screen looks clear then you probably have a cracked oil pump. You need to take the oil pan off to change the oil pump gears so you might want to just leave the pan off if the screen is not blocked and do the oil pump. It may also be serious sludge in your heads restricting the oil flow and you have to take off the valve covers to check that.

I'm sorry to say that the oil light usally means you have some type of big repair coming up. When I say "big repair" I don't necessarily mean big money. The oil pump gears are only $100 but it is a pretty big job if you are not very mechanical. Depending on your skills in the garage you can do most reapirs yourself and save a ton of money on labor. If I were you I would check all three things (pickup screen, oil pump, sludge under valve covers).

Install an oil pressure gauge when you get the chance (about $100 for everything you need) so that you can get some real numbers instead of just the warning light. An oil pressure gauge will help you notice a problem way before the warning light ever will.

An ultragauge ($80) is also a great gauge to add. It will read any trouble codes before the check engine light comes on and it will give you real time engine temps. The temp gauge on the dash will stay in the middle from like 150-240 so even if you start over heating you won't know it until it's to late and really hot. It can mean the difference between a small repair or a new engine.