Oil lights and what they really mean.

I bring up this topic as I've seen it time and again on many a make and model. I also bring this up in hopes that the message get to enough people to save them from having to either rebuild or replace their motors, which by nature is expensive and time consuming.

The oil light does one of two things one cars. It tells you that wither your oil is low, or you're not getting enough oil pressure in your engine. this is caused because you are burning oil or are experiencing an oil pump failure. In either scenario THIS IS EXTREMELY BAD.

So what do you do when the oil light turns on while driving or under idle? Turn off your engine and don't drive it. This is the number one thing that will save your motor. A very common and costly mistake is that the oil light will turn on simply because you are a little low on oil. Because of this perception, it is believed that if you "take it easy" the car is still drive-able. The reality is, if you continue to drive with this light on, you will cause damage to your rotating assemblies. As they continue to move without lubrication, the moving parts heat up causing fatigue, scarring, cracking, and seizure.

In conclusion, it's your car and how you use it is ultimately up to the owner. However, you can save yourself a lot of pain, agony, depression, and wasted money but not driving your car when the light comes on. Even if you are a mile or two from your house, it is strongly recommended you stop driving and have the car towed to your garage or a shop of your choosing. It's far cheaper for towing and early repair than for repair of a catastrophic failure.

Made this mistake once, luckily nothing horrible happend cause I was literally less than a mile from Subaru. I'd never risk it again, unless you're in the parking lot of your choice shop and get the light. Tow that S*** lol

And keep posting tips like these. Great info for anyone to know. I very much enjoy reading them, and make my wife read them so her Subie never ends up broke while I'm in Korea

10Wrex wrote:Made this mistake once, luckily nothing horrible happend cause I was literally less than a mile from Subaru. I'd never risk it again, unless you're in the parking lot of your choice shop and get the light. Tow that S*** lol

Exactly. It pains me every time I get a call or text about this, and an engine gets destroyed because my advice given is ignored because a tow truck is "kinda pricey."

80 bucks as opposed to 1800+. Easy choice lol

Yes exactly, plenty of people have not listened to me as well and resulted in a blown engine. It seems they learn their lesson quickly though after that!