Two night about on my way home from work my oil light started to flash. I checked the oil the next day and it was almost full. It was about 630 miles since my last oil change. It only came on after the temperature of the car got to the normal operating temperature. The next day my light came on solid but like I said only after the car warmed up to what is normal for my car. After I let the car sit a while the check engine light came on and stayed on for a little while but went out before I could check the code. I know the code may still be there and will check to see what it was later on today. I have gone through about 2 oil changes since the rinse phase. Since the oil light does not come on when the car is cold I am thinking that it is cleaning a sensor but do not know this for sure. I just wanted to post this and see what others throught.
I almost forgot to mention that about December 9th I went for a smog check and passed so the product must be helping my engine.
I'd pull the sensor and clean it and also check the connection to make sure its clean and corrosion free. If it still comes on I'd replace it. They do go bad.
I do put in 4 ounces each time I have the oil changed. The car was kind of loud so I put the rest of the bottle in today and it seemed to be fine for a little bit but then the oil light came on again tonight. I had already put 4 ounces in when I had the oil changed and then 4 more since the car was getting loud. I do not know where the sensor is but I will do some research online to find out.
I found the below information while doing a search on google. I wonder how much an oil pump would cost. Not just the part but to replace it as well.
The oil light is a low pressure warning. Either you need more oil, or a new oil pump.
I have another full bottle. Would it be a good idea to use this in the engine. I do not want the engine to die on me. I think that for some reason when the engine is warm that it is trying to pull sludge through the oil pump but this is only a guess. Have any studies been done on those oils that supposedly help remove sludge? I have seen the commercials but have never used them before. I was just wondering if both of these together would help an engine that is prone to sludge.
Get an oil change as well as filter (non synthetic oil Castrol GTX or Pennsoil in yellow bottle) no more Auto-Rx go to straight rinse mode for 3000 miles (change filter at 1500 miles top off lost oil if necessary) drive it and post about your sensor lights and approximately rinse mileage driven when they went out.
You have a lot of contaminants laying on your engine internals, suspect your filter is overloaded.
I doubt you need a new oil pump just a new rinse of your internals.
Thanks. I just had it done 644 miles ago. My engine was really loud when the oil light was on. Today for the drive to work the engine light was off. I think they use Havolin. I will bring in the car today and have the oil drained. I just need to find some one good to do this. To many bad places.
I guess I should wait before posting here. After adding what might have been 4 quarts of auto-rx yesterday on the way home it was the smoothest the car has been all week. I have not gotten the oil change yet. What ever was causing the sludge problem seems to have moved away from the oil pump. I read a post on the web yesterday and one guy wanted to know if he should do any thing about the sludge problem. Another person told him no that the sludge gathers in one location like cholesterol. If you do some thing about it then it could move it to another location that could do more damage. It is sad that they would think this. I wish I had the link for this as I know some of you would post differently but I do not remember where it was and what site I found it or what my search criteria was at the time.
In your above post you said (guess I should wait before posting here. After adding what might have been 4 quarts of auto-rx yesterday on the way home ) Is this post correct.
What I meant is that I post on this message board and with in a day or so my problem goes away. I added the 4 quarts on Monday. I noticed the problem on Saturday night after leaving work and going to get gas and also on Sunday so on Monday I added the 4 quarts. I guess it had to work some before it helped my problem. I just wanted to state that I need to do what I know I need to do before posting and see if it helps. If it does then I do not need to post any thing.
In what you quoted I said that I added 4 ounces of auto-rx which is what I added. I did not add any oil as in my oringinal post I said that the oil was almost full so I would not add any extra oil since the car did not need it and the oil light only comes on when the car is low in oil pressure.
I just wanted to say that I was sorry. I did not understand the question asked so that is why I did the explanation that I did.
If your oil light is on and your engine is noisy, then there is reason for concern, because you may not be pumping any oil through your engine at that moment. This can wipe out an engine rather quickly. You need to shut off your engine and get car towed to someone who can determine what the issue is and get it remedied ASAP. Oil pickup screens can get clogged in an extreme case, preventing oil from being sucked up to the oil pump. Frank's advice was good. Change oil and filter ASAP and see if the noise and oil light subsides. On some vehicles it is rather easy to pull down the engine oil pan to check things out. I have also seen oil pressure sending units get clogged and give a light at idle. Cleaning or replacing the sending unit can fix that problem. But if oil light and engine noise continue, don't take a chance and keep driving until you know it is safe.
Thanks for the tip. I realized what was happening but when it first started I did not realize the problem as I just thought I needed more oil. It was not until I did some research after finding out the light only comes on when it does not have enough pressure that I realized what was going on. It was not until later that the car got loud but since putting in the extra auto-rx it seems to be running smoother but the light still comes on once in a while but no more loudness. The thing that lead me to sludge was that the light does not come on until after the car has reached a certain temperature. I realize that when the car is first started it does not have oil in the engine but probably soon after it starts the uptake of oil. During this whole time the car is fine and running well. The oil light will either just flash for a few seconds or come on and stay on. I think like Frank that I have to much sludge in my engine. If it does get worse I will bring it in though. I know that under my oil pan is a plastic piece that they need to bend back to replace the oil so it may just be a few screws to take this off. I have a repair manual and to take off the pan it is not to bad but to do any thing with the oil pump is a pain since the timing chain needs to be removed.
I changed the oil on Wednesday to Castrol GTX. I have only driven 22 miles since the oil change though. This morning the oil light came on but just for a few seconds until the oil started to move through the engine. I have not taken a long trip yet but will probably drive across town on Sunday if things keep going well. The engine does sound louder when the car is cold but it seems to be getting better each day.
This is just a follow up. I have read in other messages that people should take the car out for long drives on the weekend so I decided to drive across town. My car was fine all the way there and through the 2 stops I made along the way. On my way home about 56 miles since my last oil change the oil light started to flash on and then off. It then went on solid and stayed this way. My car ran smooth the whole way home and no noise from the engine. This was until I turned down my street I saw a kid turn around when he heard me coming so I turned of the radio and the heater and heard the engine get noisy again. When I just take local trips like to work and home or a few other places locally every thing is fine. I found out from Toyota that if my oil pump is bad it will cost over $500 to fix. What a pain this car has been. When it runs it runs great but when it has problems it can be a pain. Luckily most of the time I have been able to do most of it myself to save some money but this I won't be able to do myself.
While doing some research on the web I have seen that some people seem to have this problem with the oil light when the idle air control valve was filthy. I guess they also mention the throttle body was covered in soot. I do not know where these are in my car but I do clean the mass air flow sensor. Maybe Toyota's are not the same but interesting how others have fixed the problem I am having.
I have a question for Frank I believe but others can say some thing as well. Since my car seems to have this issue after driving for some distance but if I let the car sit for a while then the problem goes away. I am wondering if my problem as you suggested is just sludge that gets clogged up but when the oil comes back down into the oil pan it frees this up. I am wondering if I should use the other bottle I have to help break up what ever this is. I do not mind just driving around locally but at some point I will need to drive farther then I do now.
did it grenade yet? if not get that pan dropped and clean it and the pickup NOW!!! pull the valve covers and remove as much as possible. change oil an run it to see if it is quiet and no oil light hot.if so continue auto-rx treatment.if not start looking for an engine. i have seen screwy oil senders during an auto-rx treatment but if you get noise its a big danger sign.
The sending unit oil light coming on and off is not unique you are cleaning the engine internals and that would include sensors. really the explanation regarding the oil light are covered on the Auto-Rx FAQ.
Jim I have a suggestion go to the section on this site where you can view all the posts about intermittent oil light or engine light coming on.
NOTHING is going to change regarding sensors until you put some non synthetic oil and drive for a total of 3000 miles in your case change the filter at 1500 miles in the event you have filled the filter with sludge.
Auto-Rx does not care if it takes you a year to get 3000 miles Our newest member Kc8adu post is just plain panic and does not show any knowledge of how Auto-Rx works. Disregard.
i suggest you read the previous posts. oil light with NOISE is a big danger sign. esp with these engines. i will try to find the pics i took of a toyota sludgemonster like the o.p's the junk in the oil pan gets sucked onto the pickup and blocks it.when you shut down it falls back to the bottom. by the time these engines start getting oil light and smoking complaints they are really bad off. i stand behind my suggestion to clean out the oilpan and pickup before wasting more product trying to clean it.sounds like it wont run long enough to get the benefit of auto-rx otherwise. i am hardly new here and also have seen the toyota and chrysler sludge engines firsthand. unless auto-rx can instantly convince a double handfull of crud under the oil pickup to leave and go to the filter this engine is not going to make it.nothing that is added to the oil will make it survive long term without oil pressure.
if you have your service records in order contact toyota directly.this repair may be covered.not sure of the cutoff date but toyota extended warrenties on these sludge prone engines
I contacted Toyota and my car is not one they have heard of that has sludge problems. Of course they probably know about the problem but they are unwilling to do any thing about it. I have a Corolla and they are just not covered even though if you search the web you find 100's of stories of people having issues with these cars as well. I know that I need to drop the oil pan but I have not wanted to do it because of the cost. I never have money between pay days so I was just driving around locally and hoping that over time this would go away but I know that this will not be the case. I just need to find an honest mechanic who will not charge a lot to do a simple job.
If it were me I would start by spinning on a new filter. Perhaps the existing one is in the bypass mode consricting oil flow. Next I would check oil pressure. I would think that a shade tree mechanic could tell you whether you have adequate oil pressure to pump oil up to the top end of the motor. If you have decent oil pressure and circulation then I would ignore your oil pressure light, as it is obviously giving a false read. In your case I would follow the shortened intervals like in the heavy sludge application.
For auto-Rx to work you must have oil flow and log the miles. If this is not possible then perhaps ARX is not the product for you.
I have gone through 2 full treatments so I know how the program works and I have done the full rinse each time. I know all about false readings but this is different. I have never had it where the engine would get louder which is what is happening. Frank suggested that I do another rinse which I am doing now. I do not things that my filter is in bypass mode as if it was then the oil light would always be on which it is not. It is only on when I do long trips. It is not on for my daily commute to work or driving around this side of town. This is what made me think it is some thing in my oil pan that is pulled up during this long trips that then restricts the oil flow but this does not happen for just driving around town.
