318ci red oil light flickering when hot idle

Hi there,

I just bought a 2003 BMW 318ci (i think that's an e46 right?, sorry I'm a car n00b)

everything is fine with it, drives great only had two owners and a full years NCT on it.

However,

when it's hot and idle, I see the red oil light flicker very fast sometimes (not all the time)

is this just a censor issue or something ? it looks like a fault because of the way it flickers, i would like to think that if there was actually something wrong with the oil that the light would remain constantly on, no?

anyone have any thoughts on this ?

thanks

Red signifies low pressure. If the sensor was faulty or the level was low you would have a yellow oil light.
It sounds like there may be something serious going on. Personally I would get it looked at before driving it any further.
Does the light go away when you Rev the engine?

Oil level ok?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by John_D

Red signifies low pressure. If the sensor was faulty or the level was low you would have a yellow oil light.
It sounds like there may be something serious going on. Personally I would get it looked at before driving it any further.
Does the light go away when you Rev the engine?

---

as far as i can remember yes it does go away when revving the engine , but comes back to a fast flicker when the revs die down to idle, it's never on when driving at normal speed
[hr]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nigzcurran

Oil level ok?

---

yes the oil level is perfect, thanks

I'd be getting it to a mechanic ASAP. Oil pressure would naturally be lowest when warm and idling hence why the problem reveals itself when warm and at idle. I suspect you have a problem with your oil pump or something related. You could be doing serious damage to your engine when this is happening.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by John_D

I'd be getting it to a mechanic ASAP. Oil pressure would naturally be lowest when warm and idling hence why the problem reveals itself when warm and at idle. I suspect you have a problem with your oil pump or something related. You could be doing serious damage to your engine when this is happening.

---

I've been googling around and the problem seems common enough.

I've read all sorts of solutions from the drastic (engine change) to the not so drastic (sensor problems)

this is the most hopeful thing i read on another forum

"After sleeping on it, I decided to give the oil pressure switch electrical connector a good cleaning. I reasoned that if the connector had oil leaking into it for a while in a hot engine compartment, that the connector may have gotten a coating of oil effectively baked on to it. This time, I used a good quality electrical contact cleaner, and put the connector on and pulled it off the switch a half dozen times to hopefully rub off any oil or corrosion that had accumulated on the connector.

I took the car out for another test drive, getting the oil warm, and eureka, the problem was solved! The red oil pressure light was no longer coming on, even after doing an extended drive on the highway.

So, for anyone who is having this issue, make sure the electrical connector to the oil pressure switch is well, and properly, cleaned. Our cars seem rather sensitive to this."

I see what your saying but why would a dodgy connection only show up at warm idle, I don't buy it.
You need a proper diagnosis before you end up with a seized engine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by John_D

I see what your saying but why would a dodgy connection only show up at warm idle, I don't buy it.
You need a proper diagnosis before you end up with a seized engine.

---

Yeah I get ya, but why would such an important warning light only flicker so intermittently ? If it's such a high risk surely the light is supposed to be on fully?

Because the pressure could be borderline, just enough to set it off.
Listen, regardless of weather there is a serious problem or just a faulty indication you do not play around with red oil lights. The potential for disaster is quite high.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by John_D

Because the pressure could be borderline, just enough to set it off.
Listen, regardless of weather there is a serious problem or just a faulty indication you do not play around with red oil lights. The potential for disaster is quite high.

---

Yeah you make sense alright, I'll see the mechanic about it torrow or Friday , thanks for the input

When was it serviced last? If you want to rule out the basics open the oil filter housing and have a look at the filter. For the sake of a tenner it's probably worth changing while your there. Blocked or collapsed filters can cause oil pressure issues.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by michael320

When was it serviced last? If you want to rule out the basics open the oil filter housing and have a look at the filter. For the sake of a tenner it's probably worth changing while your there. Blocked or collapsed filters can cause oil pressure issues.

---

Yeah I'll get that looked at at the weekend I think.

I only bought it on Monday, was from my dads mate's son, my dad, his mate and his son are all mechanics and I have the full service history of the car, I know it's not so long since the last service (will find out exact when I get home) I will say one thing, the car was lying up for almost a year VERY rarely driven, as he just NCT'd it last year and then his missus got a diesel car and he was just using that the whole time.

He got a fresh nct on it for me , I have almost 12 months on it, it sailed through the NCT and the report was very good

Unfortunately this a common misconception by the general public

Valid Nct = Good car

This im afraid is not the case an nct to me means absolutely nothing a worthless piece of paper that has no bearing on the actual condition/maintenance of the car

It is a relief not having to go the test centre for a year though

Welcome to the site

this shows what condition cars pass NCT in Dublin

Attachment 4287

Plenty of life left on that just needs a skim [emoji1][emoji1]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gar

Plenty of life left on that just needs a skim [emoji1][emoji1]

---

skim wont help ,need good grind and might get shaving disc of it :hehe!:

well i brought it to the garage today , he called me about an hour later with the bad news

there is some sort of metalic shavings or something in the oil, and it's a tell tale sign of something bad about to happen. (as you can tell i'm not that mechanical lol)

good thing is, his sister is going to give me a 100% refund,

he said the car could last for years like that but he didn't want to take the chance on it.

oh well, it was nice being a BMW owner for a few days

Happy days, what will you go for next?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Peter-E36

Happy days, what will you go for next?

---

i'd like to find something similar ,

this was a lovely mint coupe with a mint cream leather interior , it was just perfect


I came from driving a 2001 A4 which I loved, I initially didn't like the BMW (preferred my A4) but now i'd like another E46

Excellent, glad that didn't put you off BMWs ;)

May I suggest a 325ci if at all possible, fantastic car and bar the cooling system should be a solid reliable car :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Peter-E36

Excellent, glad that didn't put you off BMWs ;)

May I suggest a 325ci if at all possible, fantastic car and bar the cooling system should be a solid reliable car :)

---

the cooling system gives trouble ? they overheat?

If they're overhauled around the 100k mile mark they're usually fine :)

Edit: people do it to be on the safe side more than anything but yes they can be prone to overheating.

Overheating???? Never heard of a 325ci overheating... Sure the expansion bottle can crack, but there are coolant level sensors which say the level is dropping, and it would be a bit silly to ignore that alright. It's the oil usage I'd more worry about but even BMW recognise 1 litre per 1000 on the engine is normal enough. Just my 2c!!

EDIT: Expansion bottle and oil usage are both common issues on that engine!

I guess I was right so, thankfully you had a good result.