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[omegabob]

Hi Folks,I had a problem last night,after driving about 15 miles on probably the hottest day,occasionally when stopping the oil light came on ,on tick over ,when raising the revs(driving off) the light went off,I only do about 3000 miles a year and it as been about 12months since the last oil change which i think is well over due.the car has done 90.000,can anybody shed a light on this ,do you think an oil change will cure it?
Regards
Omegabob

[MutantCav]

Have you checked the oil level??

[omegabob]

Yes I have checked the oil level ,it is fine I have not put any oil in the car since the last oil change (3000miles ago)
Thanks for the fast reply Chris

[MutantCav]

Generally, if oil level is correct then I believe the oil light means the oil pump is failing...but I'm no expert on it...would be best advised not to use the car if poss until its sorted...could just be a sensor or something of course!

[Mike Collins]

Ideally you need to put a pressure guage on it after an oil and filter change.

The oil light will extinguish at a very low pressure, try changing the switch?

[HNO3GOH]

I would say its more a sensor failing than pump because my car was doing exactly the same as yours. Get yourself to vauxhall and a new oil pressure switch should only set you back about £30 as thats what it cost for my 2.2DTI onTC.
Let us know how you get on

[omegabob]

Hi Folks Thanks for the replies.I started the car this morning and as usual the oil light went straight out,so i went and got the oil changed and filter and obviously run it till it was hot and it seemed ok.but saying that i will get the oil pressure checked and will bear in mind that the oil switch could be faulty,can someone advise me if it is ok to drive, along as the oil light isn,t on please?
Thanks for your replies
Omegabob
PS,In the hanbook it does say this problem can occur intermitantely when the engine is hot,but it hasn,t happened before with my car!

[JamesV6CDX]

My 2.0 started flickering the oil light at tickover. Few days later it decided to go BANG!

I would pop the sump off and check the strainer.

[richardirv]

Same happened to me on my last omega, 2.2, I drove it down the road as the light went out as you reved it!! BANG!!

Don't drive it anywere is my advice!!

Mine was oil pump failure!! As there was plenty of oil!!

[Markie]

I`d still be investigating this.  

If the oil level was correct and its now been rectified by oil and filter change then fair enough and good for you

However i guess you cant be certain it will remain off.

I`d be checking the oil pressure swithc and as indicated dropping the sump to give the internals a tidy up. The strainer can block reducing the flow of oil. Youd be amazed at what can gather donw there  

[unclelicklug]

The best plan is definitely to get your oil pressure checked.
Having said that at hight temps and idling the oil pressure can get quite low, especially if you have a low viscosity oil so hopefully you don't have a problem.

[omegabob]

Hi Folks thanks again for the replies,at the moment,since it occured saturday night,the oil light has only come on before turning the engine over and has stopped off since,it doesn,t flicker at tickover and i had the oil and filter changed yesterdayand been to work in it today without a problem,i have taken in your comments thankyou,I think if the oil light was flickering constantly at tickover,I definately wouldn,t drive it,i,m not sure if the replies where the engine went bang were where the oil light was on constantly only at tickover,can you please let me know if this was the case.
Regards
Omegabob

[omegabob]

Hi Folks,Its your totally worried Omega owner again,following on from last chapter.
As a non -mechanic omega owner and although there is no sign of the oil light on at tickover the last two days,from the replies I,ve received regarding this problem and I welcome your expertise on this subject and have always done so with other problems although were minor to this one,it seems the only way I will get peace of mind is to have the sump removed and get the oil pump and strainer replaced including the oil switch,can anybody tell me what a reasonable charge would be for this work to be done or is there anyone able to do it local in the west midlands,I assume if the engine blows on this car i get the local scrap merchant to take it away,which seems a bit of a waste of £3000
for the sake of getting it looked at.Anybody out there any idea,s please.
Regards
Omegabob

[philhoward]

Yours will be the later X20XEV, so has the 2 piece sump, probably making removal MUCH easier than the earlier (like mine) one piece item.  If it takes more than an hour to drop the oil, remove the pan, clean it and the strainer and refit with a new gasket, then they spent too long watching the kettle boil...

Switch will probably take longer to change than to find the spanner.

Oil pump - Think its a crank mounted one, so it will take a while - I guess cambelt time and treble it as the main sump will probably have to be dropped to.  Don't have my Haynes to hand to see what might be involved..

[omegabob]

Hi,Thanks for the last post,if a mechanic removed the sump and cleaned the strainer ,what would they charge,i couldn,t do it myself
Regards
Omegabob