Pontiac GTO Forum banner

Oil Change Problem

6K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  deg04gto 
#1 · (Edited)
So I had my car in for a rear end replacement about 3 weeks ago, and during this time they also did my oil change. But as some of you may have read my "Did I rob My Goat of Power" I did not feel any difference in my goat after my oil change was done. I thought it was because of my newly installed exhaust.

But the weirdest thing happened to me when driving home yesterday. A "Check Oil" alert came up on my display. I was completely confused by it because I had just had the oil changed. At first thought was "am I leaking oil?" So as soon as I parked my car, I let it sit for about an hour and checked the oil level. It was fine, and I didn't notice any leak. But in feeling the oil, I noticed that it was a little thin.

So now I am wondering if they put Mobil 1 in my car. I really hope they didn't put just conventional oil and this caused the alert. If so, what kind of damage am I looking at? Do you guys think from what I described that it is possible they put in the wrong oil? Or could it be that they just forgot to reset the computer when the oil was changed? But doesn't it say something else when that comes up? Doesn't it say Check Engine, and not "Check Oil"?

I may just be exaggerating but now every little thing that I notice wrong I fear the worst.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I just checked my manual, and it says that if that message pops up while driving, the engine could not be getting enough oil or there could be something wrong with the oil. Which makes me think, either the oil pump is starting to go out, or they did put the wrong type of oil. What do you guys think?
 
#3 ·
...is it possible they changed the oil before the light came on and now the light came on for an oil change???...just needs to be shut off???...sorry, I 'm not using the right words...coffee is still brewin'...hopefully the light just needs to be shut off...
Bill
 
#4 · (Edited)
Are you sure its not the change oil light that came on as Silversport suggested? If the tech didn't reset it and the engine's oil monitoring system thinks it's time it will light up. You can reset it yourself by turning the key to on without starting the engine and pumping the gas pedal 3 times within 5 seconds (the owner manual's 2 pump is incorrect, if a tech isn't aware of this maybe he pumped it twice thinking it was reset). Then start it up and see if it comes on. If it does, call your dealer pronto.

It wouldn't matter if synthetic or regular oil was used, that wouldn't cause the check oil light to come on.

Is the oil cap on right? Did you check the oil level? I would think if your oil pump was going out a check engine light would light as well.

Your oil change light lights up at approx 7200 miles. The engine measures revolutions not mileage. My oil change light came on once right after an oil service change and I reset it myself and the light went out.

I hope thats what your situation is.
 
#7 ·
Dunkin' Donuts!!:lol:
 
#9 ·
Everytime I got my car back from an oil change, I assumed the tech didn't know the 3 pumps anstead of 2 on the gas and just reset it myself. I'm also old school and check the oil before I start the car to make sure the oil is clean and full.

That said, if it's the check oil light, you have one of 2 problems. Not enough oil pressure, probably the pump, or the more likely scenario is the sensor is bad.

So like everyone here told you, if it's the change oil light, reset it. If it's the check oil light, get it to the dealer.
 
#12 ·
Aw, Shoot, I'm at work. I guess I better go back out on the street!:rofl:
 
#13 ·
I know for a fact it is not the normal check engine oil light. It specifically says "Check Oil". Let me see if I can attach the picture.

One way of telling that it's not the one you reset, is that normally with that light it will always come on once you start the car until you reset it. This one goes off, and has only alerted me while driving. It happened to me again today. I am definitely taking it to the dealer again tomorrow.
 

Attachments

#16 ·
So I took the car to the dealer and what they found was a bad "Oil Sender Unit". I have never heard of anything like this before, but it fixed the problem. Has anyone else heard of this? If the name is any indication of what the unit does then I am guessing that it sends oil. Who knows.

I am just happy that we got this figured out and that my baby is doing fine now. Time to get her all washed up and take her for a nice cruise.
 
#19 ·
In a case like this I would throw in a "T" at the sending unit and temporarily run a mechanical oil pressure gauge at the same time. Then run it around until the dash oil light came on, then read the actual pressure with the mechanical gauge. That will tell you right away if the problem is with the engine, or the reading of the pressure by the sending unit and/or dash gauge.
 
#20 ·
If it really was a oil pressure problem and not the sender you would have heard a lot of 'clacking' right away from the top end of the engine.
 
#21 ·
Well I am just glad it is fixed, let's just hope nothing else goes wrong for at least a while. I just hate how car makers time the amount of warranty coverage to just the right time, this way they don't have to pay for any of these odd problems. i have 63K miles on my car and my warranty is up.

So that means more and more money being spent on repairs. Oh well, that's the price you pay when you love your vehicle!!
 
#22 ·
How much did it cost to get this done? I might have the same problem since I just got that message today while driving and also recently changed the oil in my car last week to synthetic. I check the oil in my car while it was off but while it was running, it barely had any oil on the dipstick to wipe. I believe that it does not have enough oil because even when i checked it after I let it sit for an hour and a half, there was not much oil to wipe off the stick either. I will add more oil tomorrow and hopefully that message goes away. By the way, how do you reset the oil meter after an oil change?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top