Oil Light on dash coming on....

[Oz87Si]

Sometimes the light on the dash with the oil can comes on for a few seconds, then it'll go off. I always let my car warm up for about two minutes before I drive it, but just today I was real late for something and I didnt let it warm first. So I was driving it a little hard knowing that the car was probably screaming and the oil light came on for about 3 seconds, then went off.

Can someone tell me why it just went on then off again? Thanks lads.

[Kevin]

check your oil!! It might be low!!!

[Coitis1]

As far as I know, the oil light isn't for telling you your oil is low. Its telling you that your oil pressure is low, which could mean anything from just needing to add oil to having a leak. So check your oil to see if its low, and then look around the engine block to see if u can find any oil that might have leaked out. Sorry i can't be of more help, but by the time u read this i'm sure another member would have posted something else.

[ICEMAN707]

first and foremost, check your oil level. 2nd, check for oil leaks, 3rd check your oil sending unit and the wire that goes to it. it's located underneath your intake manifold and is hard to get to. it's right above the oil filter. it might be hard to see if your engine is really dirty. sometimes that wire gets old and gets torn or cut. check that and check the oil sending unit itself by unscrewing it. like i said, it's hard to get to since it's under the intake manifold, or if you have carb, it's underneath the carb.

last, but not least, check the control box right behind where your stereo goes. if you check under the dash behind the center console where your stereo mounts to, there is a little black plasting box that controls stuff in your car including the oil sensor/oil sending unit. my oil light used to stay on all the time and never figured out why even though everything was perfect, the new oil sending unit, new oil and proper amounts of oil...then i found out that little black box is malfunctioning probably from a short or something. i just ripped one off the at the junkyard and replaced mine and the oil light never came on (flashing) ever since. it works normal now.