Help oil light on and off!

Hi everyone I have a 2011 toyota Tacoma sport with 21k on it and my oil light has come on and gone off, I am concerned big time about this, any thoughts by anyone on this, calling the dealer tomorrow to get it in to be looked at.

 

Have you checked your oil?

 

Check the wire on the oil pressure sending unit.

 

Who changes your oil? It could be on the borderline of low, hence the flicking on and off. I know the dipsticks are crap in these trucks, but see if you have a good amount in there. Not to mention, it's normal for a vehicle to eat a little bit of oil between changes too; so if it wasn't full in the first place...

 

The oil light is a pressure switch, not a low level switch. Well if it gets low enough it will loose pressure when the pump sucks air and then boom the engine locks up.

He either has an electrical issue with the switch / wiring or he is loosing oil pressure.

I am hoping he has an electrical problem. If he is loosing oil pressure it could get expensive real fast.

 

Don't forget to check the sending unit itself. I once did an oil change and the light stayed on with the first start after the change. Looked under the car, no puddle. Checked the level -- good. Looked into the open oil filler hole and saw oil splashing around.

Checked the sending unit ----- BAD

What are the chances that on that one start after an oil change, the sending unit would go breasts up? It taught me never to take anything for granted when troubleshooting.

 

Had an oil pressure light come on my jeep, found out it was the sending unit had gone bad. If your pump went bad no oil pressure, the engine would clatter, then seized up in a matter of seconds.

 

Good info above.

If it were me, I'd drive a different vehicle to get some oil & a filter and change the oil/filter myself. That way I'd have a known quantity to begin trouble shooting.

 

It is NOT normal for a vehicle to use oil. If you are needing to add oil, you have a leak, going past the rings, or leaking valve seals. it's not the 80's anymore.
Most likely electrical issue. like mentioned, the light is low oil pressure, not low level. only way oil level would make it go off would be if it was VERY low, like to the point where it would most likely rattle more than normal.
Not many miles for a truck that old, hope you are changing the oil at least once a year as the oil will absorb moisture, especially since it must not get driven much.

 

You sure about that. Never heard of motor oil absorbing water. Brake fluid has this property.

 

Any oil will attract water, just depends on the oil. that is why the oil change intervals have X amount of miles, or after X amount of time. with a daily driver, the heat will evaporate the water. that's why cars with very few miles that are older usually turn out to be money pits. they either were always in the garage being fixed, or the seals, gaskets, and crap dry up, or lack of maintenance and changing fluids because people ignore the time factor of the required service intervals

 

OK. Just read a technical paper about water contaminating oil and it's affect on bearing surfaces. Something new to worry about.

 

Ok so I have a extended warranty on my truck first of all which I bought with the truck, I have the oil changed between 3 and 5 months and have all maintenance done regularly, just had plugs teplaced and diff fluid done and new tires, I am right in top of the truck, so why would this happen? It's going to the dealer tonight for tomorrow,

 

Never answered if you checked you oil level. If that light goes from a blink to constantly on, your engine will be toast.

 

Oil pressure sensor that is screw into the engine block. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF0fdo04pBY

 

Incorrect. It's even in your manual. It's worse when idling excessively or towing. Have a good one.

 

It's Tuesday wonder what happen?

 

Well today it was at the dealer and they couldn't find anything wrong could not duplicate, they did give me a oil change while I was there at no charge per all checking things out and covering all bases. Will just keep eye on it.

 

That happen to me to with a Jeep Wrangler. I was intermittent as far as the oil light coming on and going off. It was the oil pressure sensor was going bad, replaced it no more problems!

 

It is in the manual...which says it is worse during high speeds and frequent acceleration and deceleration. The manual also says up to 1.1 quarts per 600 miles can be consumed. Do that math and you'll understand why a lot of people find this to be ridiculous. (I'll do it for you...600*5.5=3300 which is far less than the recommended 5000 mile oil change interval.) It also says it may be necessary to run a higher viscosity (the second number, 5w-40 instead of 5w-30 or instance) if you drive at high speeds or with frequent acc/dec.

My opinion is like many others. With todays tolerances and restrictions on fuel consumption, which is affected by oil consumption, no amount of oil loss should be okay especially not the 1.1 quarts per 600 miles Toyota apparently accepts. Sure an engine can burn some oil under extreme loads and there can be external leaks due to a clogged PCV valve or blown gasket amoong other things but its not something that should be acceptable. No matter what your opinion is on this you should still be checking your oil levels regularly just like tire pressures and coolant level no matter if you do the maintenance yourself or not.