Oil Pressure Light

[bzern326]

I was driving somewhere today and my 1994 530 announced that my oil pressure was low. Horrified, I immediately pulled over and shut the car off. I checked the oil level (full), and got under the car to see if there was a pool of oil or any evidence of leaks (nope). I then turned the car back on, and the light would not come back on. Could this be some electrical glitch, or is my little V8 shot?

[M Quick]

How long did you wait before you checked the oil level?

If it's not that it could be a faulty oil pressure sensor.

But it could also be a sign of that the oil pump bolts has come loose, common problem on m60 engines.

[bzern326]

I was picking up some dry cleaning, so I waited about 5-10 minutes before checking the oil level.

How big of a pain in the ass is it to change the oil pressure switch?

[T444E]

Search around for M60 oil pump bolts. There was a problem where they were backing out on their own, and causing low oil pressure.

[M Quick]

I was picking up some dry cleaning, so I waited about 5-10 minutes before checking the oil level.

Ok, good!
Then we know it has correct level.



How big of a pain in the ass is it to change the oil pressure switch?

I don't know really, never did change that on any m60 engine.

But i do know that checking the oil pump bolts and putting them back (if that is the case, and i would think it is as it's a very common problem) togheter is fairly easy as the oil pan is split and you got easy access to it.

[K Fox]

How big of a pain in the ass is it to change the oil pressure switch?

It's been said above but I'm going to say it also - it's not the switch. These engines are known for having the oil pump bolts laying in the oil pan when you remove it. IT's frighteningly common to have them fall out. That said, another symptom is having that oil pressure light flash on when you brake hard - this allows the pump to lean forward a little more, which drops the pressure enough to trigger the light. All in all you need to check those bolts right away.

Good news - the oil pan is 2 pieces on these and the lower pan comes off easily. All you need is a gasket which is about $25 and you can do this on a set of ramps just like doing an oil change. In fact, is IS an oil change, though you're removing the bottom pan instead of only undoing a drain plug. All you need to do to fix it is loctite the mounting bolts in place after a quick cleaning of everything. Shouldn't take more than 45 minutes or so. Also, if you don't already have the Bentley manual yet, search here in the forums for a link to download it - it will become your best friend when talking about your car. Good luck.

Fox