I've got a 95 cavalier z24 with the 2.3l and the check oil light has been coming on. Its been about 1k miles since i changed the oil and about a week ago the check oil light came on. I checked the oil and it was a little low, i added about a 1/4 of a quart and the light turned off. Then it turned on again tuesday morning so i checked it again, but the oil level was fine. The next time i drove the car the light was off and stayed off the rest of tuesday and wednesday untill wednesday evening it turned on again. Just to make sure i checked it again and the oil level is still the same, as it should be. What else can cause the check oil light to come on? Should i be worried about this or could it be something like a bad sensor?

It could very well be the sensor going out....... but just so you understand..... the oil level doesn't have anything to to with the oil light coming on..... it's the oil pressure (allthough not enough oil will drop oil pressure). Either your oil pressure is to low or the sensor is messing up.

Being that your oil pump is mechanical and your car hasn't blown up... I would guess that your oil pump is OK

How long has it been since you replaced your oil filter? If the filter is becoming clogged... it could cause that problem also.

It has been almost 1k miles since i last changed the oil and filter. I did some research and i found that you are right about the oil pressure causing the light to come on. If the filter is clogged it wont cause low oil pressure, oil filters have a bypass valve in them for when the filter gets clogged to still let oil through "because dirty oil is better than no oil at all". But what i did find is that low oil pressure is caused by the leaks in the engine being too great for the oil pump capacity. Also my oil pump should be fine with low oil pressure, but my top end will not get as much oil.

Thanks for the help

Make sure you are thinking about the right light. Some of these cars have 2 lights... an amber light that actually says 'check oil' that means the oil quantity is low. These sensors seem to be flaky - as these seems to be lots of complaints about them coming on when the oil level is fine.

Then there is the red 'oil can' light that mean low oil pressure. This is the bad one. Also these sensors seem to be fairly reliable. If it comes on, it usually means the oil pressure is too low. And if I recall from my dealings with low oil pressure - they are set at around 2 or 3 PSI for the light to come on. Normal oil pressure is much higher that this. Although this light coming on can be caused by low oil quantity - it usually needs to be very low, so low the pump starts to suck air out of the tank - often seen first during hard cornering or hard acceleration or deceleration. More often - as you seem to deduce, it is caused by a worn out engine. Worn main bearings, rod bearings, and/or cam bearings on high mileage engines cause oil pressure loss. If this is the light that is coming on, then the life left in your engine is likely fairly limited.

I only mention this to make sure you are worried about the right light, for the right reasons. I have a 96 and a 97. The 96 has both warning lights, the 97 only has the red pressure light.

my 96 z24 had the check oil light come on. i replaced the sensor on the oil pan and all was well.


good luck

the light coming on is a red light that says check oil, the car just went over 180k miles so i wouldnt be suprised if it has worn bearings

95-96.... HAVE OIL LEVEL light...
the sensor is @!#$.. i just taped my light off.. its common for them to go out.. if ur full on oil its fine