Oil light (C240 W202)

[Lazarus]

Hi,

On my way home from work last night, I had a bit of a worrying incident -my oil light came on. I'd just passed junction 8A of the M40 (if you know it) and didn't want to get stuck on the motorway, so, as the engine sounded ok, I slowed right down and after about 2 minutes the light went out and I 'gently' drove the car to the nearest petrol station (just off junction 9), pulled over and checked the oil - it was quite low, so I put two litres of Mobil 1 into the car and drove home (5 miles or so). I checked the level when cold this morning, and it's about 3 1/4s up the dipstick.

A couple of questions:

* Firstly, could I have damaged the engine in anyway driving approx 10 miles with low oil? The owner's handbook says to drive to the nearest garage and top it up if there is no obvious leaks (which there aren't).

* Does the V6 engine use oil? I've had Alfa Romeos and Lancias in the past which all consumed oil to a degree. According to the ASSYST display there are still 5000 miles until my car is due an 'A' service.

Since I've bought the car I've done approx 4.5k miles in under a month, mostly at motorway speeds, I guess I should've checked the oil more regularly!!!

Any insights on the above would be greatly appreciated.

On another note, got some really lovely pics of the car at the gite I was staying at in France - will post when I've had a chance to photoshop them to a sensible size.

Cheers all,

Laz.
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[Dieselman]

When you say the oil light do you mean the "low oil" indication or the "low oil pressure" indication.

If it's low oil then all should be Ok, if it's low oil pressure then you have run the gauntlet by continuing the journey.

V6 engines do consume oil.

 

[MangoMan]

I reckon....

.....that engines generally use more oil at sustained high speeds, than just poodling around town. As far as damages goes, anybody's guess. Also, it's a good practice to check your oil after a service/oil change etc. You might be thinking you are using oil, meanwhile back at the ranch, it was not topped-up to begin with. Cheers, Bill.

 

[Lazarus]

When you say the oil light do you mean the "low oil" indication or the "low oil pressure" indication.

If it's low oil then all should be Ok, if it's low oil pressure then you have run the gauntlet by continuing the journey.

V6 engines do consume oil.

Sorry, being a bit dim - it was the light in the instrument cluster with the oil symbol above a wavy line - I'm guessing that this is the level indicator???

Laz
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[Mambo]

Sorry, being a bit dim - it was the light in the instrument cluster with the oil symbol above a wavy line - I'm guessing that this is the level indicator???

Laz
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Yup thats the oil level light. Mine came on once, stopped at the next service and topped up. Don't think you do any damage as long as it doesn't drop below the min marker

 

[Brian WH]

Yup thats the oil level light. Mine came on once, stopped at the next service and topped up. Don't think you do any damage as long as it doesn't drop below the min marker

You will not do any damage as long as you respond to the warning light and not put it off, like we do sometimes. It is a warning and is set to come on when the level reaches minimum, but the engine will be OK a this point.

 

[marcos]

My old C240 used to use a bit of oil so I wouldn't worry mate.

 

[bangerman]

i have a w202 v6 c280 estate.

A couple of months back we where having a very damp spell ( live in west wales) and when i hit about 60mph my oil light would come on then 1 sec later the BAS light would come on.
I would stop, turn car off, remove key and restart etc.
no lights

I looked in the ciruit diagram and found both lights are on the same circuit.
I took out every fuse/relay cleaned with a bit of WD40 when needed and reassembled.

Haven't had a light on since( touch wood ) and oil level is exactly the same.

hope this is of help