Low Oil Leval
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,948
Likes: 441
From: Puyallup WA
Low Oil Leval
When starting my vette up today I got a "LOW OIL LEVAL" message. My oil life meter is at about 35% and I was going to get it changed soon anyway. I called Corvettes of Auburn and made an appointment to get the oil changed tomorrow morning.
I know all motors burn a little bit of oil, but I have never seen this message before. I always change my oil when the meter is around 30%.
Could some sort of sensor be bad? I park in a garage and there is no oil on the floor, so I don't believe anything is leaking.
Any thoughts?
I know all motors burn a little bit of oil, but I have never seen this message before. I always change my oil when the meter is around 30%.
Could some sort of sensor be bad? I park in a garage and there is no oil on the floor, so I don't believe anything is leaking.
Any thoughts?
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,948
Likes: 441
From: Puyallup WA
I have not checked it yet. Still at work.
Yeah, I know they burn some oil, but I've waited longer to change my oil and never saw this message.
If I see the message after the oil is changed tomorrow, then I'll worry. LOL
If I see the message after the oil is changed tomorrow, then I'll worry. LOL
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,460
Likes: 16
From: hamilton alabama
i just changed my oil the other weekend with it getting close to needing changed. i was getting the same low oil message before changing it and the oil level was full. I had mobil 1 in it with the engine swap that i had done and when i changed the oil put amsoil in just because i believe its the best oil on the market 
when oil comes close to needing to be changed the oil breaks down which also gives you low oil pressure like in my case 
when oil comes close to needing to be changed the oil breaks down which also gives you low oil pressure like in my case
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 7,604
Likes: 8
From: Belleville Il
!! Might have just been some different driving conditions this time. GM CLAIMED part of the problem was "low load conditions" were partially to blame. Guys driving around in lower gears,,not putting enough load on the motor. driving around in lower gears will let the rings "float " a bit ,,not creating as much pressure on the cylinder walls. Were you running around in lower gears this time?? MIGHT have been a contributing factor. My money is on an improper fill on the last change!!
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
5 MOST and 5 LEAST Popular Corvette Model Years in History!
Joe Kucinski
2027 Corvette Buyer's Guide: Everything You Need to Know!
Joe Kucinski
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,948
Likes: 441
From: Puyallup WA
I'm not worried. LOL
I drive my car daily, but my trips are shorter-usually. It's an automatic, so it's in whatever gear the car wants to be in. LOL
I did have a few longer drives this time around-Puyallup to Redmond-About an hour + each way-Puyallup to Lacey-about 45 minutes each way.
Since I was getting it changed soon anyway, I'll just see what happens after tomorrow.
Thanks all.
I drive my car daily, but my trips are shorter-usually. It's an automatic, so it's in whatever gear the car wants to be in. LOL
I did have a few longer drives this time around-Puyallup to Redmond-About an hour + each way-Puyallup to Lacey-about 45 minutes each way.
Since I was getting it changed soon anyway, I'll just see what happens after tomorrow.
Thanks all.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 10,179
Likes: 2,306
From: Wesley Chapel, FL Las Vegas, NV
i just changed my oil the other weekend with it getting close to needing changed. i was getting the same low oil message before changing it and the oil level was full. I had mobil 1 in it with the engine swap that i had done and when i changed the oil put amsoil in just because i believe its the best oil on the market when oil comes close to needing to be changed the oil breaks down which also gives you low oil pressure like in my case
when oil comes close to needing to be changed the oil breaks down which also gives you low oil pressure like in my case Your Mobil 1 was nowhere near breaking down to the point that it would effect PSI
Race Director
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 15,323
Likes: 2,071
From: Guelph, Ontario
How low does the level need to be before the low oil level message comes on? I once put in only 5 quarts of oil when I changed the oil, and drove that way for two days just to see if the message showed up and it didn't! IMO if you're 1.5 quarts low that message should show up!
FWIW, I just changed my oil and measured how much came out and my engine uses about one quart every 5000 miles.
FWIW, I just changed my oil and measured how much came out and my engine uses about one quart every 5000 miles.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,460
Likes: 16
From: hamilton alabama
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,820
Likes: 2
From: San Diego
Engineers usually design oil to absorb contaminants for a much longer period than the recommended oil change intervals. That's why its throwing money out the window when one changes oil more frequently than whatever is factory recommended for your particular driving habits and conditions.
..rickko..
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 11,467
Likes: 8
From: 972 and 405
I've seen the message twice with my 2.5 year ownership. Just toss in another quart. While people will recommend to check with the dipstick, I hate it. The way it is designed, the oil will go all the up the dipstick. It's near impossible to get an accurate reading of the oil level with the dipstick, have fun trying though.
-Alex
-Alex
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,948
Likes: 441
From: Puyallup WA
I've seen the message twice with my 2.5 year ownership. Just toss in another quart. While people will recommend to check with the dipstick, I hate it. The way it is designed, the oil will go all the up the dipstick. It's near impossible to get an accurate reading of the oil level with the dipstick, have fun trying though.
-Alex
-Alex
Race Director
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 15,323
Likes: 2,071
From: Guelph, Ontario
I've seen the message twice with my 2.5 year ownership. Just toss in another quart. While people will recommend to check with the dipstick, I hate it. The way it is designed, the oil will go all the up the dipstick. It's near impossible to get an accurate reading of the oil level with the dipstick, have fun trying though.
For the first year or two that I owned my C5 I thought my engine didn't use any oil at all as the dipstick always looked full to me. But then I decided to start measuring how much oil came out at oil change time and that's when I discovered it actually was using a quart every 5k, even when the dipstick still showed it to be full! Obviously it's quite a useless dipstick!
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,737
Likes: 349
From: Layton Utah
If it were mine, I'd be interested in really how low it got. Some cars don't throw a warning light until it's almost critical. I would see if I couldn't get some kind of reading on the dipstick in the morning before I started it up. The oil is probably dark enough now to get a better reading than when it's clear. By the way, how many miles on the car and how many miles since the last change? It would just be interesting to know. Good luck
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 6,301
Likes: 6
From: LAND OF OZ Kansas
Maybe the car is just a quart low as it has been posted up; it happened to me a couple of years back. I saw the same message, but I stopped at the first auto parts store to top it off.