This one is perplexing me.
On the drive to Indy yesterday after stopping a bout half way the low oil level warning message displayed on the DIC. Oil pressure was at 43 pounds.
I stopped, checked the level , it looked fine, reset the message and drove on... the situation repeated itself about 5 miles down the highway. this time although the oil level looked fineI added a quart of oil.

About 10 miles down the road it happened a third time. this time I again stopped, checked the level,
Ran the diagnotic codes and then reset the codes.

The only codes I got where
BO-RFA
C2100, C2105, C2110, C2115 (all to do with the face I am not running tire pressure monitors)
Along with the related UH100 and U1064 codes

After running the diagnostics and resetting all codes, the oil level light did not come back on.
I checked the Vert this morning after it sat and cooled.
The oil level is clearly above the max mark...
So either I was full or at most down 1/4 quart .....

Anyone with ideas?

 

Sounds to me that the oil level sensor is shot. I wouldn't leave the engine overfilled with oil. One hard run can blow out the rear main seal. Not good.

Here is a few:



http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductL...l+Level+Sensor

 

Sounds like the oil level sensor is getting flaky ....

It is located in the rear right of the oil pan .....

GM part number 12603782

torque spec for installation is 115 INCH/lbs

I wouldn't worry about being "overfilled" on oil .... the Owner's Manual recommends an extra quart if you are taking the car to the track ... and I would think Indy should qualify .....

 

and do it all the time.

 

Hmmm, my owners manual says overfilling oil and cause damage to the engine.

Do you have a pic of that statement? I'm just curious.

 

Sure ... for a 1998 turn to page 2-24 in your Owner's Manual ..... it says ....

If you use your vehicle for racing or other
competitive driving, your engine may use more
oil than it would with normal use. Low oil levels
can damage the engine. Be sure to check the oil
level often during racing or other competitive
driving and keep the level at or near the upper
mark on the engine oil dipstick. You may need to
add oil. See “Adding Oil” under “Engine” in
the Index.

But by 2001 the same paragraph says ( https://www.mygmlink.com/pdf/go2cont...01corvette.pdf )

(page 2-26)

If you use your vehicle for racing or other
competitive driving, your engine may use more
oil than it would with normal use. Low oil levels
can damage the engine. Be sure to check the oil
level often during racing or other competitive
driving and keep the level at or near 1 quart (1 L)
above the upper mark that shows the proper
operating range on the engine oil dipstick. For
information on how to add oil, see “Adding Oil”
under “Engine” in the Index. After the
competitive driving, remove excess oil so that the
level on the dipstick is not above the upper mark
that shows the proper operating range.

Apparently sometime between the 1998 manual and the 2001 manual Chevy realized the potential for oil starvation and changed the Owner's Manual to add the extra quart .... it would apply to your engine also as the LSx in the C5 is basically the same engine for any year .....

 

Okay, but is the OP racing the car?

 

The oil level sensor is the only thing that makes sense, but I thought that if it faulted and caused a DIC message that it should have also thrown a code.....

 

Guess those guys who put an extra qt in for track events (per GM recommendation) should worry about blowing the rear main seal too. Really not sure how a rear main seal blows out due to oil being over filled some. Usually its an oil frothing issue if the oil level it too high. The rear main seal has no idea or cares how much oil is in the pan. It gets the same oil pressure on it reqardless of the oil level.

 

Since the Indy 500 was running on Sunday ... it is highly unlikely that rws.1 was "racing" with his Corvette ..... it was a JOKE (notice the BIG GRIN icons .....) .....

DTC P0522 and/or P0523 will set if the Oil PRESSURE readings are out-of-range .... but since the Oil LEVEL sensor is basically an on/off switch the PCM and IPC can't really tell if it has "failed" as an "off" (dead sensor) signal is the same indication as LOW OIL. I guess the good news is GM designed it so that a failure of the sensor generates a LOW OIL warning instead of failing in a "high" or "FULL" state.

Hope you had a good time at the race ...... I'm a former CART/Champ Car junkie who STILL hates Tony George ... so I'm still boycotting .....

 

Black Z06,
1. I was not on the track... this time...

2. I am also a former CART fanatic who is still angry with Tony George as well.... but my wife made me do it... She really likes watches open wheel racing... So what's a poor guy to do when his wife says let's go to Indy ????

3. Thanks for the explanation on the failure mechanism and the lack of code on failure. Looks like I should change it out.

 

rws.1 ....

I totally understand attending .... Indy is back on my "101 things to do before I croak" ..... and if the wife is "insisting" ..... then you DEFINATELY had NO choice ....

Hope you had a GREAT time ......

 

Then do a little research. This is not new information, or rocket science for that matter. GM does recommend an extra quart for Auto-x events, and then recommends draining afterward. The key is how the car is driven, and how long it takes the oil to return to the pan, hard acceleration, hard turning, etc. It's poor practice to ever over fill an engine for daily driving, and even worse to advise someone it's no big deal.

 

Like I said before, show me the technical info that says overfilling "blows rear main seals." I think it's pure BS, as overfilling has no effect on the oil pressure the rear main seal sees. Overfilling can cause oil aeration due to the crankshaft beating on the oil, which is the main reason you don’t overfill and engine. Most engines will not beat the oil into aeration with a qt over full.

 

Hey, overfill away brother....to each their own.

 

I don't overfill ... but this "overfilling will blow the rear main seal" is an old falsehood made up in the 60s. Yes overfilling can cause problems from oil aeration, but it's not going to "blow the rear main seal". What about the "front oil seal" ... would it "blow" too? ... or is it a know fact that only rear seals are the weakest seals of all?

What about guys who run insane race oil pumps that put out much more oil pressure ... won't they "blow the rear main seal" too? As you can see, having an extra qt of oil in these engines will not cause higher oil pressure, which is the only thing that can blow a seal -- GM wouldn't even advise adding an extra qt for racing if there was any chance of causing oil aeration.

Guys who have high levels of FI can blow seals way easier due to high levels of piston ring blow-by and a lack of adequate crankcase venting. The only way too much oil could cause the rear main to blow is if it was so over-filled that it caused the crankcase to build up extreme pressure due to not allowing it to vent excess pressure out the PCV system. I'd suspect that would take way more than an extra qt of oil in any LSx engine.

 

Ya, I do not think the one qt over is any big deal. IMO the blowing seals thing is not an issue with the LSx engines. With old designs an engine could be over filled to the point where it would interfere with bay to bay air movement, this would create a situation where a piston on the down stroke would have to basically push oil out of its way. This force on the oil would cause seals to get blown out. The LSx famaily doesn't really have any bay to bay breathing issues, not even close with a qt overfill.

 

Thanks for the post, I'm having oil sensor trouble myself.

 

Great info guys having the same trouble with my 01 Z06 I just bought. 43 pounds of pressure and full of oil. Must be the sensor