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Adding a quart of oil, Check engine light goes on

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Old 01-29-2014, 07:54 AM
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Default Adding a quart of oil, Check engine light goes on

Well my iDrive said I was low on oil so I added a quart of Pennzoil Platinum SAE 5W-30 oil from Auto Zone.

Now my check engine light is on. Anyone have any ideas what I can do?

Old 01-29-2014, 08:18 AM
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What is the code reader telling you is the problem?

The oil level sensor may have given you a false reading due to the cold weather (mine did!). Take the car engine to operating temperature or drive for about 30 minutes to see if the I-Drive is telling you that you have over flooded the engine with oil. 1 quart sounds like a lot unless you have a leak or under filled on your recent oil change.

Good luck!
Old 01-29-2014, 08:36 AM
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Thanks , well it was telling me I was on minimum oil level. So i just bought one of those little containers, I think it was a quart, maybe a pint?

I will run the car and see if it tells me I overfilled. Can't imagine I overfilled I didn't put much in. Darn can't do anything right these days lorddd
Old 01-29-2014, 09:31 AM
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If you think that's bad, listen to this:

I went cheap and bought 2 gallons (around $25.XX each) of Mobil 1 oil from Walmart. I "over filled" because I did what the I-Drive was telling me. While draining the oil to fix the problem, I dropped the drain plug and could not find it during the whole time! 45 minutes later, I came home with another two gallons of Mobil 1 from Walmart and overfilled again (Thanks, I-Drive!). It was a $100+ oil change minus labor time for the day. lol

Oh, drive to Auto Zone and have them read the code for you if you have not done so. Kill two birds with one stone and check the oil level from I-Drive while you're at it. ;-)

Originally Posted by korpse88
Thanks , well it was telling me I was on minimum oil level. So i just bought one of those little containers, I think it was a quart, maybe a pint?

I will run the car and see if it tells me I overfilled. Can't imagine I overfilled I didn't put much in. Darn can't do anything right these days lorddd

Last edited by E60I; 01-29-2014 at 09:42 AM.
Old 01-29-2014, 09:43 AM
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Engine oil low error [on iDrive] may not have anything to do with the check-engine-light. Only way to be sure is to read the diagnostic codes via OBD-II port. If you don't have diagnostic code reader, take the car to your local auto parts store; most of the parts stores read codes for free.
Old 01-29-2014, 09:45 AM
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Hey Pcy!

How are you! Hope all is well!

Daniel


Originally Posted by pcy
Engine oil low error [on iDrive] may not have anything to do with the check-engine-light. Only way to be sure is to read the diagnostic codes via OBD-II port. If you don't have diagnostic code reader, take the car to your local auto parts store; most of the parts stores read codes for free.
Old 01-29-2014, 10:28 AM
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Originally Posted by pcy
Engine oil low error [on iDrive] may not have anything to do with the check-engine-light. Only way to be sure is to read the diagnostic codes via OBD-II port. If you don't have diagnostic code reader, take the car to your local auto parts store; most of the parts stores read codes for free.
Check Engine Light renders a code? Ok cool. Didnt know auto zone can read codes, and for free!
Old 01-30-2014, 01:25 PM
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Did you tighten the oil fill cap? If the cap is not tight then the CEL will come on.
Old 01-30-2014, 01:32 PM
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Yep it was tightened. It took 2-3 days after til the light came on.

Wondering if the mixture of old oil with new oil set off the CEL ? Is that possible
Old 01-30-2014, 01:47 PM
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Originally Posted by korpse88
...
Wondering if the mixture of old oil with new oil set off the CEL ? Is that possible
No.

Please take the car to your local auto parts store and have them read the diagnostic codes. Without codes, it'll be just guessing game.


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