Q: Engine low oil level warning light illuminated

This morning when I went to fill my Outback with gas this warning lamp illuminated on the dash. This is the yellow lamp in the speedometer dial and not the red "Oil pressure warning" light within the tachometer dial.

I parked the vehicle and checked the oil level and it is showing completely full. There is no doubt that there is plenty of oil in the engine.

I read the description of this in the owners manual and it states that if it is on then there is approximately 4 (engine not running) or 5.6 (engine running) quarts of oil. Perhaps I was misreading the dipstick so I turned to that section of the manual to ensure I was doing it properly. It appears that I am.

Conditions: Temperature is around 30 degrees, I waited approximately 30 seconds after starting before driving away, the coolant indicator remained blue the entire trip, the light was not on when I drove away but came on after I filled the tank.

After observing the light I checked the oil, upon seeing the level is OK I started the engine and allowed it to warm slightly (the coolant light went out and the heater started blowing warm air), and then rechecked the oil.

Any idea what might be causing this? I've attempted to cycle the ignition off and on again several times and it's still illuminated. The only thing I can think of is the sensor is bad (or temperamental in colder weather). I drove it 200+ miles over the weekend without any issues. Was it a short trip issue without warming it up?

I'll take it to my mechanic for inspection if there is no obvious explanation for this (other than a bad sensor).

On a completely unrelated note what's up with the multiple line spacing when I post? Initial post has double spacing which I have to go back and edit out.

1. Double spacing is something that seems to occur when posting with Firefox - not sure if it's the forum or Firefox that has a bug though.

2. Oil level to be checked when engine has been standing still for at least 5 minutes to allow it to get a correct reading. The oil volume itself don't change when the engine is running or not, it's the displacement of the engine that differs, 4 liters (or quarts if you like) for the H4 and 5.6 for the H6 (roughly, depends if you have an oil cooler or not too).

Checking the dipstick is a bit quirky - you have to look at both sides of the dipstick to be sure and read the lowest indication. If both sides are between the marks all is good. Too much oil isn't good either - it can come back into the manifold or cause other obscure problems.

This morning when I went to fill my Outback with gas this warning lamp illuminated on the dash. This is the yellow lamp in the speedometer dial and not the red "Oil pressure warning" light within the tachometer dial.

 

I parked the vehicle and checked the oil level and it is showing completely full. There is no doubt that there is plenty of oil in the engine.

 

I read the description of this in the owners manual and it states that if it is on then there is approximately 4 (engine not running) or 5.6 (engine running) quarts of oil. Perhaps I was misreading the dipstick so I turned to that section of the manual to ensure I was doing it properly. It appears that I am.

 

Conditions: Temperature is around 30 degrees, I waited approximately 30 seconds after starting before driving away, the coolant indicator remained blue the entire trip, the light was not on when I drove away but came on after I filled the tank.

 

After observing the light I checked the oil, upon seeing the level is OK I started the engine and allowed it to warm slightly (the coolant light went out and the heater started blowing warm air), and then rechecked the oil.

 

Any idea what might be causing this? I've attempted to cycle the ignition off and on again several times and it's still illuminated. The only thing I can think of is the sensor is bad (or temperamental in colder weather). I drove it 200+ miles over the weekend without any issues. Was it a short trip issue without warming it up?

 

I'll take it to my mechanic for inspection if there is no obvious explanation for this (other than a bad sensor).

 

On a completely unrelated note what's up with the multiple line spacing when I post? Initial post has double spacing which I have to go back and edit out.

i have the same exact issue on my 11 OBK 3.6R as well. now my car does burn a little oil over the OCI, but the light likes to come on if I start the car and only run it for a short time, like if i have to move it out of the drive way for the wife to pull out. the light will come on then, but after driving a period of time, it goes out on its own. I verified the level is good throughout, so i suspect its a combination of a sensor issue, the algorithm the ECU used to to determine when the put the light on, and I remember reading somewhere that our model year was affected by bad block/head castings in the oil drain-back passages where a partial restriction would delay oil repopulating the pan, thus triggering the level switch. this is why it only happens(for me) when the car is cold and the oil is viscous.

you can buy a replacement oil level sensor to see if that helps. they are fairly cheap, but at least for me if i make sure the car warms up some before i shut it off, the light never comes on.

Thanks guys. I took it to the mechanic last week and, while he saw the light, he was unable to determine an underlying cause as the light went out after a road test. He said it is something to keep an eye on but, unless it happens again, not to worry about it.

Perhaps the conditions, which were similar to those whitetiger outlined (i.e not allowing it to warm up), caused the light to illuminate and, after a couple of drive cycles, it extinguished itself. I have been driving it since then and no light.

Wanted to circle back on this for anyone who may stumble across this thread in the future.

The light did illuminate again and then, on the same trip, went off again. I decided this is too important of a warning light to ignore so I had my mechanic replace the sensor. After a month of driving the light has not illuminated any more. It appears the sensor was the issue.