E39 flickering oil pressure light
Discussion
E39 530i, 107k
Oil level is to the max on the dipstick, but recently the red oil pressure light has been flickering on and off. It really is a flicker, it's not illuminated for more than half a second at a time i reckon. Seems to be fairly random - can't say it only happens at idle/when cornering/when accelerating for instance. Has only ever been serviced by main dealers and I've topped oil up with correct Longlife Castrol oil.
Hoping it's just a dodgy oil pressure sensor/switch but would welcome any ideas.
Now, I still have the engine light on which was diagnosed as a faulty oxygen sensor. Wondering if the two could be related? I read the o2 sensor issue could be caused by a vacuum pipe split, and someone on a forum suggested the oil pressure light could also be triggered by that - however, it was just one comment on a forum so not sure how valid it was as a suggestion.
I think the idle speed is a little lower than usual, and mpg may be slightly lower than usual but not 100% sure.
Re the oil, when I topped it up I was a bit worried to see a thin coating of rusty brown sludge under the filler cap - it doesn't look too serious, and one forum suggested They All Do That Sir??
Any help will be appreciated!
Oil level is to the max on the dipstick, but recently the red oil pressure light has been flickering on and off. It really is a flicker, it's not illuminated for more than half a second at a time i reckon. Seems to be fairly random - can't say it only happens at idle/when cornering/when accelerating for instance. Has only ever been serviced by main dealers and I've topped oil up with correct Longlife Castrol oil.
Hoping it's just a dodgy oil pressure sensor/switch but would welcome any ideas.
Now, I still have the engine light on which was diagnosed as a faulty oxygen sensor. Wondering if the two could be related? I read the o2 sensor issue could be caused by a vacuum pipe split, and someone on a forum suggested the oil pressure light could also be triggered by that - however, it was just one comment on a forum so not sure how valid it was as a suggestion.
I think the idle speed is a little lower than usual, and mpg may be slightly lower than usual but not 100% sure.
Re the oil, when I topped it up I was a bit worried to see a thin coating of rusty brown sludge under the filler cap - it doesn't look too serious, and one forum suggested They All Do That Sir??
Any help will be appreciated!
Dragging this thread back to life to add the cure for this in case someone does a search for something similar in future.
I had other problems with my 530 which are mentioned here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Anyway, it seems a lot of people here had correctly identified the problem. BMW replaced the crankcase breather valve and it's not only cured the lambda readings and the misfires, but also the flickering oil pressure light and apparently the car will stop using so much oil too, which is nice.
(Thanks to those people that contributed to the thread btw. If I had more time I'd have attempted the work myself.
I had other problems with my 530 which are mentioned here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Anyway, it seems a lot of people here had correctly identified the problem. BMW replaced the crankcase breather valve and it's not only cured the lambda readings and the misfires, but also the flickering oil pressure light and apparently the car will stop using so much oil too, which is nice.
(Thanks to those people that contributed to the thread btw. If I had more time I'd have attempted the work myself.
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