Oil Pressure Idiot Light

shadonoz

SkyActiv Member
Contributor
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State of Jefferson
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2017 CX-5 GT AWD+
Does anyone know at what level the low engine oil causes the oil pressure light to illuminate in a 2017 CX-5 under "normal operation"?

  • Yes, it indicates low pressure, not level.
  • Yes, if the light's on, it's not "normal operation".
  • Yes, one must check the level and not rely on the light to tell them anything [except a failure].
  • I'm not asking for speculation or opinions... I'm asking if anyone actually knows.
 
If you had read it, Ed, you would know it doesn't mention level, thanks.
 
It's not based on level at all..it's based on pressure to a switch. But it's not a regular oil p sensor thats reads constant psi like on some older cars. You can get an oil blip because of oil starvation during some extreme maneuvering or something with adequate oil. I'll look in the workshop manual at home.
 
Thanks, Chris. I guess I didn't phrase that very well. I know it's an oil pressure idiot light.

I just want to know how much oil would be in the system if you were going down a straight, smooth road at a constant speed and the light went off due to the low pressure caused by the low oil level.

Fer instance, if it's 2 qts low, will it necessarily light up? 2.5?

I'm just curious.
 
Thanks, Chris. I guess I didn't phrase that very well. I know it's an oil pressure idiot light.

I just want to know how much oil would be in the system if you were going down a straight, smooth road at a constant speed and the light went off due to the low pressure caused by the low oil level.

Fer instance, if it's 2 qts low, will it necessarily light up? 2.5?

I'm just curious.

That I don't know. The manual doesn't detail the operation of the switch as such.
 
It will be when the oil pump starts picking up air instead of returned oil. The person I sold my miata to did not check the oil or change it until her father checked it a lot later and it would not even register on the dipstick but was still running fine. I think it is way low as the pump pickup is designed to float to near the bottom of the pan...
 
It will be when the oil pump starts picking up air instead of returned oil. The person I sold my miata to did not check the oil or change it until her father checked it a lot later and it would not even register on the dipstick but was still running fine. I think it is way low as the pump pickup is designed to float to near the bottom of the pan...

Not registering on the dipstick means the engine is at about 1.5quarts low or more. The oil pressure light will typically only come on when there is about a quart left in the crankcase. It could also come on if you have severely neglected your oil changes for a long period of time. Basically, when you see that light it's almost always too late for the motor and you will certainly get some sort of audible warning that oil is needed long before the light comes on.
 
Not registering on the dipstick means the engine is at about 1.5quarts low or more. The oil pressure light will typically only come on when there is about a quart left in the crankcase. It could also come on if you have severely neglected your oil changes for a long period of time. Basically, when you see that light it's almost always too late for the motor and you will certainly get some sort of audible warning that oil is needed long before the light comes on.
Sorry but where are the facts to support this statement. I’ve trawled the Mazda tech info and it isn’t published so have purposely avoided making a subjective comment.
 
Sorry but where are the facts to support this statement. Ive trawled the Mazda tech info and it isnt published so have purposely avoided making a subjective comment.

Facts? He don't need no stinkin' facts!! (blah)
 
Does anyone know at what level the low engine oil causes the oil pressure light to illuminate in a 2017 CX-5 under "normal operation"?

  • Yes, it indicates low pressure, not level.
  • Yes, if the light's on, it's not "normal operation".
  • Yes, one must check the level and not rely on the light to tell them anything [except a failure].

  • I'm not asking for speculation or opinions... I'm asking if anyone actually knows.

I had a same symptom with my 18 CX5.
Usually, Oil Pressure lights illuminates when oil level is dead low. Like 1qt left in the engine.

I’m mechanic and I working on cars everyday.

Anyways, I of course do an oil change myself but two weeks later, the oil pressure light on.
Checked oil level immediately >good
Checked oil pressure by using a pressure gauge> good
So, I took it to dealership to have them look at it because I thought it is an Oil Pressure Sensor issue and that should be under warranty.

Told to service advisor what I have done and checked.
Next day, I’ve got a phone call from dealership and states that I installed aftermarket oil filter and that might be an issue.
I said, I don’t think so. But I authorized to have them do an oil change again because they told me if that doesn’t help, they not gonna charge me for it. Plus, they told me there is a TSB for this problem and an oil change is a first step to go further.

Well, It turned out that was it.. I ended up paying $265 for Oil Change and Diagnostic fee..

So, if you have installed an aftermarket oil filter, change to the Genuine parts to see what’s going to happen.

Good luck,
 
Interesting. So what brand of filter were you using? If the pressure and oil level were fine; I wonder what the sensor was sensing to throw an error.
 
Anchorman, this is what your reply looks like to me:
1586453888209.png


I'm a little curious to see what you're replying to. Maybe I'll take a peek. :)

I think this way is better for my blood pressure. Now I just wish I could auto-ignore posts that link to Scotty Kilmer videos.
 
so, it's REALLY interesting that I just found this thread!
On Saturday, my "check engine" light came on (not my oil pressure light..let me forewarn you, I have been blessed with one of the 2015 CX5's that have electrical issues every now and then like the shifting cable being bad, and various sensors, so thanks TSB's!). I, in turn, checked my oil because that's all I know to do at this point.
Dipstick reads fine, dirty because I'm over since the pandemic, but still, it's fine, and I continue out to my boyfriends house. There's no leaks beneath my car (I park in the same spot), no smell of burning oil, nothing. I'm on my way home on Monday after driving about 60 miles with my check engine light on and I notice that the RPMs are really high..like 5000/6000. For expressway driving and not passing, that's a LOT. Then, the "Low Oil Pressure - continued driving may result in engine damage" light flickers on, and I panicked, because I'm in the middle of nowhere. The car starts to sputter (the light isn't on still, it's only flickered), and I find a turn off to turn my car off at. Now the car won't start.. and NOW I have the "Low Oil Pressure" light on the side of the road and the engine is trying to cool. Boyfriend brings 4qts of oil to put in, because I check the dipstick and it's bone dry now. I wait a few minutes.. and now it says that I am above the oil limit by 2 qts.

Currently, the car was towed to a place that I didn't want it to be at (thanks AAA), and the mechanic there doesn't believe that the TSB's on my vehicle might have anything to do with my electric marvel of a vehicle ("Ma'am, I'm a mechanic, not an electrician") and believes that I have blown my engine (at 144k) and should just scrap it.

*sigh Thanks for the info and thanks for listening to me ramble

I had a same symptom with my 18 CX5.
Usually, Oil Pressure lights illuminates when oil level is dead low. Like 1qt left in the engine.

I’m mechanic and I working on cars everyday.

Anyways, I of course do an oil change myself but two weeks later, the oil pressure light on.
Checked oil level immediately >good
Checked oil pressure by using a pressure gauge> good
So, I took it to dealership to have them look at it because I thought it is an Oil Pressure Sensor issue and that should be under warranty.

Told to service advisor what I have done and checked.
Next day, I’ve got a phone call from dealership and states that I installed aftermarket oil filter and that might be an issue.
I said, I don’t think so. But I authorized to have them do an oil change again because they told me if that doesn’t help, they not gonna charge me for it. Plus, they told me there is a TSB for this problem and an oil change is a first step to go further.

Well, It turned out that was it.. I ended up paying $265 for Oil Change and Diagnostic fee..

So, if you have installed an aftermarket oil filter, change to the Genuine parts to see what’s going to happen.

Good luck,
 
@HJacoby That is one ouch of a story. Yeah oil pressure light on is almost always (for any manufacture) means the engine was starved of oil and has done some damage. Here is to hoping it is something more mundane for your vehicle.
 
so, it's REALLY interesting that I just found this thread!
On Saturday, my "check engine" light came on (not my oil pressure light..let me forewarn you, I have been blessed with one of the 2015 CX5's that have electrical issues every now and then like the shifting cable being bad, and various sensors, so thanks TSB's!). I, in turn, checked my oil because that's all I know to do at this point.
Dipstick reads fine, dirty because I'm over since the pandemic, but still, it's fine, and I continue out to my boyfriends house. There's no leaks beneath my car (I park in the same spot), no smell of burning oil, nothing. I'm on my way home on Monday after driving about 60 miles with my check engine light on and I notice that the RPMs are really high..like 5000/6000. For expressway driving and not passing, that's a LOT. Then, the "Low Oil Pressure - continued driving may result in engine damage" light flickers on, and I panicked, because I'm in the middle of nowhere. The car starts to sputter (the light isn't on still, it's only flickered), and I find a turn off to turn my car off at. Now the car won't start.. and NOW I have the "Low Oil Pressure" light on the side of the road and the engine is trying to cool. Boyfriend brings 4qts of oil to put in, because I check the dipstick and it's bone dry now. I wait a few minutes.. and now it says that I am above the oil limit by 2 qts.

Currently, the car was towed to a place that I didn't want it to be at (thanks AAA), and the mechanic there doesn't believe that the TSB's on my vehicle might have anything to do with my electric marvel of a vehicle ("Ma'am, I'm a mechanic, not an electrician") and believes that I have blown my engine (at 144k) and should just scrap it.

*sigh Thanks for the info and thanks for listening to me ramble

Not scrap worthy, used engine and labour maybe 1500-2000 usd. Could be a number of things without taking it apart, or taking the oil pan off. Low oil level, oil pump failure, VVT solenoid failure other stuff. but not having the cel diagnosed big mistake as it could be pointing to the failure that led to the problem. something probably caused excessive oil consumption, idk what "it was over" means but if your oil was far gone enough to be burning that's a bad sign. Other issues could be malfunctioning PCV valve due to oil quality/lack of head maintenance that can increase oil consumption. Really hard to know without opening and or decoding the cel.

Everyone needs one of these, period.
 
with your ODB2 reader you gonna need an app

Android
or


IOS
or

these apps are worth their price
 
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