Car care: Oil pressure light turns on during braking
Articles > Car care: Oil pressure light turns on during braking
The reason why the light turns on during braking is simple: When you brake, and especially when braking hard, most of the oil in the engine will pool towards the front, moving it away from the oil pump. When the oil pump has no oil to pump, the oil pressure sensor therefore senses there is low oil pressure, and will thus turn on.
So what does this mean?
- Your engine oil level could be low - this is the most common reason. In this case, you should check your dipstick and top up as necessary.
- The oil in your engine could have too high a viscosity, or rated for warmer climates (and you operate your vehicle in a cool/cold climate most of the time). In this case, you should have the engine oil drained and replaced with the apprpriate oil type.
- You are braking way too hard! Even with the proper oil levels, if you brake so hard (that you loose traction or cause the ABS to activate) the force of the braking action is enough to cause all the oil to pool to the front part of the engine.