At what point of oil loss should my oil/engine light come on?

Oil level or Oil pressure ? I thought it only had an "Oil pressure" light .. that should come on around 10 lbs or less .. not sure~~~~ If it comes on stop the car ASAP or you may do serious damage to the engine

Tom, I have a 2013 Ford Escape that I purchased in May of this year. I took it to an oil change place (not the dealer) and over the course of the next 2 1/2 weeks, oil was leaking into the engine. I had no idea since nothing was on the ground. The engine light didn't come on until the car lurched and started knocking (ticking like a machine gun) and the oil light NEVER came on. By the time we checked the oil and saw there was none in the vehicle, it was too late, the engine was destroyed. Since I had the oil changed at a place other than the dealer, they will not honor my extended warranty. I understand it was the fault of the oil change place for a faulty filter/application, but shouldn't the engine or oil light have come on as some kind of warning with that much oil loss? This is the fourth time I have had the vehicle serviced since I purchased it; all for different issues. Any problem I have noticed, I IMMEDIATELY take it in to be serviced. Had the engine or oil light come on, this could have been avoided. What should I do?

The first thing to do is to say nothing to no one until you get all your documentation because the minute you call your seller the "cone of silence" will drop and you won't be able to find out anything. When you say "it leaked into the engine" ... I don't understand what that means. Oil can leak into the antifreeze or leak int the combustion chamber but that term is a mystery to me. What other issues have you had? Sometimes an alarm .like Low oil will be stored on your cars computer even if you failed to get it on your display. If that's retrieved then you may be able to prove your case with Ford. I'm at a loss to understand what happended however it's possible the guy who changed your oil failed to put the drain screw in properly or he may have even cross threaded it (easy to check ,,, get under there and remove it ... look for shavings. are you absolutely sure it ran out? Is it possible a dis-grunted acquaintance didn't do it ( If it were vandalism than your covered by insurance)

Sorry ... but you posted information while I was writing so that puts a different spin on things, Keep the filter .. it's essential evidence ... if the filter failed and put debris in your engine the the debris could have blocked or even ruined your pressure switch ... that in turn could have caused the alarm not to work

The service tech at the Ford dealer saved the filter and said that the splash guard was covered in oil as well and that it was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the fault of the oil change company. The owner of the oil change place is being extremely uncooperative and says he won't do anything because is says on their receipts "If there is a problem with the vehicle after the oil change, they must inspect it first." Don't all oil change places have that verbiage on their receipts? Furthermore, the warranty says that the vehicle needs to be brought there first for inspection. What a mess. There was absolutely no indication that the car was losing oil until what I described earlier. When I checked the oil, it wasn't even registering on the ball of the dipstick...

This was approximately 2.5 weeks after the date of the oil change.

Get the filter from the Ford guy .. take pictures. Pay no attention to what the receipt says, it's not legal and even if he claimed it is ... it's not signed or notarized. Take the position the oil filter sent debris through the engine that resulted in the oil safety switch to failing FYI ;;; writing anything on paper has no legality unless it's witnessed and signed

You do not need advise from people here on CarGurus, you need to get an attorney involved ASAP.

Let me take a wild guess... Jiffy Lube? That chain has a bad reputation already and case law will bury them.Toast. And Jim... maybe years. .... Bob - absolutely right. ...--Tom....- Good advice. --- Courtney do not say another word until you talk to a lawyer. Best wishes to you Courtney, you got screwed without dinner and a movie

Is it possible the oil changer simply failed to put new oil in after draining out the old? Will a 'low oil pressure' measuring device work if there is no oil pressure at all? Maybe they only indicate low pressure rather than no pressure! I don't have any answers, just questions. Good luck.

I don't know if your car has a low oil warning. My Subaru does but your oil light may only be for low oil pressure. It sounds like the oil change place did not fill it up with oil or left the filter loose so that the oil leaked out.

Courtney - the dealer cannot void the warranty for not having them change the oil. If that is what they said they are lying. Legally you can maintain your car ANYWHERE you want to and you have the receipts to prove that you did.

I have the exact same problem with a 2007 Ford Escape Hybrd. My oil light never came on which it has always done in the past. I bought this car brand new 10 years ago. I have had regular oil changes but when the engine died on the highway, the mechanic said there was no oil in the car. I can't imagine how that could have happened. So I will also take the advice here and go back to my oil changers to see what can be done.

I have this exact same issue right now..with the exact same car....only difference I have not had recent oil change and my engine has not seized only because I happened to be literally arriving home as the engine started making odd noises..turned off car I let it cool over night and then I checked all fluid levels. (you cannot Check transfluid on this car). The one and only other thing that happened prior is that on the drive home the air condition stopped producing cool air. God I am hoping all I have to do is put oil in the car. Oil light never came on! I had one qt on me the noise has very very slightly improved. Obviously it needs about 4 more qts

I had the same problem with a 2007 Mercury Mariner. The last oil change was 4000 miles earlier. I went for a longish drive (~100 miles) when, out of the blue, the gas engine started making that special knock that all engines make when they run out of oil. I got off of the road and checked the dipstick. Surprise! Surprise! It was bone dry. I turned the motor back on for a couple of seconds just to verify that I hadn't missed the warning. Once the engine was running (and knocking) neither the Oil nor the Check Engine light came on, and then I turned the engine off. The engine compartment was clean, the undercarriage of the vehicle was clean and the exhaust pipe only showed that dry carbon build up not an oily, sooty build up. Of course, at this point, the vehicle is beyond repair, and the motor did eventually seize. My conclusion is two-fold. First, the engine burns the oil over a long period of time. Second, the engine warning systems are unreliable. At this point, while I'm not letting Ford off the hook for unreliable warning systems, I consider this my own failing because I AM NOT MECHANICALLY INEPT. I've been servicing vehicles (as a hobby) for decades, and I just allowed automation to lull me into complacency and a false sense of comfort. My advice, manually check your oil with each fill up. The engine warning systems are unreliable, and your first warning sign that there's a problem will be after terminal damage has been done to your motor.

i had the same problem with mr lube low engine oil pressure engine siezed

Same problem - 2005 Ford Escape 2.3L. 1500 miles after service no oil in the crank case. Engine and car are done. Should've checked oil more often but really - 4Qt in 1500 miles?! No signs of leaks or vandalism. Dumb luck? some weird issue with oil changes? Crappy engine? Not sure what Ford's oil sensor is supposed to do but it would be nice if it sensed when there was low oil!

Ford's oil sensor is a pressure sensor. It only tells you that the pressure is low and it does NOT have anything to do with the oil level. The dumb smuck behind the steering wheel is supposed to occasionally pull the dip stick and check the oil level. Read the manual, it is all in there. If you don't have one, then buy one. Also this IS a 4 year old thread so start a new one if you have questions.