Low Oil Pressure on idle or on low speed
Asked by Cnasr Jan 12, 2023 at 09:47 AM about the 2015 Subaru Impreza 2.0i
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
My oil light turns on when driving on low speed or when trying to stop. It's not a
sensor error, can it be the cause of a oil pump failure since the problem isn't
appearing all time or may be a different item (Pulley, floater, ...)?
4 Answers
First make sure you have to correct oil type and weight. If that checks good then install an analog oil gauge so you can read actual oil pressure, if the oil pressure drops below specs then chances are high that you have excessive bearing clearances inside the engine. When oil pumps fail you loose all oil pressure, some pumps will build it back up after a shut down for a few minutes but will dump it again after a few miles.
A dealer had checked the oil’s pressure telling me that it drops then returns to normal, so he diagnosed that there’s a blockage somewhere in the oil circulation. In case it’s a bearing clearance, shouldn’t appear as a noise in the engine ?
As the excess clearances will be spread through the entire engine you most likely won’t hear any noise
In case it's a bearing clearance, can I use a thicker oil type and drive it safely for one or two months before proceeding to change the bearing at the end of this winter season? if this can be done, what type of oil do you suggest? Should I proceed to progressively raise the thickness of the oil by driving few hundreds of miles using each type.?
