Civic 2010: Low Oil Pressure Indicator when the engine is not running

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Hi, I have a 2010 Civic Sedan.
Whenever I turned the ignition switch to on, I always see the “Low Oil Pressure light” on and it disappears when I start the engine though.

is that normal?

2

There’s no oil pressure until the car is running so that is correct. Most cars have the oil light come on when you just turn the key without starting it.

3

The answer to that question along with a lot more vital information concerning your car can be found in your owners manual. You’ll be surprised with all the information that is in there.

4

Is this the first car you;ve had that did this strange thing? It has been normal for at least 50 years. My car has about 10 lights that come on when I turn on the ignition.

5

All warning lights are supposed to come on at that point, so that you know they’re working.

6

As the others have already implied, the only problem is if all warning lights DON’T come on when you turn the ignition switch to “on”. If everything is normal, you should see warning lights for…oil pressure, charging system, ABS, VSC, windshield washer fluid, parking brake, and potentially several other things.

Here is a test to see if your car actually has a problem:

Go outside (with a note pad and pen) and turn the ignition switch to “on”.
Jot down which warning lights are on. (some may go on only very briefly, so it may be necessary to turn the ignition off and on a few times in order to see and record all of the lights that you see)
Start the engine, and verify that all of the warning lights (except perhaps for the parking brake) turn off.
Come back to this thread, and report back to us regarding what you saw. (It may be necessary to use the Owner’s Manual to identify some “icons”)

7

Congratulations on identifying the low oil pressure warning light on your car and wanting to learn more about it. Many people don’t know what that is and think it means to change the oil or just to keep driving and ignore it. It doesn’t take long for them to be corrected on those counts by the spun bearing or giant hole in the side of their engine as they sit on the side of the road waiting for the wrecker. Your light is working just as it should. When the engine is not running, the oil pump is not running because it is driven mechanically by one of the major rotating engine pieces, either crankshaft or camshaft, depending on the engine design. Once the oil pump is turning, which happens only when the engine is running, you have oil pressure and your low oil pressure light goes out.