# Oil Light **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [January 29, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-light/25760 "2009-01-29T19:49:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mjwhia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@mjwhia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mjwhia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-light/25760/1 "2009-01-29T19:49:31Z")
What might cause the oil light on my 1992 Eagle Summit Wagon (284,000 miles on the original engine) to come on? I had driven about a mile from a cold start and it flickered then came on full. I stopped and checked the oil…the sump was full. I took the car home and started it again this morning. Again, after about a mile the light came on. When the light is on, I experience no shudder or roughness from the engine, no smoke or smells… What should I check? Is it safe to drive to a repair shop? ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-light/25760/2 "2009-01-29T20:04:33Z")
If you read your owner’s manual, you would know that you are supposed to stop the car and engine, and have it towed to a repair shop. That light means low or no oil pressure. (You could be lucky, and an it could just be a bad sender, but what if it’s really low oil pressure?) Without enough oil pressure, your engine can be quickly killed. (Quickly being less than a minute.) Yes, you can drive to a repair shop. When you get there you will either need a new oil pressure sender or a new engine. Or, you could have it towed and might not need a new engine. (Since you already drove with the light on and you do have almost 300K miles, odds are good you will need an engine.) ---
**Author:** ![Pontiacura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pontiacura](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Pontiacura)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-light/25760/3 "2009-01-29T20:12:01Z")
Bad oil pump?