Oil light blinked very rapidly twice

DALTON0115

MEMBER
2000 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
180 MILES

Just curious if a car sliding sideways n coming to a rather quick stop onto blacktop. Could that cause the oil in oil pump to be thrown out of pump and burn it up very quick?

While I was sliding and when car to rest. Now it has a slight knock and I was just curious if the oil pump or oil sending unit got messed up since the slide.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,873 POSTS

Yup. It's common for the oil to run to the side of the oil pan and allow the pump to momentarily suck up air. Since air compresses, it can't build up pressure, so the low pressure warning light will turn on until oil starts getting pumped again. That just takes a few seconds. That's not enough time to do serious engine damage.

If you're hearing a ticking noise up high in the engine, that is from a lifter collapsing from the air in it. It will pump back up in time. Normally that only takes a few seconds, but I had one car years ago that had one lifter that took about 30 miles of highway driving after every oil change before it would quiet down.

If you're not sure where the noise is coming from, have a mechanic take a quick listen for an opinion.