Yesterday, when I was driving. The low oil pressure warning light came on in my 2008 Prius Touring. The oil was low, but nothing drastic (about 1.5 quarts low). So I added oil and resumed driving. After another 20 minutes the oil pressure light began coming on intermittently. I had to drive it for another 5 miles with it coming on intermittently before I was able to pull over safely. After stopping to recheck the oil level, I turned back on the car and drove it home another 20 miles without issues. Oil level is fine. Car was running fine. In general, the engine runs great although it has 270k miles on it. The only other issue that was happening that day was that the heat was blowing cold air intermittently. I don't have any engine codes. And I'm at a loss as to why this happened. I'm trying to determine my next steps and possible problems. Should I take it to Toyota and pay for an oil compression test? Check for head gasket failure? Oil pump failure? Water pump failure? I would really appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction. Thank you.
Can you describe the warning light that you are calling the low oil pressure warning? 1.5 quarts low on an engine that holds 3.8 quarts isn't exactly trivial, but also not typically catastrophic. Intermittent heater function is usually indicative of engine coolant being low. Remember, that reservoir is at the radiator, not by the inverter.
Assuming you confirm the question @TMR-JWAP asked, then probably next logical step is to check the wires of your oil pressure sensor, then if you can't find anything, maybe replace it:
I would check the coolant level in the radiator (cold engine) - should be full. The level in the radiator external reservoir should be in the min to max range. The oil pressure warning icon should come on if pressure drops below around 5 psi. Maybe you have an actual low pressure problem, maybe not. Either have the oil pressure tested, or ignore it and see what (if anything) happens. Me, I don't like surprises that could strand me on the interstate. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Yeah, you guys were right. The only other time that the "problem" triangle came on was for low oil pressure. After I started thinking about it, I realized that it was displaying a temperature symbol. So it was overheating. The dealership recently told me that was water pump would need to be changed soon, so I assume/hope that was the reason. Combined with the fact that there has been sloshing sounds coming from my dash, my conclusion was that the water pump leaked coolant and air got in the system. So I went ahead and changed the water pump. I went ahead and bled the system as best as I could, but I still hear the sloshing sounds. Today, I drove the car for 200 miles (rideshare/delivery driver) and the whole time the temp stayed in optimal range 80-90 degree Celcius and the car ran great. But I fear that the problem isn't solved and I have a head gasket leak. When I initially opened the radiator cap after the overheating (next day engine cold), fluid was being forced out of the radiator. I would guess about 1/2 cup of coolant came out. Thank you for everyone's replies and input and I'm sorry about putting the wrong info in the title. That "problem" thing blinks so quick and is so stressful to see. But I guess I'll keep monitoring the coolant level and get that head gasket test fluid thing that you put in the radiator cap to test for presence of CO2. And hope for the best.
Waste of time and money on these engines even with a hg leak. See Misfire continues after I change the ignition coils and spark plugs | Page 3 | PriusChat
