17/03/2025
What It Means: This old-fashioned oil can symbol indicates that there is an issue with your car’s oil pressure system. Either you’re running low on oil or your oil pump isn’t circulating enough fluid to properly lubricate the surfaces inside your engine. (NOTE: Some car dashboards will display the word “OIL” instead of this symbol.)
What To Do: Poor engine lubrication can cause major engine damage, so this is an important warning to pay attention to! Pull over as soon as it is safe, turn off the vehicle, and check the oil! Look around the engine bay for obvious oil leaks, and then pull out the oil dipstick to check the fluid level.
If the oil level is low, then the light may go off when you add oil. If it has enough oil but the engine is running noisy, it might an issue with the oil pump. If the oil level is okay and the engine is running smoothly, your oil pressure sensor may be malfunctioning. In any case, it’s important to bring your vehicle in ASAP to let a mechanic take a look and address whatever is causing the low oil/low oil pressure.
