crisp76

My low oil light has been on and off for the last couple of months. 2000 ES with 267,000 miles. Dipstick is full and the light mainly comes on at freeway speeds. Car runs fine. Could it be the oil pressure sensor?

LeX2K

There are two warnings, low oil pressure and oil level low warning. The 2nd one has an expensive sensor that likes to go bad, the first likes to go bad and leak it's not expensive. Either way you don't have an engine problem since you've been driving for months with the warning.

I am wondering why the light being on didn't concern you lol.

crisp76

It’s the low oil warning light (yellow one). It tends to come on going up or down hills or once I get to freeway speeds above 60 mph. I’ve had this car for about 14 years and never had this light on before. Once the speed is reduced to city driving it goes away.

LeX2K

This is what goes bad
https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/8949133030

If it was my car I'd verify oil pressure, but I have a sensor and gauge to do it not many do.

crisp76

I’ll definitely try to verify oil pressure 1st. If that checks out ok, then it’s the low oil sensor. Thank You.🙏

Arsenii

Hello,

Here is a thread that describes a possible way to salvage the Oil Level Sensor without spending a small fortune buying a new one. It was a considerable pain for the older generations, not so much anymore, not to this extent anyway.

Either way, make sure that the Oil is topped off, if that's good, take the sensor out and inspect it thoroughly, look for any cracks in the soldering, and use a multimeter to check that it is working while you try to move and pry on it a little bit to replicate the car going into a corner. The issue could be difficult to spot with just a visual inspection however, so it may be easier to re-solder all the pads and see if that helps instead.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

crisp76

Does oil pan need to be removed to remove the sensor?

Arsenii

No, it is held by 4 bolts on the Passenger Side, right above the Lower Oil Pan, you will need to remove the wheel to get to it however, after that it's pretty straightforward. If you remove it, you will most certainly need a new gasket as well, Part Number is 90430-27001.

Oh yeah, japan-parts.eu is finally back, long live the King.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

crisp76

Perfect, Thanks again!

crisp76

Update…….I changed my engine oil and filter and the low oil light has since disappeared. It’s been 2 weeks and no more light. I’m still scratching my head on this one.

Oro

The main way that a oil filter causes low oil pressure is either 1) Clogging with debris, and 2) Pressure relief valve failure (fails open, like a thermostat).

I often cut my used oil filters open to inspect the media on vehicles that have a sealed can, like the Lexus. In this case, I would have swapped the filter when the light started coming on and tested that option as soon as I saw a light and full sump. I doubt you still have the filter, but you could do that if you by chance still have it in a bin in the garage or something. Filters do fail occasionally.

The xMZ-FE engine is really hard on filters because of the placement. I had some cheaper filters (mainly Motorcraft) fail in the past. I switched to using premium filters and it has solved that. With a 2000, you should also consider if it has any history that would make it sludge, as that could have clogged the filter.