Oil light flicker under harsh breaking

As title says my oil light flickers under harsh breaking more so when pointing down a hill,

I know my oil level is running a bit low, but just order new filter plugs etc so plan to service this weekend,

Engine sounds a little more tappy also,

I presume this is all due to low oil level, so if i put a litre in do you think it will survive till the weekend, i dont want to put a new oil change in to then drain to put fresh oil again come the weekend,


Also smokes a little on cold start up at first ignition then fine once running,

Any ideas?

Cheers crock

You've already answered your question i think, they are tappety initially, mine settles within a second of start up. Get a bit in until your change, it will also run hotter if you've not got enough in.

What colour is the smoke? Blue is oil, white is water/steam.
What sort of mileage is it and does it burn oil?

Yeah i thought i was right but i was asking to double check not huge in the knowledge of engines

Its the gb13 with 67k on the clock,

Its hard to tell the colour seems white to me,

Its using more oil but i cant see any leaks, no oil spill on the drive

Not sure on what those are like tbh. It could be perfectly normal and just be condensation on start up.

If its burning oil iirc thats rings but usually accompanied by a bit of blue smoke, again i'm not sure if that engine's prone to problems with the rings. One of the more experienced mechanic types will be along shortly!

It's valve stem seals that have gone bad if it puffs some blueish smoke on start up. Mine does that too, and I'm about to replace those seals when I find some time. My Jim has some 150k on the clock, which is quite a lot, so no wonder the valve stem seals are a little bit on the dead side! No other problems with the engine though, runs good, and doesn't burn oil when running.

If the oil light is flashing the oil must be really low, top it up before you do any damage even if its just cheap crap. Almost anything is better than nothing (particularly if you are changing the oil soon anyway)

Paul4x4 wrote: It's valve stem seals that have gone bad if it puffs some blueish smoke on start up. Mine does that too, and I'm about to replace those seals when I find some time. My Jim has some 150k on the clock, which is quite a lot, so no wonder the valve stem seals are a little bit on the dead side! No other problems with the engine though, runs good, and doesn't burn oil when running.

not only could it be valve stem seals it could be the valve guides as if thay have movment in them it opens up the seal and lets oil past as it moves side to side im in the proses of carring out a rebuild on my single cam and it going from bad to worse

markyp2000 wrote: not only could it be valve stem seals it could be the valve guides as if thay have movment in them it opens up the seal and lets oil past as it moves side to side im in the proses of carring out a rebuild on my single cam and it going from bad to worse

That might be the case too that the guides and seals are all shot, but I don't think those guides would go bad very easily if the engine's been maintained properly, though...

BTW, how many miles there was on your engine before you started rebuilding it?

50,000 good servive history before i brought it and has only had 4 owners inc me

well all my service parts arrived today

(fantastic service from the big jimny shop)

so service will proceed as soon as possible put a litre of oil will see my past tomorrow most likely!

All good a serviced today, i was running low oil so was my problem,

running sweet as a nut again,

bar one issue, thermostat is stuck shut,

how hard is it to replace?

top rad hose to inlet manifold to bolts easy