Engine light came on this afternoon. quart low on oil. added.

The low oil pressure warning lamp will illuminate anytime the ignition switch is turned to the ON position without the engine running. When the engine is running, the light also illuminates if the engine oil pressure drops below a safe oil pressure level. To test the system, perform the following:
If the oil pressure light does not work, perform the following:

1. Turn the ignition switch to the ON position.
2. If the lamp does not light, check for a broken or disconnected wire around the engine and oil pressure sending unit switch.
3. If the wire at the connector checks out OK, pull the connector loose from the switch and, with a jumper wire, ground the connector to the engine.
4. With the ignition switch turned to the ON position, check the warning lamp. If the lamp lights, make sure the oil pressure switch is properly grounded in the cylinder block, and if so replace the oil pressure switch. If the lamp still fails to light, check for a burned out lamp or disconnected socket in the instrument cluster.

To diagnose an oil pressure light that stays on, perform the following:

1. Check the engine oil level and top off as necessary. If the engine was 2 or more quarts low on oil, test start the engine after topping off the oil level and recheck the oil pressure light operation. If the light stays on, stop the engine immediately and go to the next step.
2. Disconnect the wire at the sending unit, then turn the ignition switch to theON position. If the light remains on, check the wire from the sending unit to the gauge for being shorted to ground and repair as necessary. If the light goes out, turn the ignition switch OFF and go to the next step.
3. Replace the oil pressure sending switch with a known good switch.
4. Start the engine and check the oil pressure light operation. If the light stays on with the engine running, stop the engine immediately to avoid severe engine damage until the cause of the problem can be determined.

WARNING
If the oil pressure light remains on while the engine is started, stop the engine immediately. Do not operate the engine until the cause of the problem can be determined. Operating an engine with low oil pressure will cause severe internal damage.

Possible causes for an oil pressure light to stay on are:


Pinched or grounded sensor wireDefective oil pressure sending unitRestricted or severely leaking oil filterExcessive internal engine bearing clearance.Insufficient or severely contaminated engine oilBlocked oil pump pickup screen or severely worn oil pump

Bright Red. If you have a low engine oil light, when the engine gets 1 quart low or more, the light will come on to let you know you need oil. But if the oil pressure light come on, you better shut the engine down, or the engine will lock up, this is bad news. Depending on how much mileage you drive a week, the oil should be checked one a week. I hope this has been of help to you. Good Luck.

If the light were not on before you cleaned, it's highly possible your cleaning caused the problem. Did you wash the engine area off? If so, disconnect negative battery cable and disconnect all engine and computer (ECM) connectors and check for moisture, blow out and dry as needed. Reinstall connectors and cable. Do not use any grease or di-electric grease in connectors.

some vehicles have a safety switch that if low on oil it will not start

4 quarts means that youve got one serious leak and your slicking up the roads for every body... you should get out some tools and see what you can snug up to slow the leak, as for the light, your driving a cheap vehicle so what do you expect ?

The warning means you're low on oil and you need to top off the oil. Add about 1/4 quart of oil to the engine and check the dipstick. Add oil in 1/4 quart increments until the dipstick indicates the level correct. The dipstick on this car is hard to read, if you're uncertain about the level, just add oil in 1/4 quart increments until the warning goes off. If it goes off, then comes back after only a short time, then add 1/2 quart, and so on. These cars go through about a quart of oil every 5000 - 10000 miles normally (depending on various factors).

Driving around for a couple days- is one thing

Not caring at all & driving for weeks with a check light
on,hope for the best & no damage or at least something
you can afford

Low oil level by a few quarts,really,how's that possible?

The oil light does not indicate the car is low on oil (based on your discription) it indicates the oil pressure is low, the no start is most likely due to this low pressure and the fuel pump has been cut off to prevent damage to the engine from low oil pressure. Please have a shop locate the cause of the low oil pressure warning and repair it as needed. It could be a false light or a real one, which means if you drove it very far you may have damaged the engines bearings.

If it was still running okay & no noise, probably no engine damage. Adding 2 quarts should have turned off the light if the problem was oil pressure. Sounds like the oil pressure sending unit may be bad.

try to disconnect battery behind drivers seat to reset computer then check oil pressure sensor