# Oil temperature icon in cars **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 24, 2002, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758 "2002-12-24T20:03:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bcullman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bcullman/32/8207_2.png) [@bcullman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bcullman)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/1 "2002-12-24T20:03:30Z")
Ever notice this? What is the oil temperature supposed to represent? can anyone trace the origins of this icon? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/2 "2002-12-24T20:08:46Z")
Um, perhaps it means the oil temperature is above a threshold? I also assume you’re not mistaking it for a coolant temperature icon… ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/3 "2002-12-24T20:14:13Z")
The oil light in a car is for pressure, not temperature. If it goes on, you’re engine is likely going to need some work or you’ve got an hellacious leak. Or you could have a malfunctioning warning light. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/4 "2002-12-24T20:19:40Z")
Really tricked-out cars with all the gauges do indeed get oil as well as coolant temp gauges. As has been pointed out, if you just have a light, it is almost certainly an oil pressure light. However, I think what you are asking is not what has been already answered. You seem to be asking “what is this icon supposed to be a picture of?” Answer is, it depends. What does yours look like? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/5 "2002-12-24T20:22:27Z")
If it’s like mine, it’ll be a drawing of an old fashioned oil can. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/6 "2002-12-24T20:40:15Z")
Mine is like **Mr. Blue Sky’s** , with a drop of oil falling from the spout. FWIW, the water temp gauge has a thermometer hovering on lines representing water and the trans temp gauge has a thermometer inside a drawing of a gear. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/7 "2002-12-24T20:44:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bcullman \* > \*\*Ever notice this? What is the oil temperature supposed to represent? can anyone trace the origins of this icon? \*\* It would be helpful if you described the particular one you are referring to but, as has been said, the most common represents an oil can of the type you held with one hand and pushed a knob with your thumb to squirt oil out the spout. I don’t know I’d call the old fashioned though. They still work for their intended purpose; they’re just not as common since many bearings and otehr things do not need oiling. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/8 "2002-12-24T21:38:46Z")
Oil icon, if it lights up check oil. If you have an oil pressure guage,if the pressure suddenly drops to zero (or goes to the red zone at the bottom) shut engine off immediatly. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/9 "2002-12-25T00:03:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*If it’s like mine, it’ll be a drawing of an old fashioned oil can. \*\* And all this time I thought it was a gravy boat; light comes on, gravy’s done! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/10 "2002-12-25T00:46:15Z")
My driving instructor said the oil pressure light was the most serious warning you can get. If it comes on, stop the engine immediately, or the whole thing will sieze and you’ll have a very heavy, very expensive paperweight. A conventional temperature light/gauge is the engine coolant, not the engine oil. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/11 "2002-12-25T02:16:38Z")
Well, I’ve had my oil pressure light come on, and everything was OK after I drove to the nearest gas station and added some oil. The entire point of the warning is to tell you something bad is about to happen **before** it does. It wouldn’t be much help if it didn’t warn you until after the engine was wrecked. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/12 "2002-12-25T02:45:23Z")
You sure that wasn’t an oil level light, **RealityChuck**? In the distant past, I owned a '76 Plymouth Fury (318) which had a light instead of a gauge, and when it flickered it was time to add 2-3 liters. I believe what **Bryan Ekers** is referring to is zero oil pressure (pump failure or complete loss of oil) , which means engine failure is imminent. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-temperature-icon-in-cars/144758/13 "2002-12-25T05:18:43Z")
The symbol (pictogram?) looks to me like an old-fashioned oil pitcher. When my pa was a youngster, service stations drew oil from barrels. A customer would see his quart drawn and poured into his engine. I have two antique motor oil vessels, neither of which look exactly like the int’l pictogram for “oil.”