When I heard faint rattling from my car’s engine, I thought it might be due to “pinging” – when ignition in the cylinder occurs prematurely, usually due to low-octane fuel – because of the 92-octane fuel that I had been using. I was shocked to discover that it was because of low oil level. In fact, there was no trace of oil on the dipstick when I checked. What could be the cause and why did the car’s oil pressure light not come on? The car has clocked around 250,000km.

There are several reasons the engine would run low on oil. First, always check your vehicle’s oil level after any engine oil service. Instances of workshops under-filling are not unheard of.