Hi there: Do not proceed, don't even run the engine – or else! The oil light could be faulty (highly unlikely), the chances are you are out of oil in the sump or it's extremely low. Top it up after ascertaining there's not a horrid leak (obviously a puddle of oil on the ground), when did you have the vehicle serviced last? You gotta investigate before you start that motor, pal!
If the shops are a long way away, or there is some other reason you can't get there......ring a taxi company and ask them to drop you off a can of oil......it'll be more expensive, but not as much as getting a seized engine would cost you.
The other thing which no one has mentioned is that oil doesn't just disappear. Do you know why your oil has vanished. Has it leaked out or been burned?
I ran a car with the oil light on for about 3 months because the garage told me the light was faulty. Then the engine blew up because I'd run out of oil....
So true andy-hughes. I guess they must build in some sort of limit, as otherwise it wouldn't be so much as a warning light, more of a evacuate the car before it explodes light... Maybe I should just walk to the shops to get oil as I've already done 10 miles with the light on.
I really hate to hear people say they won't get an oil leak fixed. You are drizzling oil wherever you drive and park which is unpleasant and dangerous. If the oil is leaking onto hot metal, it burns off which smells.
I don't think its that big a leak, it's not showing a mark when I park. I don't think burning a bit of oil is any different from all the petrol I burn every week! I will get it fixed, but I need to top up first....