Oil Pressure Help...Any Would Be Greatly Appreciated - Honda Prelude Forum

vansnxtweek · 06-20-2009, 02:57 PM

Hey folks, thank ya for helpin me out..I can't seem to get much so far.
first let me give ya'll a foundation to what I have going on here. I have a 95 Prelude Si, with the stock, H23A1. I got the car with a broken timing belt along with 14 bent valves. I got the head off, got it revalved, cleaned up the surfaces and put it all back together with a new head gasket kit, new water pump, timing belt, balancer belt, accesory belts, fuel filter..blah blah lol. Basically I rebuilt it best I could from the head up.

Since I got it back going it runs great; I have put about 700 miles on it.

Around mile 200 or so the oil pressure light came on solid and I immediatly cut the car off. I check everything out. No major leaks, no loss of oil, and no change in performance. I started the car back and the light was not on and it stayed off.

After that occurance, I went under the car and looked at everything including the oil pressure sending unit and it all seemed to be okay. The unit may have had a drip or two of oil on it but nothing substantial. I didn't change it but I thought it may be good to do in the future.

Now last night I was driving the car home and the oil light blinked about 5 times until i cut the car off and coasted to the side of the road. I started the car back and once again, no light, no change in performance, no loss of oil.

Now am I crazy or does this seem like the oil pressure is okay? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the oil pump driven by the timing belt? If that is okay, doesn't that only leave room for error in the oil pickup or a major leak? If it was somthing else I would not sweat it so much but I feel like since I am dealing the oil pressure I might should take it into consideration.

Other things that could or could not have to do with it:

Sometimes it will have a low idle, but other times it is just as smooth as butter/ The check engine light has come on with a code of 43 which I think was fuel supply system ( I reset the computer and it has been okay since). And also the car does have that "honda tick" but it has been there since I have ever heard the car run and it is not overly loud.

Sorry for the long post I just don't want to leave anything out.

vansnxtweek · 06-23-2009, 12:50 PM

anyone?

es_squared · 06-23-2009, 05:33 PM

Have you checked to see if the wire for the oil light is even hooked up to the sender? they may just be touching and grounding out. Did you hear any harsh noises from the motor, during and after when the light came on? Faulty sender? If you have the money I would just go buy an oil pressure gauge, that way you can actually see whats happening, and if anything is happening you will know how low the pressure is going.

92mfl · 06-23-2009, 06:14 PM

Mine is always on and off. Mainly stays on though.

vansnxtweek · 06-24-2009, 10:10 AM

I did go ahead and change the sending unit. Since I did that I have run the car pretty hard and no problems until the car was just idling yesterday. The car had prob. been idling for ten min. and the oil light was blinking when I got in. I cut the car off and back on and then drove about 25 miles and no light. I never noticed any bad noises or anything when the light has come on. This is driving me crazy but Im almost at the point of only trusting a real gauge.

Wouldn't an oil pressure problem be something that is constant? Not just random times? I could understand if maybe it came on when going around turns or something but its never done that..just idling or cruising down the road.

Its wierd as heck lol

jsmooney · 06-24-2009, 10:15 AM

in my old 4g, the oil light would just come on for no reason. i would restart and the oil light would stay off....

then the battery light started blinking...

Doggypth · 06-24-2009, 12:29 PM

hows ur oil pump? if its in a bad shape it will pump ur oil around in the engine but sometimes it might slack a little.

having trouble with my own engine and im trying to do an oil pressure test myself but it seems u need a special adapter to even check it.

maybe ur crank bearings are all worn out happens quite often if u ask me.

i know these are somewhat costfull checks but hell if u tried everything else this might be ur last thing to check.

vansnxtweek · 06-24-2009, 06:35 PM

Im not sure the condition of the oil pump but the car seems to run great..that was my worry though that maybe it would just slack out everyonce inawhile. I was also wondering about the crank bearings but I have no idea..

I thought about changing the bearings when I did the head work but everyone told me that usually honda bearings last a long long time..hopefully i didnt make a mistake on that decision..

Doggypth · 06-25-2009, 10:59 AM

whats the mileage on the car?

my car has almost 400.000 KM on it and sofar i couldnt find any oil pump history or crank bearing history.(checking this out myself cause i might have oil pressure problems myself)

but the bearings are in my eyes quite common atleast ive heard allot of people talking about it and having to change them out.

my Vtec doesnt engage and the only thing left is to check oil pressure but i cant seem to find a dealer who can do this for me. and with my own gauge i dont messure a thing.(im using a manuel but dont know wich one)

anyway what u can try is to meassure the resistance of the sensors and the wires check the soldering on the oil check light maybe a bad connection here?
and well if u just dont trust it get an oil pressure test like i am.

vansnxtweek · 09-08-2009, 10:37 AM

Thank ya'll for the help..its been awhile since I checked this thread but I'm still having the problem. It has been nearly 3000 miles since it first happened. The car is strong as ever. I just bought a pressure gauge so I will see what it says. I have my fingers crossed.