oil pressure warning

[globalspecter]

I have an accord 96 that has 100,000kms on it. had an oil change at Shell recently.

A few days after this oil change, I had an overheat and after this overheat, the oil pressure warning light started acting eratically.

First, after a cold start, the light does not turn on but after the engine warms up, the light flashes. The problem is, while revving the engine, the light goes off and immediately goes on again when the engine is idle.

I brought it to my trusted mechanic and tried to replace the oil sending unit and they found out that the unit had been modified from the origianl honda sending unit to accomodate a universal sending unit. (Thats what they said).

My mechanic was not able to fix it after replacing the oild sending unit and I brought it to a reputable car service shop. They informed me that there had been oil leaking at the gaskets so they had to replace this and other parts of the suspension. To address my original problem, they informed me that they would change to an original sending unit, change thermostat valve and thermostat switch.

After a few days they told me that the tread of the oil sending unit was already loose and the orginal problem had not been solved. The had to have the tread re-treaded by a machine shop.

After this, the problem was still the same (light goes off with revving). They recommended a general overhaul for the reason that the engine had so much sludge and they blamed the problem on the engine flush that was included during the change oil from Shell.

Now, i really dont know what to do next. General overhaul is too expensive for my budget.. any tips?

Thanks very much!

[Fredsvt]

What's the general history on this car? How has it been maintained in it's life?

The overheat could have easily caused the oil to become excessively thin and broken down. after any overtemp condition the oil needs to be replaced. change the filter too. I've seen some Hondas not like certain oil filters and they lose oil pressure for some reason like what you've described.

The oil pressure switch that has been cross threaded with an incorrect one would have destroyed the threads in the engine block. Not good. Honda uses an odd thread type for their oil pressure switches.

The light coming on at idle shows that there is no pressure at idle, normally less than 6psi. The pressure should be double checked with a mechanical gauge screwed into that senders port.

If this motor is sludged, which is very hard to do on a Honda, indicates that it should be trashed and just replaced. Rebuilding an engine that has been so abused just opens up so many problems.

[PanzerLeader]

You might do better with a remanufactured engine. The warranty and cost might be the best.

[mendione]

Dear Globalspecter:

I had the same problem that you are describing in your car with another car that I had in the past. The problem here is that oil is escaping from the valves and you are loosing compression, but also, the camshaft is already little bit deform enoght to produce this problem.

What I did was first to give an inside engine cleanning procedure, and then change the oil again, and the filter of course, and put a new filter with the highest posible oil grade you may find. Like a 20 W 60 or so. This mesurement is only to gain and earn some time for you to decide, but the engine is agonizing. Now what you are doing, using the highest oil grade is to slow down as much as possible the agonizing process that now is unstopable.

I am very sorry to tell you all this, really. Hey maybe I am totally wrong, but I am just basing on my previous experience in my previous car (Chvrolet Cavalier with 172000 kilometer - 107000 miles)

Good luck my friend, I wish you the best and that you will solve your car's problem

Mendione

[russiankid]

Doing a simple engine rebuild isn't to pricey. Just depends what machine shops charge you. Before doing any engine rebuild or build, have the block and especially the head checked for cracks and or if it's warped.