Rep Power: 244

Hi all,

I have a 98 Civic LX, completely stock with 174,000 miles. I bought the car at 110,000 miles with a blown headgasket and it's delivered a perfectly trouble free 64,000 miles to me since then with outstanding MPG and no oil burning of the Mobil 1 I always run. I am not sure how often the previous owner changed oil as the cams did have some light wear (completely unlike all my other Honda's I've owned at or above 180,000 miles).

Wondering if anyone has seen this phenomenon. At cold startup the oil light stays on for about 1.5 seconds OR sometimes goes off right away (like it always used to do) and flickers once about 2 seconds after starting. I put in a new oil pressure sending unit with no change.

I figure three possibilities:

1. Oil pump is worn.
2. Oil pump relief valve/spring are sticking/binding.
2. Main bearings worn.

Anyone dealt with the same issue? If so, what was the culprit?

Thanks!

 
Rep Power: 245

I haven't dealt with this kind of problem but I think there are other possibilities.

1.) Low on oil
2.) Oil pickup is clogged
3.) Marginal short in oil light electrical circuit

Have you measured the oil pressure with a gauge to see if the readings coincide with the light flickering?

 
Rep Power: 811

yeah the first thing i thought was the oil pump. oil is thicker when cold and harder to pump so thats prolly whats happening. i doubt it would happen on a warm start.

 
Rep Power: 244

Thanks guys.

I have not checked the pressure with a gauge as of yet. Considering doing that next but trying to find an inexpensive way of testing fairly accurately. The oil is mobil 1 5W-30 and the temperatures when I'm doing these cold starts (after work) are around 75-78 degrees F as of late, so not very cold. The oil level is perfectly full (always has been on this engine). Warm starts (off for less than 2-3 hours) don't do this though. Strange, huh?

As far as clogging I'm pessimistic since I've used only Mobil 1 for the past 60,000+ miles. Not that it couldn't happen though. I'd think a marginal short would show up at other times, not only at startup.

I just hate the thought of doing all the work replacing the pump and finding out it's the main bearings...then have to replace the engine with a used one anyway :P.

 
Rep Power: 245

Synthetic oil has been known to loosen up gunk in an older engine and case leaks at certain seals. So it may be plausible that you have a clog especially since the first 110k miles used dino oil.

I doubt it's an issue with the oil pump gears. I've disassembled several high mileage d-series pumps and they were right within service specs.

 
Rep Power: 0

Pop the valve cover off and check for any blockage up top.. it may be that the oil is not getting back down to the bottom and cycling.. like stated Synthetic sometimes is a bad thing when it comes to older vehicles. It will loosen alot of stuff which causes blockage.

Gasket kit would be around $30.00 for valve cover and should be fairly easy for anyone that can handle a wrench.

 
Rep Power: 244

First: there is no blockage up top. I adjusted the valves recently and everything was nice and clean.

Actually, I have an update on the oil light flicker. I poured in some Seafoam to see if it was maybe some blockage in the sending unit connection area etc. The problem not only went away, but has been gone for 6 months! Gotta love a cheap/simple solution.