jarven093

dose anyone know what it means when the oil light flickers when car is at idle ??? like coming to a stop it will flicker alittle bit but then will go away as soon as i touch the gas????? motor is a d16z6 93 ex civic

coneheadsracing

Your oil pressure is likely dipping too low. I say likely, becuast it could be a problem with the sensor or wiring? Do you have an oil pressure guage, or did you recently do something to the motor. If not, you will either want to get an oil pressure guage, or fix it pronto, i recommend both.

jarven093

i just put new pistons in?

inspyral

The stock oil pressure light only come on if oil pressure is at or near 0, at which point the damage is usually done. I would not drive that car until you determine the cause of this problem, be it a faulty pressure sender or an actual mechanical issue. If you have to rev the engine to keep oil pressure up, there is something seriously wrong. If you've recently tore into the bottom end, I would doublecheck the oil pump and pickup to make sure they're in good shape.

The only similar experience I've had was with my D16Y8. When I was swapping in a spare Y8 block, I torqued the oil pickup nuts down and figured they were good. Later on while driving it for the first time after it was back together, I noticed my oil pressure gauge was reading pretty low and I had to keep the revs up to keep pressure up. I knew it wasn't normal and by the time I got back to the house, oil pressure was near 0 at idle, and I head a knocing sound. It turns out one of the nuts on the pickup had backed out, and it was only held on by one nut so it was vibrating back and forth causing the knocking sound.

As stated above, I would recommend an aftermarket oil pressure gauge. They're cheap insurance.

coneheadsracing

Did you put the gasket back in between the oil pump and the pickup tube? Pretty hard to put the bearings in backwards.

jarven093

No i didnt not put a gasket between the oil pump and pick up tube..... but there was never one there when i took it off?? ill take the oil pan off again today and see whats happing.

coneheadsracing

Put a gasket there. Either a honda one, or go to Napa and buy some gasket material and make your own. You can also use gasket maker too.

jarven093

o i already fixed that but i got a oil pressure gauge in now ,, and when i start it up the oil p. is at 45-50psi tehn as it warms up it drops to 8-15 psi bad pump????

jarven093

whats is oil pressuer supose to be at .. at idle ???? normaly

coneheadsracing

According to the manual, hot oil pressure is suppose to be 10 psi idle, and 50 psi at 3000 rpm. If you, like me don't like that pressure you can shim your pump, i get 25 psi idle, and 75 ish at 3000 rpm. Seems like your okay though. I'm not sure what a honda oil pump failure acts like, i've always been told that if your pressure fluctuates, say when your driving down the road at 3000 rpm, it goes from 20-50 psi, then you have problems.

jarven093

If i wanted to shimm my pump how would i do that??? i dont have to pull the motor do i... i hate pulling the motor done i twice and it sucks lol....

coneheadsracing

Drop the pan, and you'll see a allen hex nut/bolt whatever ya wanna call it. comes out next to the pickup tube i believe. You unscrew that and a spring will come out, you need to put a washer in there, make sure it will fit over the part that holds the spring in. You'll see when you pull it apart. Pretty thin, no real rule, one of my honda books says .0040-.0060 shim.

jarven093

Thats it huh? wont damage anything like pump?

coneheadsracing

Can't really give you any info there. I've done it to two of my engines that i have rebuilt without any issues. I don't know if it will hurt the longevity of them or not. I know a lot on here don't like it. I got the info from a book, High performance, Honda builder's handbook, volume 2. It was quoted from Russ Collins, search yahoo for his reputation. That's about all i can tell ya. You could always send the pump out, or get an aftermarket one, depending on your engine.