My low oil light came on my 90 Civic LX sedan all of a sudden. Full of oil. Any ideas???? Thanks guys.

 

Any ideas? I've heard that it could be the oil sender.

 

Changed the sender and the light is still coming on. At first it was on immediately when I started it. Then it flickered and now it is out but only when I drive it in a straight line. When I make a turn it comes on and then goes out when I straighten it back up. It is full of oil with a quart of Lucus Oil Treatment in it. I plan to borrow an oil pressure guage to read the oil pressure. Any ideas on what else it might be? I shook the wire and the harnesses and didn't get anything. Thanks.

 

Thats not a good sign, been there a few times and spun a few bearings, few mains, a thrust washer once, oil pump. I suggest changing the oil and see what you find if you find anything check the pick up. If its clogged i'd eithier junk that engine since its a dime a dozen or just put some new bearings in and rock it till she blows. I believe when that light comes on it has to be less than 4lbs and thats bad. I wish the best let us know what happens.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wreckedagain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thats not a good sign, been there a few times and spun a few bearings, few mains, a thrust washer once, oil pump. I suggest changing the oil and see what you find if you find anything check the pick up. If its clogged i'd eithier junk that engine since its a dime a dozen or just put some new bearings in and rock it till she blows. I believe when that light comes on it has to be less than 4lbs and thats bad. I wish the best let us know what happens. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

I finally found someone that had a guage they said they'd loan me. I'll check the pressure tonight and hope it is at least 10psi. I'll also change the oil and look at it. It has less than 100 miles on the new oil and Lucas oil treatment. I just hope that the guy that sold me the engine out of his wrecked 91 Civic sedan didn't ram the cv axle and everything else in line with it into the engine and screw something up. More to come as this unfolds. Thanks for all sharing of experiences and recommendations!!!

 

just out of curiousty:
on the 90-91 integras(maybe the 92/93 as well) there is an ICU(Integrated Control Unit) that somehow has some sort of function in turning on the oil light. Does the early 90's civic have this ICU as well?

Only reason i ask is i know alot of 90/91 teg owners who have the ICU go bad which causes the oil light to come on. This, after even verifying the oil pressure with a gauge. I just was curious about the early model civics.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dbailey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any ideas? I've heard that it could be the oil sender. </TD></TR></TABLE>

DONT DRIVE YOUR CAR until you figure out what the problem is. I'm guessing your oil pump could have went out of you.

 

Hoping it's not the pump. At least the light stays out while going straight. I'll drop the pan and take alook at the screen and pickup. Man I hope its not any worse than that. I JUST put that biatch back together! Thanks.

 

I hooked the guage up and it read nothing at first until I revved it just a little. Then it read right at 10. I revved it up and the pressure started dropping so I let off and let it idle. Back to 10. As it warmed up, the pressure started to rise. It was on the rise and got all the way to 30 at idle. I was waiting for the fans to come on as a service manual said to read it after the fans cycle twice. Then it said that the pressure is supposed to be 10 at idle and 30 at 3000 rpms. It got to 30 at idle! There was some kind of smoke coming out of the catback and I assume it is because it is cold here in Western North Carolina and I hope it is just that kind of smoke that comes out when its cold. You know that kind? Well then I heard a blub blub kind of sound start coming out of the cat back so I turned it off. Any ideas or opinions? Thanks alot guys! Don

 

Doesnt sound to familiar, the blub blub sound? Does it sound like its gonna stall or what?

 

I didn't let it run long enough when I heard it but I kinda thought it was headed that way to stall. Someone told me that sound is kinda sorta normal. I've pretty much resigned myself to dropping the pan and taking a look. Was REALLY hoping I could get around it but prolly not...... Thanks dude.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dbailey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I didn't let it run long enough when I heard it but I kinda thought it was headed that way to stall. Someone told me that sound is kinda sorta normal. I've pretty much resigned myself to dropping the pan and taking a look. Was REALLY hoping I could get around it but prolly not...... Thanks dude. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Nothing to look at really.. you need to find the source of your problem.

So far it sounds like its your oil pump if oil pressure isn't rising when you bring up the rpm's.

 

Well here we go. I stuck my finger in the bottom of the oil pan area where the pickup goes. There is way more sludge than I thought! Got a finger tip full of sludge. The specks look and feel like carbon. Non-metallic. There is build-up inside the slot of the pickup. I looked to the inside of the area where the screen is and I can see build-up in there, too. Opinion?

 

Just talked to the guy I bought the engine from and he said they changed the oil a couple of times the few thousand miles they had it. Would sludge build up over less than 100,000 miles (around 98,000 to be exact) in the bottom of the pan enough to clog the screen?