92 Accord with about 205,000 on the odometer. The other day driving down the freeway the oil light started to blink. I pulled over after about a mile and checked the oil and put in a quart as it was a bit low. Couple miles more down the road the light started blinking again, then stayed on solid. I drove the car about 3 miles more with the light on solid before I could safely pull off the road. I towed it home and pulled the valve cover, and oil pan. No shavings were found, the cam looks fine, and looking at the piston skirts they look fine, no gouges or anything on them. I cleaned the engine really well and put it back together. Started it and the oil light came back on after about 5 minutes. So I'm thinking oil pressure switch?

 

It could be the switch.
Are there any associated engine noises, like rod knocks, etc?

I'd recommend you find someone to slap a mechanical oil pressure gauge on it to confirm / deny the presence of oil pressure.

Pressure yes: probable oil pressure switch
Pressure No: Clogged Oil Pick-up, Bad Pump (rare) or internal wear (excessive clearances)

P

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by P_Adams &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd recommend you find someone to slap a mechanical oil pressure gauge on it to confirm / deny the presence of oil pressure.
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as usual, P has hit it on the head. I second the above motion.

P, WTF man, 3:52 AM??!? you're a sick sick man.

 

Lol, without going into more information that you don't really care to know , consider this a "cigarette after"
Some people smoke, some people talk.
I answer Tech Questions

Hey!!!
That IS sick, man.

P

 

So I took it to a shop to have them change the oil pressure switch and to put an electrical pressure guage on it. When you start the motor cold it has great pressure like 70 psi. Engine sounds great. But after you drive it for about 5-10 minutes the psi starts to drop until it's got nothing showing and the light is on!! So I'm stumpted on what to do. Do I replace the engine with a jdm motor or do I just replace the pump and later find out that maybe something else was damaged? Any input would be appreciated!!

 

Invest about an hour, and take the oil pan down. It will be no more involved than unbolting it after you get the exhaust out of the way.
Look for heavy deposits of oil sludge. Pay particular attention for any metallic powder or flakes mixed into it.

You're most likely looking at three possible scenarios:

1) Oil Sludge - Blocking the Oil Pump pick-up screen. (We've had three of these thru here in the last two months)
2) Rod / Main Crankshaft bearings - Excessively worn. Acts like an internal oil leak. Oil thins out from warming up, and leaks past the bearings. The Oil Pump can't maintain the pressure.
3) Oil Pump - unlikely, but could still be damaged (it's the most continuously lubricated item in the engine!)

If you find metal particles in the oil pan, button it up; and with your best poker face turn to the wife and tell her you had to euthanize the car. Now's your chance to slip in that JDM motor you've been eyeballing.

P

 

I had the valve cover and oil pan off of the car and there wasn't a whole lot of sludge in the engine except on the head above the exhaust valves. I cleaned it up really well and found no metal shavings in the oil pan when I changed the oil and cleaned the pan. The engine still sounds great. So maybe the engine is just old and losing pressure due to when the oil heats up it thins out and because the clearances in the engine are excessive so I lose pressure? So then could I possibly get some oil in like 20-50w and maybe that would give me another 6 months on the car?