Ok, i have a 99 Civic Si with turbo. I have an autometer electric gauge that the sender is T'd off on the firewall with the stock sender right next to it all connected with -3AN line.

I did some work to my oilpan (redo the return line because it was kinked). So i got it back on the road and noticed that when i dropped to idle, the oil light would flicker. The autometer gauge registered slightly above the first mark. Its hard to tell exactly what it is because its not a full sweep gauge.

I dropped the oilpan and checked out the pickup.... I found what looked to be a square of heatwrap in the pickup! That would definitly clog it. I was relieved. I removed it, cleaned everything up, made sure the gasket on the tube was back on (it was reused) and tightened everything to snug.

It seemed to cure the problem. Im taking a roadtrip here shortly so I decide to drive around town...... it comes back again! If im say on the highway and put it in neutral, the pressure goes down and the light comes on! I quickly give it gas and it goes away. I can now reproduce the problem if the idle drops. Now when im cruising say around 3-4K, the oil pressure registers roughly 30psi..... if i punch it and it goes up to say 5-5.5K it will go up to about 50psi.
On a cold startup, it goes up to about 60-70psi.


Is my pump bad? Its a 99 with only 60K miles and Honda pumps are pretty good from what I understand. Also, since i register 70psi on startup, i would think the the pump is good? I dont think it could be my stock sender, it "appears" ok, but if that was bad i would think my gauge would register more pressure. I cannot remember, but i thought when i was cruising around town it would be around 50psi.

HELP! ANy ideas? maybe i should have got a new gasket for the oil pickup? Suggestions welcome because i wanted to move here shortly.

 

does VTEC still engage?

 

i only revved it up just before VTEC. Its tough to tell with a Turbo. I cannot beat on this car because im still untuned on a basemap.

Fresh oil change full supply, no leaks.

 

This is what my gauge reads at idle..... seems low The yellow mark.... its exactly halfway between the first and 2nd tickmark

 

oh that would be an easy way to tell if your pressure was too low...you already checked your dipstick right? besdies that i dont really know

edit- ok saw the pic now....definitely low lol

 

you might need a high volume oil pump.

 

This problem seem to happen after i modified my oilpan as well (for my turbo return). I cut a good chunk of the metal "step" inside the pan to make way for the return.....could this affect it?

 

like you said the earlier post that you found a small piece of heat wrap stuck at the oil pickup. the chance that you find other trash is more likely.

 

any other ideas? i gotta start tearing stuff apart i guess

 

mine sits that low during idle when my car is warmed up!!
but i don't get any oil lights like you

 

my crx's oil pressure is around 10-20psi @ idle when fully warmed.

did u put any extra oil in the car since u added the turbo?

 

not really. I just put enough in to get it to the top of the mark on the dipstick. But ive been running turbo for over a year or so.

 

My oil pressure with my Autometer pressure gauges reads:

90 psi @ cold start idle
15 psi @ idle warmed up
50 psi @ normal cruising
75 psi @ full throttle

 

yeah I used to read 50psi cruising before i changed my pan.....

The Helm says if oil pressure is not in spec, change the switch, but how could the switch do anything else except trip the light? It cannot cause the pressure to be low?

I'll try it since its only $7.00 from Honda.

Does anyone else think that by me cutting a chunk of the metal "step" inside the pan to make my fitting fit (from oil return from turbo) cause this?

 

Why not ask in the forced induction forum?

 

I did.... doing some more investigating.

 

Changed the Oil press sender (stock) no go. Im wondering about the oil pump, but the pressure is good upon cold startup?

Kevin

 

maybe you got a wrong oil pan.. what was wrong with the old one?

check for dents in the new one as well

 

NOpe, its a stock oil pan, i have a few of them layin around. The original one just wouldnt work again because of the location of the bung for the return. My Downpipe was in the way. Oil pan has no dents

 

Dont know if this will help but mine reads 20psi at idle and about 80 at 4000. I have b18c1.

 

My neighbor (mechanic of 12 years) mainly works on american cars, but he thinks that since i had that piece stuck in the oil pickup, it starved the main bearings and they now have too much clearance. He thinks my pump is probably good. I kinda agree. ANyone else?