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Oil pressure light on after warm up

2K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  zrickety 
#1 ·
My oil pressure light is very dim, so I'm just now realizing it is actually turning on. I've determined it turns on after the car gets warm. My oil was high so I did an oil change a few weeks ago, and I put in too much again! :oops: When I first did the oil change it was barely over the top dot on the dip stick, my friend who let me borrow some tools for the change said some of that should get into the new oil filter and it would be fine.... a few weeks later it seems like it might have gotten a bit higher?! It's certainly not lower. Is there a way I can get some of the oil out without doing another full oil change? Either way I know it's not good, but do you think too much oil is what is causing the light to come on?

I'd rather not drive it again until I try something to fix it.
 
#4 ·
the light comes on when oil pressure is low. which means you're losing oil pressure in a bearing journal somewhere. I've had 2 d series blocks spin rod bearings due to low oil pressure. I'd take the oil pan off and inspect the rod bearings :)b just my 2 cents
 
#5 ·
Does it flicker on at idle when the engine is fully warm? That's a sign of a very tired motor with lots of slop in the crank and rod bearings.

Does the light stay on at higher RPMs? That's a very bad sign for the health of the motor.

It is worth checking the wiring from the light to the sender, and checking the sender as well. It would be very frustrating to tear the engine apart for nothing more than a problem with the light...

You can also swap a mechanical gauge in and check the pressure to verify if it really is that low.

Low pressure would be caused by worn bearings in the bottom end, oil pump problems (wear or other problems), or oil pick up problems. Possibly other things but they aren't coming to mind. Most of these require tearing the bottom end of the motor apart to fix.

--DD
 
#7 ·
sounds like trouble. do you drive it daily?
i'd get an oil psi gauge...preferably one with the electric sender. they usually cost a little more, but i put one on every car i own. it's good info, especially if anything changes like this
 
#9 ·
Dave_Darling said:
Does it flicker on at idle when the engine is fully warm? That's a sign of a very tired motor with lots of slop in the crank and rod bearings.

Does the light stay on at higher RPMs? That's a very bad sign for the health of the motor.

It is worth checking the wiring from the light to the sender, and checking the sender as well.

--DD
It's hard to tell, when the light is on it looks almost as if it's just glowing because the check engine light is on next to it (and not throwing a code last time I checked) so it's not jumping out at me, but it seems like once it is warmed up it's on all the time, but I could be wrong, I don't look at it while accelerating.

I will check the wiring too, I would not be at all surprised if it was bad.

IBWiglin said:
how much oil did you put in during the oil change? How is your coolant level?
About the 3.7 quarts it should have taken. Why don't they sell oil in liters?

Actually my coolant is low, thanks for the tip, I'll add more right away.

zrickety said:
sounds like trouble. do you drive it daily?
i'd get an oil psi gauge...preferably one with the electric sender. they usually cost a little more, but i put one on every car i own. it's good info, especially if anything changes like this
Thankfully it is not my daily driver. I'll look into getting an oil pressure gauge, what should the pressure be?
 
#10 ·
I prefer a mechanical gauge to check up on things like this, but an electrical gauge is usually a lot better for permanent installation.

You would like to see on the order of 10 PSI per 1000 RPM, but mostly at this point I would want to verify that the pressure isn't zero-ish at anything off idle.

--DD
 
#11 ·
If your oil level is rising, and your car is loosing coolant, and your oil light is coming on, its possible you have a bad headgasket, and coolant is getting into your oil. This can happen without oil getting into the radiator. Does your oil look milky at all? You can try changing the oil after having the car sit overnight without starting it first. This will let the oil and coolant separate and you'd definitely see the coolant coming out. But I'd really only consider that if you're sure the oil level is rising.
 
#12 ·
Hmm, I wouldn't say I'm sure the oil level is rising, and I was probably low on coolant before :oops: ... not that that doesn't mean it's not getting into the oil. The oil does not look milky though, just looks like oil.
 
#13 ·
check the radiator cap to see if you have oil in your coolant, if the oil is not milky i find its easier to see oil in the coolant that coolant in the oil.

i think its funny that the CRX is the fuel fiend, when its still a pretty fuel efficient car..lol prob not compared to the insight.
 
#14 ·
Doesn't look like there is oil in the coolant either, which is good, but I wish I knew what was going on. :?

Yeah the CRX does pretty good, but compared to the other cars in my "fuel family" it's definitely fiendish... and not just in relation to fuel. :twisted:
 
#15 ·
If it has high mileage,and the oil hasn't always been changed on time,
Then the sending unit for the light might be to blame...

I have seen them get "gummed-up" and trigger the oil pressure light
after the engine warms up and pressure drops.....
 
#20 ·
I was in my garage just now an noticed I'm leaking oil I crawled under the car and it's coming from the drain bolt. If I didn't tighten it all the way when I did the oil change :doh: could that be all that is wrong?
 
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