Oil Light Issues...

[TheQuietOne]

Hello All,

Just a quickie, my car had a large service about 1000 miles ago at Norton Way. Driving home last week the red (top left) oil light came on. I pulled over immediately and called for help (Papalazarou to the rescue so to speak) and waited for the oil to drain down, about 30 mins+. When the light came on the pressure guage was showing about 7, where it sits most of the time.

Anyway when I checked the oil on the dipstick it is very clean (the oil that is) and was toching the upper most drilled hole which I assume means it is 'full' so to speak. I actually at this point only being a few miles from home summized that it has to be a fault with the switch / sender for the light - as full oil pressure and oil to the top marker on the dip stick in my simple mind means there are no low oil problems...or I hope so...and drove back.

I had a lot on this weekend so didn't drive the car or deal with the problem, but got back in this morning and checked the oil again, exactly the same, so started it up and drove to work. Light flickered a bit and then went off after a mile or so...and stayed off for 60 miles, and then made a re-appearence a few miles from work again. I would like to try and find out the problem before getting the RAC to take the car to my local Honda garage and save a few hundred quid if possible on diagnosis, does anyone know anything that might shed some light on this for me...? Any coments greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Matt.

[Lankstarr]

AS you know Matt I dont know a lot about this sort of thing but when it comes on if you give the top of the dash above the light a good thump then seeing if the light goes on/off with each bang may be a good diagnosis for a faulty light.

I dont normally add my 2ps on a tech qu but I cant see how this vcan do any harm and a good thump would sort out most things on the old man's Sh1tr0ns!

[simonprelude]

Have you spoked to Norton Way to see what oil they used etc ??

[TheQuietOne]

Think it was Castrol SLX or maybe GTX...haven't had time to breath today so haven't spoken to them, plus they are about 150 miles away so I can't really pop it back to them to have a look at. Will call though and speak to Brian this afternoon...

The oil is on the receipt in the boot though I think....

[Senninha]

Simple thought, but have you checked connection to the engine sender unit? POssibility that the mechanic has caught/knocked it during the service?

regards

[TheQuietOne]

No where is that? I haven't done anything but check the oil so far...and I haven't had time to download the manual either to find where things are :cry:

[TheQuietOne]

found this on Prime, where is it refering to, perhaps this is the faulty bit?

What Turns On The "Oil" Dash Light?
[BSC - 2001/6/5] The oil pressure switch on the oil cooler is only for the oil pressure light on the dash - not the oil pressure gauge. When the oil pressure goes below a certain value, the oil pressure switch on the cooler causes the oil light to illuminate. The oil pressure sending unit is located on the driver's side of the front head - below the VTEC solenoid.

[Lankstarr]

Sounds too technical for you mate :wink:

Get Dan or James down there to have a butchers!

Have you tried the good old give it a wallop technique or have you dismissed my suggestion as stupid and lanky? :twisted:

[TheQuietOne]

Yup, both stupid and lanky - stick to numbers mate ;-)

I will mount an investigation this week....

[Lankstarr]

Yup, both stupid and lanky - stick to numbers mate ;-)

MO FO - if you aint knocked it then don't knock it !? :?

Thought it would be worth a bash!

[Lankstarr]

I thought there were a lot of teccy minded people on here .... come on guys where are your tupences??

[DTA-Motorsport]

Hi Luke,

For what it's worth I've been helping Matt figure out a course of action to take to resolve this.

So far what we're doing is trying to eliminate components. We know that the oil level is spot on; We also know that the oil pressure guage on the dashboard reads correctly throughout a drive; and soon we will know what the actual oil pressure is by plugging in a separate oil pressure guage whilst the car is running. That should leave us with the oil pressure switch and the oil pressure sender unit - the latter can pretty much be discounted as being faulty as the dashboard guage reads normal. I've been phoning around (both in the UK and Europe) to try and obtain a new pressure switch (remarkably cheap by NSX standards) but as usual the part is on back order.

I have in the meantime heard from a couple of NSX technicians that the pressure switch is a part that can easily be damaged by knocks, etc (especially during an oil change) so it is likely to be this part that is faulty. All it does is compare the actual oil pressure to preset parameters and if the actual values fall outside of the expected values it engages the oil warning light on the dashboard ...

If it proves to be this part then it should be an easy fix - something I could probably do myself if Matt will let me get underneath his car ...

Anyway - we're now dealing with the problem as best we can given the time and resource constraint.

Matt - I hope I haven't spoken out of turn ... ;)

Cheers!

Dan

[Lankstarr]

Aww wyou are soooo nice Dan!

Already knew about your help and plan but thought that some more people on here should be able to contribute something to the discussion just in case your solution doesn't fix it.

For what it is worth Brian at Nortonway told me that the "parameters" that trigger these warning lights are set quite a way away from the preset "norm" and the pressure would have to be seriously low or high to trigger the light. All being said there would have to be something obviously wrong with oil levels or temperature to cause such a discrepancy ( I would have thought) so it is very likely (in my unknowledgable opinion) that your sensor is the culprit.

[TheQuietOne]

Well thanks to the two of you for keeping my thread alive...I guess no one else out there has an opinion :cry: !

Slight update is that I have an API part arriving at the race mechanic who is going to check the pressure on Monday and we will as part of this process replace the Pressure Switch anyway. At least then if the light still persists I can hand it over to Honda with that ruled out and hopefully the mechanic's time estimated at an hour and the £10 part will set me back about £45 quid in total!

I just hope that's what it is :shock: !

Would like to publicly thank Dan for all his help on this which is a very busy / stressful time for us both business wise, and he went the extra mile for me ringing round and finding out info when I just haven't had the time...I am extremely grateful mate...and owe you a spritzer in a wine bar of your choice :D

Also thanks to Luke for keeping me looking at the lighter side ('thump the dash' - and renewing and refocussing my desire for a puppy :wink: I owe you a Hoegarden sir 8)

[TheQuietOne]

Hello All,

Final update on this problem just in case it happens to anyone else at some stage. The problem was in my first post of the thread, and the solution part was, replacement oil pressure switch, £7.25+VAT from the local motor factors as Honda were on back order for 'at least' 2 weeks. Highly recommended mechanic to fit said part after first doing the recommended pressure checks as per the manual (£35 / hour). Oil pressure was above the stated figures, I think 30 at slow idle and 50 at medium idle I will check on my report sheet though and update if neccessary.

Sum total of fix was:

£35+VAT labour 1 and a bit hours.
£7.25 + VAT for part.
£0.00 piece of mind!

Everything checked out and the light has gone off now!

Thanks again to everyone I managed to involve in this :wink:

Matt.

[DTA-Motorsport]

Great news Matt! Glad to hear you got it sorted for a fraction of the cost of a visit to Honda!

Now, check those oil pressure readings and let us know what's what ...

See you soon mate!

Dan

[sportyking]

Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I always had faith in you
Sorry for a lack of public support in your time of need, but you knew I was rooting for you Matt :D

[Papalazarou]

Damn, I was hoping it was going to be really expensive :twisted:

James.

[TheQuietOne]

Thanks chaps, and don't think I'm going to feel sorry for you when your fancy wheels start rubbing James :wink:

[Lankstarr]

Damn, I was hoping it was going to be really expensive :twisted:

James.

:lol: