Oil pressure idiot light began blinking recently on my 93 Accord EX with ~125k miles; I drove the two remaining blocks home before pulling over. Oil levels were fine, and I had the car towed in to the garage to have them test the pressure. Turns out there's no pressure. My question is what can I expect as to the remaining longevity of the vehicle depending on the level of sludging they do or do not find when they replace the oil pump. Mechanic says there's no way of telling short of pulling the engine down to look at the bearings. Is there a rule of thumb to apply in deciding whether to repair or replace the engine?....I want to do the most cost-effective one obviously. Thanks!

 

Replace the oil pump unit first, lesser cost than replacement of motor..

 

I guess what I was trying to get at was a cost/benefit analysis. If they find x amount of sludge, won't the engine have a greatly shortened lifespan after I replace the pump? If I can only expect, say, another 2k miles before the engine seizes, is an $800 repair still more cost-effective than replacement?

 

If that the case.. (your prediction), then you absolutely would be better off with motor replacement, a much better route to go knowing it would last you years to come.

 

no pressure sounds like rod and/or crank bearings are bad, possible to fix without replacing the engine. Get an opinion from a trusted mechanic (i'm just a guy that works on cars, not a mechanic)

 

First of all DO NOT replace anything till you have car properly DIAGNOSED ,,,,Is there any engine noise ??
And the mechanic making the above statement ,is full of CRAP..
All you got to do is remove the oil pan to chk the condition of the bearings , while pan is off you can also have a look at the oil pump pick up .. at times the screen get real clogged up ..also what i have seen a few times is people run over objects on the road denting in the oil pan , pushed up against the oil pick up screen , thus pump cannot suck up any oil , thus no oil pressure . thus oil lite comes on..

If indeed the engine is toast .. I would reccomend replacing it with a low miles japanese engine ,, they have around 45-50k miles ,, that would be the most economical way ,,I have replaced a bunch of them , some on the roads for 7-8 years and have not had any problems ,,

 

We usually pull of the valve cover first to see if the engine is a serious sludge monster or not.