Here's my delimma. Long story short... Like a stretched to thin busy dad I drove my 99 Accord V6 1 1/2 miles with out oil. I pulled over immediately when the performance changed. I filled the pan and drove on to my destination. I changed the filter and oil again the following day. Now it makes a slight rumble upon starting and once driven the low oil pressure light fluctuates on and off at low idle only. Say the difference between drive and neutral. Increase the RPM's and it go's out. I need suggestions before I drive any distance or proceed with repairs.

 

It sounds to me like you damaged the rod and main bearings, and there is now enough room between the crank journal and the inner bearing surface to allow too much oil to leak out at idle to maintain minimum pressure.

Were I in your shoes I'd do one of the following:

1. Replace the main and rod bearings and hope for the best.
2. Have the cylinders "bore scoped" to determine if the cylinder walls have been scorerd. If they haven't, then do item #1 and be happy.
3. Have the engine replaced or rebuilt.

 

Thanks for that insight shipo! What would be the possibility of just a damaged oil pump? To optimistic? I drove it last night maybe twenty miles same sequence of events. Drove to work this morning 30 miles on the interstate same deal although the light did come on longer that is until I cycled the ignition once I had stopped. Hoping for the best and expecting the worst!

 

unlikely the oil pump is bad, BUT the pick-up screen could be clogged with bearing material...i've seen that before. it will reduce the volume and subsequently the pressure of the oil system causing the light to come on. regardless, the damage has been done. need to at least remove the pan and check for debris.

 

Change the oil and filter. Go one grade heavier: if it calls for 5w30, try 10w40, see if the flickering oil light goes away.

 

Thanks for the input. If it makes it home today without a catastrophic failure I'll park it till I can drop the pan.

 

Taking all the suggestions I can get. I love that car even if it does have ugly paint! Thanks for the input!

 

We have occasionally seen a faulty oil pressure sensor causing intermittent oil pressure light. It is cheap and easy to replace on 4-cylinder accords, but not sure about V6.

Did you run the car for an extended period w/ oil light On?

good luck

 

The light didn't come on until the last minute. At least that I noticed. Now once the engine reaches operating temp. the light either pulses at idle or flashes constantly. It's intermittent. At this point I guess it's exploratory surgery to identify if it's worth saving.

 

If the engine is running well other than the light, I'd switch to 0W-40 oil and call it a day.

I strongly suspect bearing slop is your issue as those are typically the first to go when an oil starvation event occurs. That said, depending upon how much damage is in there, you could still drive it another fifty to one-hundred thousand miles with no problem, or suffer a bearing failure next week. Were I in your shoes I'd run heavier oil and then deal with any long term issues as they arose.