another Oil pressure/ Vtec question, Please help.....

[leexong77]

Hi All. I have been spending most of my morning at work reading through all the post/threads that I can find regarding the oil pressure and vtec. I have kept my car in storeage for winter but I got the need for speed, so this morning I drove it to work. Here in Minnesota it's been a rough winter. But today looks descent and the roads are clean, so I took her out. Now, the problems. I have change my OEM oil pressure sender to a SOS unit. This was done last winter. So, this morning while I was on the high way I noticed that the oil pressure gauge was acting a little strange. It will not move pass 4 on the gauge and at idle no pressure at all. While coming out of a turn I floor it to see if the gauge will move pass 4 or higher but nothing. Then, the CEL came on. I stop to check, start it up, floor it again and no CEL and RPM reached 8k no problem. But the O/P still remain between 3-4 on the O/P gauge. Now, reading what I can find here about this, I'm felt to believed that it's my vtec pressure sensor or the whole vtec spool valve. But what is also strange is that during last summer I replaced and cleaned most of the filters, gasket and O-ring that I can. Now, can anyone tell me what I can do regarding this? Because I'm feeling that due to this I'm not getting vtec power. Oh, and there are on oil leaks whatsoever. Please I need your help..........

Lee

 

[E-Nough Logic]

If you are getting CEL for oil pressure problems relating to the VTEC system, and your oil pressure gauge confirms an oil pressure issue then I would not drive the car and look into your oil pressure problem. First thing to check would be your oil level. You said you have a new SOS pressure sensor in there right so you are under good assumption that the gauge is reading the oil pressure accurately.

 

[leexong77]

I had my oil change at acura before I stored it for winter. And yes, oil is where it should be. The only thing that I could try to do is clean and check for and faulty wires. Everything was fine before that. But thanks anyways.

 

[Honcho]

Ok, first things first. If you are getting a CEL, you need to pull the code. The CEL can come on for many reasons while driving and the only way to know for sure is to pull the code. The ECU will store the most recent 3 codes. Second is you need to test oil pressure. The OEM gauge is useless. You need to hook a gauge directly into the 10mm service port on either head (or the oil pressure switch port on the oil cooler) and test per the service manual. Warm up the car and connect the gauge. Pressure should be 10 psi minimum at idle and 50 psi minimum at 3000 rpm. Assuming your pressure checks out, you can eliminate your oil pump as a source. After that, it is likely a gauge issue. The sender is only one half of the problem. The OEM gauge can go bad too. In fact there was a TSB on it years ago. I replaced with the SOS sender too, but my gauge still reads no higher than 4 even at 8000 rpm. Because I tested my oil pressure at the head, I know it is just a bad gauge. You may well just have a bad gauge too and the CEL is indicating another problem. My guess is the O2 sensors.

 

[Grimeas]

i replaced my oil pressure sensor with the SOS one and it acts the same way. The original one in the car actually read better then the SOS one did for me. I do not get CEL codes tho ever and planning on just putting the original one back on. I doubt i have a problem or my car would have done blown up by now and original read close to good and like i said i never get a CEL so take what i say at your own risk. Also my vtec works fine

 

[leexong77]

Thanks guys, I'm going to take a look at the oil pressure sender tomorrow. Then see what code I'm going to get from the cel. I'm hoping it's not as bad as I think it is. The last time I got a cel and pull the code, it turn out to be the rear spool valve. Oh, the car seems to run strong again. I took it for a long drive after work and seems to drive like it did before. I guess I was freaking out, besides it's almost a month since my last drive. The only other thing that got me thinking that it might be the o/p sender is that, there were little oil on the sender. Not enough to see but I can feel it on my finger. Maybe a leak somewhere?

 

[Gansan]

I also experienced an oil leak where the fitting screws onto my SoS oil pressure sender. I tightened it and tightened it (trying to feel when it got more difficult) until I went too far and it bottomed out. But it doesn't leak, so I'm leaving it as it is. From what I have read, with tapered threads, you should tighten it 1/8th a turn at a time until it stops leaking. No more.