Oil light flashing at idle

djv1986

Member
I've got a fresh built engine 30 miles on it. Manually checked oil pressure at the factory oil pressure sending unit and at idle

Cold- 12psi
Hot - 5 psi

At 3000 it makes 60+ warm

Any ideas why such low oil pressure? The squirter valves are brand new from Honda. The cylinder block does have the oil control valve installed.

The oil pump is used from previous engine and only had 14k miles when installed.

I'm guessing oil pump is the faulty item but hopefully someone can possibly have a good idea prior to tearing down the new engine
 

djv1986

Member
Also oil pan is not dented and everything was torqued to spec on pickup tube with new oem gasket
 

phatintegra

Banned
Like Muckman said bearing clearances.

How did you broke in the new fresh motor and How many time did you change the oil and what miles.
 


djv1986

Member
They are whatever the engine builder setup the shortblock with. Acl race bearings on std. Journal.
Engine only has 30 miles on it if that. And I've drove it mildly and melow keeping from a steady rpm at times. Keeping the rpms varying
 

Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
change to a new pressure sensor, or the clearances are wrong. Honda journals dont have a standard size .theres 6 different bearing sizes.
 

djv1986

Member
Samurai_Blue said:
change to a new pressure sensor, or the clearances are wrong. Honda journals dont have a standard size .theres 6 different bearing sizes.
Click to expand...

I know but just saying the journals never have been machined. And it's got the acl race bearings

What's the possibility of the pressure relief valve being stuck open? And with a mechanical gauge it starts off cold at about 10-12 at idle then when warms up its around 4-5psi at idle
 


Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
So if your journals were the smaller oem size because casting isn't 100% perfect, and you put acl race bearings in which are the middle size then your bearings are too tight and will spin.

My car starts and oil pressure is 70 and 25 at idle
 

djv1986

Member
70 max psi at higher rpms? My gauge hits over 60 just idle is low

I had a reputable machine shop build and assemble the short block I don't foresee them doing it improper but ️ya never know these days
 

djv1986

Member
While driving in first I saw 70-75psi mechanical gauge but crusing at 3500 fwy only been running for 5 minutes the oil pressure is 40-45psi and cold idle startup was 20psi max.
 

Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
your oil pressure is low. I start my car and its at 70PSI at the filter. Max PSI is over 80psi. You may have clearance issues. Do you have metal in your oil?
 

djv1986

Member
I'm going to contact the machine shop who build the short block today and see if they still have the info. But I also reused a oil pump that only had 14000 miles on it but was also from a engine that had blown up and ran low on oil so im got this today to start with
and see where it goes after. I'll drain the oil and examine it once I start to replace the oil pump
 

Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
if your bearings are done because of an oiling issue...then the motor is done. I would check for metal in the oil.
 

djv1986

Member
Machine shop said his notes stated
Mains- .0022
Rods- .002

I only have 40 miles on the engine I hope it didn't wipe bearings out already but I'll know when I drain the oil
 

Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
check if those clearances are within honda spec. You may just have a bad pump. Who knows until you start draining your oil.
 
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