Oil light came on after two days with the new block???

Just got done building my engine back up on Monday night and today I am seeing problems.... When I started my car up for lunch this afternoon the oil pressure light was on. I moved it about 100 ft. to a level spot so I could check my oil and turned it off right away.

At what pressure does the oil light come on? I read on one thread that it is basically 0 psi.

The oil pump and seal is brand new according to the member I bought the block from.

How can I troubleshoot this without hurting the car?

 

The switch for the light takes about 3-6psi to shut the light off. Best thing you can do is put a oil pressure gauge in place of the oil pressure switch have some one start it up, give it 5 maybe 10 seconds if it doesn't build pressure by then shut it down and start pulling the front of the engine apart to get to the oil pump to check and make sure every thing is sealed up, may need to pull it and toss in a new o-ring just for piece of mind. It may also be a good idea to pull the pan and check and see if the o-ring on the pick up tube is good.

 

i bet i know what happend....you forgot to put the o-ring on the oil pickup

 

I saw the o-ring on the pick up tube when I was putting it together. The ring "looked" fine. How crucial is it and could something like that cause that much of a pressure drop?

 

he bought the block from me...and thats a brand new oil pump from 3rik so...yeah. lol what all runs to that light as far as sensors are concerned?

 

just the OPS unit

 

dumb question, is it plugged in?

 

3rik, wasnt on before had to be or it would throw a code initially no?

 

it could have popped off?

 

yeah i suppose that could happen...happed with my old MAF on my SVX

 

was the oil low? was it knockin/ticking?

 

Yeah, everything has been cool with it up until today. I drove it from Elk River to Mpls on Monday night and to and from work yesterday.

I am REALLY hoping that I didn't drive with it on for any period of time on my commute into work this morning. Lord knows I zone out like non-other when I am commuting.

I haven't tried to see if the sensor came unplugged. I know I plugged it in and I have no idea how it could come unplugged.

I think the plan right now is to call up AAA and get it towed back to my parent's garage in Elk River. I am planning on lifting the engine up as much as I can without unplugging or hurting anything and I will see if I can get the oil pan off with the engine still in the car. (Anyone tried this before) Then I can check that oil pickup. Then figure out wether or not the oil pump needs to come out.

 

Oil was on the low side of the acceptable range, but nothing crazy. Car was running great all the way into work this morning. Hard to here anything wierd when I started it this afternoon. Way too many noises from it being -7 degrees outside!!!! But, no knocking/ticking.

 

Let me know if there is anything else I should check...

- rig up a mechanical oil pressure gauge into my sensor port, check pressure
- try to pull oil pan, check oil pick-up and o-ring seal
- ...... ? then what ?

 

If the sensor is unplugged the only way the light will come on is if the wire (single wire) is grounded out somewhere.

Otherwise, if that o-ring in your pan has cracked and fallen off, you loose pressure because you get air into the oiling system <---- NOT GOOD!!!!

It may be wise to get a mechanical gauge hooked up to test, but there is a chance that your Oil Pressure Sending Unit is going bad too.

 

So, I was thinking that I will pull the oil pan off and check that seal before I do anything. I am assuming every revolution of the engine is hurting my car if that oil pump is sucking air. Then, even testing the pressure with a mechanical gauge could cause serious damage.

 

last time my light came on the engine blew 3 minutes later.





















good luck!

 

The sending unit is what, $11? Give that a shot. Otherwise I've got a couple of those plugs that the oil pres sending unit screws into. I can re-tap it for 1/8 NPT so you can hook up a gauge to check your oil pressure.. The Subaru sending unit is some wierd tapered thread, british or metric.

 

Thanks guys. Your help is much appreciated.

I got the car towed home late last night, but the arctic temperatures and late night made it impossible to try working on the vehicle. I will be working on it tonight and let you know what I find out.

Thanks again!

 

Well I rigged up a gage this morning and checked to see if there was any pressure in the engine oil system....

I snapped a picture of the gage that I made. I tested it in the sink with water and it read pressure well.

I started the car twice, the first time for about 3 seconds and the second time I counted of 5 seconds. Both times the gage didn't even blip off of zero psi. :-( Plus, there wasn't any oil even on the gage when I pulled it out.

On the flip side, my engine sounds smooth and it doesn't seem like anything is damaged to my knowledge.

How long will it take to pump oil up to where the original sensor is mounted?

PS.... I need that engine oil that you always see in weekend afternoon television commercials. Where they put two cars on the dyno and run them bone dry without any oil. The oil they are promoting always gose like an hour wide open and still works perfect. The other car craps out at like 10 minutes and seizes up. I can't stop thinking about those commercials when I am starting my car right now. ha ha

 

dont start it anymore! if your oil pump isnt working, your car will start having engine damage after maybe 40 seconds of running.

you made your point. dont start it anymore

please

 

I didn't want to start it either... I was told to test it. I am just going by the general advice given by the group. I am going to try and pull the oil pan off now. The pump is brand new, so I can't imagine that isn't working. What could go that bad in a brand new oil pump where it wouldn't make noise or leak anything?

 

yes, overly concerning. like i said, i can try and find the recipt for that pump as well

 

did you put the O ring in the pump curly?

 

yes sir, the one you sold me.

 

Well I got the engine about 3/4 inch higher in the engine bay with it blocked underneath. I am going to see if I can get tools wedged in there to get all the oil pan fasteners out. Wish me luck! ha ha

 

good luck

 

Updates?

The pump is a positive displacement pump, so it will never stop pumping, its just a matter of getting the oil to/from it.

 

Removing the oil pan is very tricky to do with the engine still in the car. I have done it a few times and it sucks to do. There are 3 or 4 bolts which are on the back side of the pan and are a pain to get off. you will need to unbolt the motor mounts and jack up the motor a fair amount. also having some swivel joints and a variety of extensions will be very handy.

good luck.

 

Took the oil pan off tonight... sorry for the lack of updates, I took a break and went up to Lutsen with my GF for the weekend.

Took the oil pickup off and everything seems fine... I snapped a picture of the oil pickup with the o-ring that was on it. I can't imagine that it would have a bad enough seal to result in zero pressure when testing.

The wierdest part is that it was working fine until Wednesday afternoon when I started it up at lunch. What could fail like that and all of a sudden cause the loss in pressure? Does the oil pump attach to the driveshaft with a keyway? If the oil pump is new, I think the only way that it could not produce pressure is by it not spinning. Is there any chance, and how, that the oil pump would be slipping on the shaft?

I am completely lost again? I am about done chasing my tail trying to fix all the problems on this engine. What to do now......?

 

What could have enough clogging power to plug the outlet? That pump produces some pretty good pressure when running right, I don't know what could get in there between the oulet and the pressure sensor to completely block the oil from blasting through.

 

Took some pictures off of the old pump and engine block to aid in discussion...

What can go wrong here? Could the pressure relief completely fail and cause the system to build no pressure? I would think that it wouldn't take much of a vacume to pull oil up to the pump....

 

.... another....

 

.... and another....

 

... and one more....

 

have you tried opening the pump and see how the gears look

 

Haven't pulled the new pump off the new engine block yet. I am thinking that is inevitable, but trying to get some ideas before I do it.

You guys have to read this, it is hillarious.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-113686.html

Found it on NASIOC trying to find similar problems to what I am dealing with. Obviously this didn't help at all, LOL!

 

dude i am really sorry... i dont even know what the hell is going on there. seriously, sorry for it all

 

Well, I got the new pump pulled off my engine and I think I might have found the problem... The new pump was put on with a lot of liquid gasket material and I think a chunk got wedged into the pressure relief system. I took pictures of the two pumps side by side....

 

Notice the position of the pressure relief valve. I took a close-up of the two in the same orientation. I am going to bring the pumps into Morries tomorrow and see what the pros think. I am thinking that I can pull the valve out and clean it and things should be ok. Opinions?.....

I am going to busy until later tomorrow afternoon. I will give you an update then. For now.... at least I have some direction.

 

isnt that the point of the seal... to seal without the sealant crap?!?!?!?!

 

no, thats what you use, sealant, that o-ring and a new front main, you should use your old wrx pump just to be safe.

 

What o-ring is that? I've never seem a blue one from subaru.