94 accord, no oil to top of engine- Oil light on

I have a 94 accord EX with 310000km. Yesterday I was driving over
some rough dirt roads ( I mean REALLY rough) and the oil light came on.

it blinked intermittently at first and then came on steady. I thought
that the oil was low, so I added a bunch of oil. I waited til the next
day, and there is no sign of leaks and the dipstick reads high.

When I take the oil cap off, It is quite dry, and I have to poke my
finger in a fair way to get it even slightly oily.

My only thoughts are to check the intake or replace the oil pump as
if the engine is dry, It does not make sense that it is the sender.

Any advice would be really appreciated,

Thanks,

Matt.

wrote:
> I have a 94 accord EX with 310000km. Yesterday I was driving over
> some rough dirt roads ( I mean REALLY rough) and the oil light came on.

which indicates lack of pressure... not necessarily lack of oil.
>
> it blinked intermittently at first and then came on steady. I thought
> that the oil was low, so I added a bunch of oil. I waited til the next
> day, and there is no sign of leaks and the dipstick reads high.

reading too high isnt good either.
>
> When I take the oil cap off, It is quite dry, and I have to poke my
> finger in a fair way to get it even slightly oily.
>
> My only thoughts are to check the intake or replace the oil pump as
> if the engine is dry, It does not make sense that it is the sender.

but it could be, and going over the rough roads might have loosened an
intermittant connection
>
> Any advice would be really appreciated,

id drain the oil to where its supposed to be, check the connection to
the sender, unplug, clean, replug.

if light still goes on, a real oil pressure check is necessary.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Matt.
>

wrote in
oups.com:

> I have a 94 accord EX with 310000km. Yesterday I was driving over
> some rough dirt roads ( I mean REALLY rough) and the oil light came on.
>
> it blinked intermittently at first and then came on steady.



Check the wiring and connectors at the oil pressure sender unit in the
block.

To check the oil to the top end, run the engine and remove the filler cap.
If you see splashes (watch your clothes), oil feed is fine.


--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Inspect the bottom of your oil pan. My first guess would be that you hit
a rock which deformed the pan in the wrong place, and broke the snorkel
off the intake for the oil pump. In other words, you may very well have
low/no oil pressure. I'm not sure how easy this is to do the these
engines, but this was particularly easy to do with the I4's that VW made
in the rabbit/gti cars.

Good luck,
Arthur

SoCalMike wrote:
> wrote:
>
>> I have a 94 accord EX with 310000km. Yesterday I was driving over
>> some rough dirt roads ( I mean REALLY rough) and the oil light came on.
>
>
> which indicates lack of pressure... not necessarily lack of oil.
>
>>
>> it blinked intermittently at first and then came on steady. I thought
>> that the oil was low, so I added a bunch of oil. I waited til the next
>> day, and there is no sign of leaks and the dipstick reads high.
>
>
> reading too high isnt good either.
>
>>
>> When I take the oil cap off, It is quite dry, and I have to poke my
>> finger in a fair way to get it even slightly oily.
>>
>> My only thoughts are to check the intake or replace the oil pump as
>> if the engine is dry, It does not make sense that it is the sender.
>
>
> but it could be, and going over the rough roads might have loosened an
> intermittant connection
>
>>
>> Any advice would be really appreciated,
>
>
> id drain the oil to where its supposed to be, check the connection to
> the sender, unplug, clean, replug.
>
> if light still goes on, a real oil pressure check is necessary.
>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Matt.
>>

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I have just removed the oilpan, and everything inside looks
pristine. The snorkel is not dented at all and the screen is
completely clean.

All I can think of now is changing the oil pump.

If anyone has any suggestions before I start this I would really
appreciate it.
I have rarely heard of the oil pump failing- Is this common?

Thanks,

Matt

wrote:
> Thanks for all the suggestions.
>
> I have just removed the oilpan, and everything inside looks
> pristine. The snorkel is not dented at all and the screen is
> completely clean.
>
> All I can think of now is changing the oil pump.
>
> If anyone has any suggestions before I start this I would really
> appreciate it.
> I have rarely heard of the oil pump failing- Is this common?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Matt
>
like tegger says, check the feed by watching for oil circulation under
the top cap. after that, check the sender circuit. the light comes on
when the lead is grounded. if it's trapped somewhere, it could be
making ground.

in answer to your question, no, it's extremely uncommon for a pump to
suddenly fail. wear out, sure. fail? no.