Non Ford Tech Question

[Dr_EluSivE]

While my Mustang has been down i have been driving my moms 1989 Honda Prelude SI, before you laugh its actually a kickass car. it has 4 wheel steering and a 5 speed which make it a blast to drive... Anyway.. recently the Oil pressure light (no gauge ) has been flickering on when you slow down, or take a corner fast (which i do alot in this car) the Oil needs to be changed, but it is full, it doesnt burn any and runs great, car doesnt make any strange noises, and the light does NOT come on when idleing, stopped, or accelarating. Its quite annoying when it comes on, and a little unnerving since i like this car and dont want to damage the motor. And when the light flickers to much it causes the light to flash until the igntion is cycled (flashing means there was a temporary condition).. Anyone ever heard of something like this happening? I dont know if i am actually losing oil pressure or if the sender/gauge is screwy. I wanna fix it though, i guess if i need to i can put in a mech gauge, but i would like to avoid that. Any ideas as to what might be causing this?

Dr.

 

[RustBucket]

Sounds like you may be uncovering the level sensor momentarily. If the oil level is good, then you may need to adjust your driving habits a bit. Hard braking and hard cornering will send all of the oil in the pan to one side. Sounds like the sensor may be mounted on the firewall side of the pan which explains why it comes on when decelerating and not when accelerating.

Ease up on Mom's car, and the light should quit coming on. Ya know, drive it like you borrowed it, not like you stole it.

 

[Dr_EluSivE]

Sounds like you may be uncovering the level sensor momentarily. If the oil level is good, then you may need to adjust your driving habits a bit. Hard braking and hard cornering will send all of the oil in the pan to one side. Sounds like the sensor may be mounted on the firewall side of the pan which explains why it comes on when decelerating and not when accelerating.

Ease up on Mom's car, and the light should quit coming on. Ya know, drive it like you borrowed it, not like you stole it.

Believe it or not my mom is probably harder on the car then i am since she is used to it, I have driven the car many many times, and the oil light problem just started a week or so ago, she notices it when she drives it too. What worries me though is the sensor is a oil PRESSURE sensor and not a level sensor, Im not sure why braking, or cornering would cause a drop in oil pressure.

Dr.

 

[bhuff30]

It could certainly be a bad sender or bad grounds. I fixed the oil pressure gauge on my car by cleaning the engine grounds after replacing the sender didn't work.

 

[vristang]

Is it a rear sump motor? Is it mounted sideways?

What could be happening is the pickup tube is being exposed to air when the oil slides to the front or the side of the pan under braking or cornering. This would cause a momentary drop in oil pressure. It is something to worry about. Oil pan baffles will help. Be sure the oil level is at the top of the range and see how it responds.
Of course it could be a bad sensor, but I would think a bad sensor would be bad under all conditions, not just when driven hard.

 

[bhuff30]

You can buy an oil pressure guage for pretty cheap. I got a machanical 2" oil pressure gauge with tubing for 15$ at advance auto parts. worked great for testing. That will tell you if this is possibly leathal or a minor electrical annoyance.