No oil pressure at startup

[Dr_Snooz]

Hi guys,
I'm in the process of relocating from Norcal to Socal and presently stuck with dial-up, so I haven't been real active lately. Some of you will recall that I swapped my blown engine for a used JDM some months ago. One remaining issue (that I just haven't had time to fix) is my oil pressure at startup. Overnight, all the oil drains out of the engine. When I start up, the oil light stays on for a good 3 seconds+ before going out. About the same time that the oil starts circulating, a buzzing sound starts from around the oil pump area. I'm thinking this is a check valve type issue. I've been over the Engine Lubrication section of the manual and have come up with three possibilities. 1.) bad oil pump, 2.) bad oil pressure relief valve (on the filter base), 3.) bad check valve in my oil filter.
The oil filter makes the most sense to me, but it's a brand new Wix filter from Napa. Just wondering if anyone else has any ideas.

Thanks!

PS: I finally posted some pics of my car in my "Member's Garage."

[Toneloc5145]

You know, it may just be the filter. I just changed my oil as well, and used a Wix filter. Before, my oil light never came on when I was starting the car. Now, the light stays on for 1-2 seconds every first start of the day.

[russiankid]

Sounds like your oil filter is draining back. I had this issue with a Mobile 1 filter, I then went back to Purolator filters and all is well.

[2oodoor]

if your oil pump is old it could have sealing problems. They have round rubber seals in them like the oil filter adapter, it gets hard ,shrinks and gets splits. This makes it leak internally. Usually those would act up after the engine gets warm though.
The buzzing sound makes me think relief valve, or check valve too. YOu know you are going to have to check all of it to have peace of mind :rolleyes:

[Dr_Snooz]

I changed out the relief valve and the oil filter. Unfortunately, the problem remains. I also installed a gauge pack with oil pressure and voltage readings. Oil pressure is running at about 56 psi at 3k rpm. The acceptable range is 54-65 psi, so I'm at the low end of that. I'll replace the oil pump next and hope for the best.

I'll keep you posted.

[Oldblueaccord]

Mine ran about that 55 at 3k rpms but it did rattle a little on start up around the 160k mile mark. Changing the pump did help,eliminate this, not sure why.

Also parking on a hill nose down made it rattle where as nose up did not.


wp

[Dr_Snooz]

Changed the oil pump and...

...no change. :(

I've taken the car to the shop in the hope that they can figure it out. My guess is that they can't, but we'll see.

Anyway, the pump is clearly dead empty at startup. When it gets oil, the buzzing starts, so there's clearly a relationship. In my study of the manual, the pump looks to be fed directly by the oil screen and tube coming from the pan. My hunch at this point is that there is a valve in that tube that prevents backflow. I'm thinking that the valve is deformed or that something is stuck/jammed in the tube.

I've got to get moving on some other stuff, so it might be awhile before I update again.

[ghettogeddy]

i figure as long as your not revving the shit out of it at start up you should be ok

[SteveDX89]

Your bearings could be worn past spec. Relatively cheap to replace. Pain in the butt to do.

[LX-incredible]

No check valve in the pickup tube. I used to get a knock and oil light every morning when the fram filters got about 1000 miles on them. Had no issues after I switched to bosch. Now I hear they've started producing shit as well... Could the pickup tube be loose and the buzzing air being drawn in to the pump?

[Dr_Snooz]

Okay, I just talked to the shop. When I started asking hyper-technical questions :blah:, the service writer put me on hold and let me talk to the tech. Heh heh. :naughty: The tech said that when they rebuild engines there (Honda dealership rebuilt to Honda specs) they consider a delay of 1 to 1.5 seconds normal for oil pressure to build. Three seconds isn't cause for alarm. In the days following the swap, I was getting a delay of ~10 seconds, but since then it's closer to 2-3 seconds and the buzzing is a lot quieter. Oil pressure otherwise is great. My gauge pack is reading about 10psi low (probably the 6' of copper line I have coiled behind the gauge). It's possible that I'm just obsessing about a problem that's fixing itself (which is entirely like me). I'm sure that the engine sat a long time before my buying it, so this could all just be crud, dirt and rust working its way out of the channels and orifices. The tech told me that I've already done everything they would do (oil pump, filter and relief valve), so he doesn't really have any suggestions for me. I asked about the screen tube and he said if that was leaking I'd have consistently low pressure and not just a startup problem.

They will keep the car overnight so the tech can hear the buzzing properly tomorrow. I'll update then with more info. If he can't find anything wrong, then methinks I'm just going to drive the wheels off the car. I'll be faithful with oil changes and not worry too much about it anymore (which will be hard).

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and feedback. You all rock!

[Dr_Snooz]

Just heard back from the dealership. They didn't hear anything, and thought the oil pressure was good.

So I'm good to go.

They also tried to sell me a new rear motor mount telling me mine is collapsed. They didn't know what to say when I told them that all the mounts are new from Napa. Those thieving rascals are always trying to pad the bill. If they weren't so good at diagnosis, I'd never go there.

All's well that ends well though.

[SteveDX89]

I've never had an oil pressure light come on at startup on any car I've ever owned. I don't think that's normal behavior. If anything, it should come on once the car has warmed up and the oil has thinned out.