The Scooby Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 so, 96 impreza outback sport, 2.2. runs fine, but at idle the oil light comes on, never did this until i switched from 10w30 napa oil to mobil 1 clean 5K. so i drained the oil and switched back to the napa 10/30. still does it, so i then put in a oil thickening agent, same thing. only does this after the car is fully warmed up. no noise from the engine at all but its just annoying having to hold up the RPM's at every stop light and such to keep the light off. any idea's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 so, 96 impreza outback sport, 2.2. runs fine, but at idle the oil light comes on, never did this until i switched from 10w30 napa oil to mobil 1 clean 5K. so i drained the oil and switched back to the napa 10/30. still does it, so i then put in a oil thickening agent, same thing. only does this after the car is fully warmed up. no noise from the engine at all but its just annoying having to hold up the RPM's at every stop light and such to keep the light off. any idea's? No fresh (cheap) ideas on how to fix this. Since you added the thickener, (maybe something like STP or the like?) and now the warning light now comes only after the motor has warmed up and the thick oil is now flowing more freely, only under scores my feeling that your connecting rod bearings are bad. Reving up the engine is increasing oil pressure to lube the worn bearing tolerances. Letting engine idle back to 800 rpm or so, reduces the oil pressure, and you are back to poor lubrication, and the warning light back on. There are a lot of people out there smarter than me, but in my opinion, I am thinking that you need to replace the rod bearings, or it may be easier and cheaper to drop in another engine. With bad bearings in your motor, it is very possible that a connecting rod to break (throw a rod). If that happens the broken rod usually punches a hole in the side of the engine block, and that is the absolute death of that engine. I had that happen years back when driving an old Chevy. When that happens, you know it is absolutely time to call a tow truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scooby Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 never had any noise, when i loss the rods on my old 305ci on my camaro 6 years ago it had a knock, but good oil pressure. this engine still makes no noise so i dont think its the bearings yet, but who knows. this will be the 5th engine swap on this car since august, most of which where withing 3 weeks. if this blows chunks then ill just rebuild from scratch another 2.5 DOHC and drop it back into my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 [...]runs fine, but at idle the oil light comes on, never did this until i switched from 10w30 napa oil to mobil 1 clean 5K.[...] As far as I know, there's no Mobil 1 Clean 5000. There is Mobil Clean 5000 (conventional oil with slightly elevated detergency), Mobil 1 (full synthetic), and Mobil Clean 7500 (synthetic blend). How many miles on the engine? If you can prove that the Clean 5000 created a problem, you might have a valid warranty claim. http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_Clean_5000_Warranty.aspx You could put a pressure gauge on the engine and determine what's actually going on. Is there any leakage from the front crank seal? If so, it might be that some of the oil pump back plate screws have loosened and backed out, and that the Mobil oil cleaned things just enough for the pressure at idle to now be below the threshold for the sender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scooby Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 no leaks, 222122 on the engine now, never had any problems until i switched to the mobil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAezb Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Oil Pressure Switch maybe? I just replaced mine because it was leaking, thought it didn't cause the oil light to come on. Have to assume it was still functioning even though it was leaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Buy a cheap mechanical gauge and put it on the car, something with a 80 psi limit so we can guestimate the oil pressure better. Get a decent size gauge as it is easier to read. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthe202 Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I may be waaay off on this, but I'll just toss it out there since nobody else has. How 'bout the screws on the back of the oil pump. Legend has it that they are prone to backing off, I've read that on here more times than I can count, but I've never read what the result is when they do back off. Is this it? Good Luck! Will- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I may be waaay off on this, but I'll just toss it out there since nobody else has. How 'bout the screws on the back of the oil pump. Legend has it that they are prone to backing off, I've read that on here more times than I can count, but I've never read what the result is when they do back off. Is this it? Umm, see the second paragraph of my post #4 in this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthe202 Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Umm, see the second paragraph of my post #4 in this thread. Haha, Oops! Knew I should've reread before posting! Sorry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 No problem, I guess it bears saying twice. Here are some links with info about the oil pump: http://www.motor.com/MAGAZINE/Pdfs/092001_08.pdf http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/TBeltEWWin05.pdf (page 12, bottom, left) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scooby Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 ya i talked with my boss and a good friend who has been a subaru tech for over 30 years and im just gonna buy a new oil pump and put it in as well as a timing belt kit and such. if it doesn't fix the problem, then ill beat the hell out of it until it blows, then just swap in a EJ205 from my boss's 03 WRX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Not that new parts is a bad idea, but I'd still suggest putting a pressure gauge on it beforehand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crash321 Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Yea I agree with the pressure gauge idea, oil pressure switches are just that, Switches. Yours may just be worn out. put a gauge on to verify pressure, then decide whether to throw money at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Yea I agree with the pressure gauge idea, oil pressure switches are just that, Switches. Yours may just be worn out. put a gauge on to verify pressure, then decide whether to throw money at it. And more than that it's a single wire connection that grounds out to light. If there is any kind of short it defaults to *lit* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scooby Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 if it was shorting it wouldn't only do it when the car is warm and only at idle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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