AmeliaRose

Out of town tonight, will be home tomorrow.
Will install new fan then.

AmeliaRose

The car now has perfect temp and NO LIGHTS.
I replaced the drivers side fan today. I bought some
POS fan motor from NAPA and it did not fit.
I then went to Autozone and
bought a replacement fan motor. It is a VDO fan and fits like a glove.
It cost just under 50 dollars with tax. I removed the fan assembly and swapped
out the motor. I then had a 50/50 shot at hooking up the correct polarity.
Guess it was my day because I hit it first try. I the started up the car and
turned on the AC. Shazam, both fans blowing full steam

I went for a drive and the temp gauge was rock steady at 2 clicks BELOW
horizontal.
No codes and no oil pressure light.

I have Castrol 20W/50 oil in there now.
Asking if I should drain that out and install the correct oil?

Also since I suspect I might have a problematic temp sender/gauge.
As I understand from this forum, the gauge should ALWAYS be 1 or 2 clicks below horizontal.
Can I assume that the car is overheating if the gauge is at or above the half way mark?

Where is the engine coolant temp sender?

Again, thanks to all that helped me out.

I knew I could fix this car

Skirmich

Excellent work!

Yeah get rid of the 20W Oil ASAP that is too heavy for our engines! Only use 5W-20 or 5W-30 on Normal Conditions, 0W for Freezing Temps.

If the temp stays at Dead Middle there is a Problem there if you are not Towing or going Up-hill for half an hour. But Dont Panic our engine can Run on those temps just dont let it rise to 3/4! 2.5/4 is acceptable.

How old is the Anti-Freeze? You should check that and it would be a nice job to change the thermostat to know is in good condition. Thermostat is cheap and is relatively easy to change.
Also Rad Cap too...

AmeliaRose

Amelia reported that the AC is blowing very cold and is now cold instantly.
No oil pressure lights !!!!!
I will do a cooling system-ectomy in the coming weeks.
All new hoses, Tstat, new radiator cap and flush and fill.
I am so relieved that the engine is now in good running order.
With all the seafoam and oil changes, the engine is very clean and
Running nicely.

I felt the engine really improved with the new iridium spark plugs.
I also felt the cleaning of the carbon in the intake manifold
Did wonders for the smoothness and power of the engine.

Thanks everyone who posted with their ideas and suggestions.
I learned a great deal with this problem and enjoy doing car
Maintenance.

Diva 4 Life

Your welcome, anytime.

TLer trash

Personally, I wouldn't waste the oil. I think you'll be fine until your next oil change or until it gets colder.

s_vares

I would stick with the oil you are using as a thinner oil will cause low oil pressure problems again. You cant fix oil pressure by changing a fan out.
Hotter oil is thinner, thinner oil will "leak" out of the bearings faster resulting in lower oil pressure.

Keep the thicker oil in until the car can not be driven anymore.
Good luck

I hate cars

That's my line of reasoning as well. 235 degrees should not have been able to thin the oil enough to cause a pressure problem, especially with the 20w-50. Now that it's running cooler the oil is thicker and the light stays out but there's a very good chance we're still dealing with a worn engine.

s_vares

you should...
Switch back to the reccomended oil, hook up an oil pressure guage, test the hot and cold pressures and compare them to the service manual. When you see they are out of spec (which im sure you will) pull down the bottom end and plastiguage a main and a rod bearing. This will give you a really good idea as to what is going on.
Im a tech, and I have dealt with many worn out motors, and yours is either damaged or just worn out.

AmeliaRose

It has been a few weeks and I have had 1 time the oil light came on.
She was waiting to exit a parking lot @ 108 degrees. The total idling
time was about 20 minutes total. The oil light came on.

I still have the Castrol 20/W50 oil in the crankcase. It prolly should stay
in there till the cooler weather gets here. The now working cooling fan
does help keep the temps stable. I will try the recommended weight oil
when Fall gets here. THe PO must have damaged the engine with lack
of oil or perhaps lack of maintenance.

The car is running exceptionally well and is a good car sans the oil pressure
problem. It should be a good car for a few years more.

Thanks everyone who all had great ideas and experience on these cars.
I learned a lot about these Acura cars.

yeedatoy

STOP DRIVING THE CAR. Are you trying to blow the engine? Drop the pan immediately and check the pickup screen. Never drive a car when an oil light comes on. I'm not trying to be an ass, just trying to stress the importance of this.

yeedatoy

Oh, make sure there are no dents in your oil pan...I'm sure you would have noticed, but just for the record..

01tl4tl

thats a really good point yeedatoy

if the pan took a hit and is pressed up againt the pickup,,blocking a large portion of the pickup screen and limiting its intake ability

or has bent the pickup arm and looses pressure thru leak there....

Stranger things have happened

for the moment: I would avoid letting it idle more than a stoplights worth of time.

20 minutes causes the light,,so maybe 5-10 min idle limit until you do an oil pressure test.
Thats the next step in a real diagnosis,,same procedure any good tech/shop would follow..start with easy to replace sensor-next install pressure guage= real or false problem determined from that

If the readings indicate actual loss of pressure -below allowable spec- take off the pan and ck a rod bearing and cap as said in last post
If bearing problems found in the low end, its better to get a used engine and drop it in

01tl4tl

whats your objection to running the correct 5w-30 for the car?

the 20 50 isnt doing you any favors

I hate cars

The heavier oil is boosting pressure, keeping it from blowing up. Switching back to the recommended weight would have very, very bad results.

If the pickup screen were plugged, it would show up worse in the higher rpms, not at idle. Oil volume is at it's lowest at idle. Oil is at it's thinnest when hot. Think about when the light comes on, when it's fully hot and at idle. Thinner oil can get through a restriction easier than thicker cold oil.

When winter hits, I would run an expensive synthetic 5w-50 so it's not excessively thick when cold but will be just as thick when hot.

yeedatoy

Years back before my H23/vtec swap in my accord I ran a H22a. The oil light would flicker at idle and disappear after a minute or so and not return. Pressure seemed alright, levels were good and I couldn't figure out what was wrong so I kept driving. One day my Vtec wouldn't kick in and I drove the car like that for months...oil light at idle every now and again but not daily and it was only momentarily. One day it came on in the middle of driving for a few minutes and I immediately shut the car off and had it towed. The morons whom I brought the car to decided to drive the car to try to pinpoint the issue. BOOM..no more H22a. Pickup was UNBELIEVABLY clogged. I enjoyed the swap over to the H23/Vtec.....but you get the point. Had I dropped the pan I would have saved the motor...instead I was lazy and waited until I felt like the motor was jeopardized, and then some asshole blew it up. From my research later on..I discovered Hondas oil "your screwed" light is not very sensitive. Drop the pan, you could prob use another pan gasket anyway....it wont hurt!

s_vares

I said this back on page one! ...dont listen to the tech :p

yeedatoy

Yeah, I'm betting on bearing death.

TLer trash

Some great suggestions IF you have low oil pressure. I wouldn't spend a dime trying any fixes or teardowns until you get the oil pressure tested.

yeedatoy

It's pretty uncommon for something to be wrong with the light, but I guess it's possible. Here is a good example of why the car is probably screwed. http://www.aa1car.com/library/us1097.htm