oil light
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oil light
Sone back round info... I just bought a 2002 with only 27 thousand miles on it (now 33).3 days ago my oil light just came on randomly for a second and went off so I thought nothing of it. 2 days (yesterday) it did the same thing. Than I started researching and I found out about how to actually read our dipstick. Before I would just read the one side and it read full but when I learned I have to read both sides and the lower one was bone dry. I immediately did a full oil change and only got out 1 and 3/4 quarts. I'm super paranoid now and I really hope I didn't ruin my motor and was looking to get some second opinions.
Joined: Aug 2012
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From: Foothills East of Sacramento
Seems pretty close to me. You had some oil and the pressure switch activated momentarily. As long as you were not involved in some serious revving, I would think you just escaped damage.
Joined: Mar 2012
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From: California
That is strange. If you had less than 2 quarts in the motor you should not see oil on either side of the dipstick. The different sides are not that far off from eachother. You should be pulling the dipstick, wipe it and check it multiple times. On the first check it can grab oil from the tube the dipstick goes in and give inaccurate readings.
Joined: Oct 2009
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From: Ontario Canada
The damage can show up later down the road when you are not expecting it if it does not happen immediately. Don't ask me how I know 
If you pull the dipstick out without cleaning and reinserting it you will often get a full reading. You have to pull it out, clean it off, reinsert it and then you will get an accurate reading on the second pull (in addition to reading both sides of the dipstick and going with the lower reading).
From the high mark to the low mark is one quart low, from the low mark to the bottom of the dipstick is a further 1 quart low, so you were at least 2 quarts low, and as much as 3.25 quarts low by my calculations . That is damaging particularly if you are hitting VTEC and cornering hard. You could have your engine oil sampled for wear particles if you still have the oil, or have the next oil change used oil sampled at the end of the interval to see if additional wear is occurring.
If you pull the dipstick out without cleaning and reinserting it you will often get a full reading. You have to pull it out, clean it off, reinsert it and then you will get an accurate reading on the second pull (in addition to reading both sides of the dipstick and going with the lower reading).
From the high mark to the low mark is one quart low, from the low mark to the bottom of the dipstick is a further 1 quart low, so you were at least 2 quarts low, and as much as 3.25 quarts low by my calculations . That is damaging particularly if you are hitting VTEC and cornering hard. You could have your engine oil sampled for wear particles if you still have the oil, or have the next oil change used oil sampled at the end of the interval to see if additional wear is occurring.
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The damage can show up later down the road when you are not expecting it if it does happen immediately. Don't ask me how I know
If you pull the dipstick out without cleaning and reinserting it you will often get a full reading. You have to pull it out, clean it off, reinsert it and then you will get an accurate reading on the second pull (in addition to reading both sides of the dipstick and going with the lower reading).
From the high mark to the low mark is one quart low, from the low mark to the bottom of the dipstick is a further 1 quart low, so you were at least 2 quarts low, and as much as 3.25 quarts low by my calculations . That is damaging particularly if you are hitting VTEC and cornering hard. You could have your engine oil sampled for wear particles if you still have the oil, or have the next oil change used oil sampled at the end of the interval to see if additional wear is occurring.
If you pull the dipstick out without cleaning and reinserting it you will often get a full reading. You have to pull it out, clean it off, reinsert it and then you will get an accurate reading on the second pull (in addition to reading both sides of the dipstick and going with the lower reading).
From the high mark to the low mark is one quart low, from the low mark to the bottom of the dipstick is a further 1 quart low, so you were at least 2 quarts low, and as much as 3.25 quarts low by my calculations . That is damaging particularly if you are hitting VTEC and cornering hard. You could have your engine oil sampled for wear particles if you still have the oil, or have the next oil change used oil sampled at the end of the interval to see if additional wear is occurring.
Joined: Sep 2014
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I'd prolly drain out that new oil, you just put in, within a few miles. Check it for metal. Replace the oil filter, too. Just in case you got excess wear when the oil level was low. Best to try to remove all contaminates before running the engine any length of time.
Just me being OCD. Not an expensive thought, anyhow. Good luck with the car!
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Just me being OCD. Not an expensive thought, anyhow. Good luck with the car!
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Joined: Oct 2010
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From: Sacramento
I would put miles on my car just like I always drive it. After 500 miles I would take off the oil filter and check it(cut it open) for metals. If no metal is on the filter, then put on a new filter and top off the oil and go drive it till the wheels fall off. If I had metal on in the filter, time to see what is going bad.
ROD
ROD