Oil Light Randomly Illuminating On FR-V

[Burnerman]

Fit a genuine Honda oil pressure switch......it’ll be much more expensive than it should be, but it will be accurate.
I had to fit a water in fuel sensor to our 19 plate HRV......that would come on whenever it felt like it.
£120! The dealer said they were always failing.
John

 

[Mottie]

If Diesel is thinning the oil, won't it show in appalling mpg?

Not really because it won’t be using it constantly in any great quantity. Half a gallon of fuel in your oil will be waaay too much and you wouldn’t really have a noticeable increase in fuel consumption of you lost half a gallon of fuel over a period of days or weeks.

 

[sxturbo]

If Diesel is thinning the oil, won't it show in appalling mpg?

not always tbh, not necessarily to a noticeable amount. and a small amount of oil burn wouldn't always show up on mot emissions (this is true as there are many cars that burn 1 ltr of oil every 1000 miles which most if not all manufacturers advise is acceptable oil consumption, audi/vw group, BMW and citroen are 3 that i know of and is written in the hand book, and they aren't all failing emissions)

sounds like you have a plan of action now anyway with replacing the oil pressure switch first and see what happens.

 

[norseman]

I have found the MOT cert.

Sadly the emissions printout has not been attached to it as it normally would.

I think I should get another emissions test done.

Obviously it passed the MOT at the end of Nov. Let's assume it was the maximum allowable emissions. Would that tell you anything?

Emissions print-outs seem to be another casualty of today's computerised MOT.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Ideally with the emissions it would be good to look at the last few, to see what is, has or isn't changing

These Honda engines tend to run fairly clean so a fresh test may give some indications but there are so many variables it is pointless guessing without any figures.

If the guy doing the rest is experienced and knows about the reasons for the test he may be able to make a comment as he does the test.

 

[securespark]

Just come off the phone to Fish Bros, IMO the best Honda dealer in the country.

The build date (which has always intrigued me as I knew the car was kicking around for a bit before we bought it) was the first quarter of 2008.

It has got a DPF, despite a couple of service guys telling me it hadn't...

And a kosher Honda oil pressure switch for it is 52.72 + the dreaded.

As far as warning lights go, we've only ever had three illuminate.

The oil warning light.

The water in Diesel light, which has flickered once or twice, but been sorted at the garage.

The charging light came on once when the alternator went faulty. We had it replaced.

 

[securespark]

Not really because it won’t be using it constantly in any great quantity. Half a gallon of fuel in your oil will be waaay too much and you wouldn’t really have a noticeable increase in fuel consumption of you lost half a gallon of fuel over a period of days or weeks.

Remind me of the mechanism that keeps the level of fluid in the sump constant.

Shuddering to think what's happening to the engine components with this thin oil flowing around....

 

[Mottie]

Remind me of the mechanism that keeps the level of fluid in the sump constant.

Shuddering to think what's happening to the engine components with this thin oil flowing around....

If it got anywhere near half a gallon over the max level on the sick, I think you'd know about it. The crank and rods would be thrashing about in the oil, flooding the bores, going up into the cylinders and it would be smoking like a b'stard.

 

[securespark]

No, I've never noticed any visible smoke.

So, it'll just burn off if the level gets too high?

Wouldn't that bugger up the DPF?

Should we use a higher viscosity oil?

Or is that just a sticking plaster?

 

[carmanmemoranda]

No, I've never noticed any visible smoke.

So, it'll just burn off if the level gets too high?

Wouldn't that bugger up the DPF?

Should we use a higher viscosity oil?

Or is that just a sticking plaster?

if it burns off it will affect the emissions.
if it burns it will affect the dpf
higher viscosity oil is a sticking plaster, but might help..... If the issue is excess fuel getting into the oil. But it will still thin, and raise the level, of the oil

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

So, it'll just burn off if the level gets too high?

To some extent, yes.

Wouldn't that bugger up the DPF?

Yep..

Should we use a higher viscosity oil?

Or is that just a sticking plaster?

Yep, sticking plaster to mask part of the issue.

Best to start the diagnosis by replacing the oil pressure sensor, before worrying about possible botches.

 

[sxturbo]

No, I've never noticed any visible smoke.

So, it'll just burn off if the level gets too high?

Wouldn't that bugger up the DPF?

Should we use a higher viscosity oil?

Or is that just a sticking plaster?

Sometimes a thicker oil can be a permanent fix, however need to keep the oil spec otherwise the dpf will bugger up.

Try the sensor first see what happens

 

[sxturbo]

if it burns off it will affect the emissions.

Not always, most likely not in MOT test conditions where it is run and rev'd with no load

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Not always, most likely not in MOT test conditions where it is run and rev'd with no load

If there is burning oil, it will affect the emissions, even if not enough to fail an mot. The thing is to compare it to previous emission results or a similar car.

But you know that.

 

[securespark]

Car has been in the workshop this morning and the guy plugged his diagnostic thingy in but it told him nothing. He wants us to bring it back when the oil light comes on.......

He won't swap the component out without doing this.