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What's not often mentioned is the fact that engines and some accessories (turbos for example) are designed to be run at particular operating temperatures. I've seen folks from warm climates advocating throwing out the thermostat so that their engine runs 'cool'. Pistons, crankshafts, rods, pumps, and bearings are all designed to clearance properly at operating temperature. Maybe its old fashioned, but I don't put a load on my engines until they are warm. Just an old habit..... Steve

When we last left our hero(?) he had renewed the seals on the oil pump of his wife's 95 Impreza because of the oil light at idle, and because the car had 189,000 miles. The pump's o-ring was replaced and all the screws that had backed out we re-tightened and loc-tited. All was ducky for the first day, but after that with each day once the engine got warm the oil light was coming on at higher and higher RPM, until finally the other day once the vehicle was warm the light was on as high as 2800 or so. Funny thing was, there was no evidence of an engine in distress. The gauge said no oil pressure, but the gut said this was an engine feeling fine. A lot of folks on this list gave good and quick advice, so I thought I would follow-up just in case anyone ever faces the same symptoms.... I removed the alternator figuring I would tap into the sender with a mechanical gauge. The first thing I saw was oil welling up on the top of the sender unit..... I crossed my fingers and thought maybe I found my problem.... Put a new sending unit on and there is plenty of oil pressure even at idle. (Yes the oil light comes on with the key, and goes out when turning over.) Looks like I still have a healthy engine. So the moral of the story for me anyway is, the sending units can fail in a way that they still appear to work, but they might be giving eroneous information (ie the light is indicating a lot less pressure than there really is). If I were to speculate, I'm thinking once I refreshed the oil pump, the engine was seeing a lot more oil pressure than it has in years (zero degree mornings), and that tipped the sender into failure over a couple days. Thanks for the help...... Steve

"but i also don't think you can get much further than speculation on this." Agreed.... Time to get some real data. Steve

Any pearls of wisdom on keeping the o-ring in the correct position during reassembly? I had a heck of a time lining up the pump and was actually worried it had moved on me.....

Thanks for the reply Gary.... By the way, there's a reason I'm trying to figure this out 'theoretically'. I just injured my back and I've GOT to quit working on things for a little while. The sender is working just fine, in that when cold (10F) the oil light extinguishes and doesn't come on again until the engine is up to operating temperature. Once warm, the oil light comes on below 2000 RPM. It sounds as if your failure after hitting the wood came from an abrupt loss of all oil after the last of it dribbled out over a couple days.... Sounds like it happened pretty quick too. Maybe all the more reason to think I've still got oil pressure if my wife didn't trash the thing afetr the hour's drive. So I guess the original question still stands, can these things really have no oil pressure for extended periods of time and quiet lifters? The first thing you here on my old plow truck when the oil level is down is the lifters. Even with good oil pressure on the gauge.... Thanks guys.... Steve

Thanks for the responses fellas. This was my first time using the anaerobic sealant. As I understand the stuff, the excess gets 'washed' away. I wonder if it is possible that some excess sealant got up into the sending unit? That sounds like a bit of a stretch..... Anyone heard of that happening? Still can't believe a hot engine with no oil pressure has silent lifters..... Steve

A week or so ago several folks helped answer a question I had on buggered threads in the water pump.... Thanks.... I removed the oil pump on my wife's 1995 188,000 mile car, retorqued the screws that had backed out quite a ways, resealed the pump and reinstalled with a new o-ring. (no gasket, just the anaerobic sealant! That was a first...) The oil light comes on the when the engine is warm, even above 2000 RPM. My wife drove the thing an hour with the light on. I figured I had messed up on the oil pump and she finished off the engine. The strange thing is, the engine is dead quiet and doesn't appear to be in any distress at all. This motor had a lifetime of oil changes every 3000 miles. Am I right in thinking that lifter noise is a pretty accurate indicator of oil pressure on these little engines? The motor is silent at speed and at idle. What gives? I'm confused.... Steve

You mean I didn't ruin the block! I'll get the hang of these little cars yet. I'll get myself a water pump. To be honest, after messing up those threads I thought maybe it was time to hang up my wrenches. Obviously these cars are new to me, but my wife just loves the thing. Good to know I'm not the only one. I felt so bad to do the little car wrong. I now know the right sequence of putting idlers back on that won't have me fighting so hard to catch the threads against the tension of the belt.With the tensioner compressed and the bottom passenger side idler off, it was a piece of cake. But by then I had buggered the threads. The bolt through the idler only has about 3/4 of inch of thread protruding. That sound about right? Steve

I freely confess I am an idiot. This is the first aluminum block I've ever worked on, but that's no excuse. I made several mistakes in the sequence of putting the cam belt back onto the engine after resealing an old oil pump and I stripped the block putting the 'toothed' idler next to the water pump back on. I've got the sequence down now, but the boss is stripped. Every pulley that came off the engine had its bolt remain in the pulley. I know I didn't swap bolts around. But after the 'accident' the bolt being used for this idler pulley is awfully short. Only about 3/4 of an inch of threads stick through the pully, and there are at least several inches of thread in the block. There are also at least four or five threads left in the idler itself that don't make it through. Did someone pull a fast one on me when they were working on this thing over the years? The bolt looks much too short. The big question now is what to do about it. I've searched the list and seen several possible solutions. The one I like the most is to buy a much longer bolt and use it (there's plenty of room). The problem I have is that with the first 10 or so threads are buggered. What's to get the threads of a longer bolt started in the good threads properly without buggering those too? Ditto goes for using a tap to clean the initial threads.... How do you get the tap started right through the bad threads, so that it taps clean into the good threads. I'm half tempted here to just get the much longer bolt, slather it with T-88 epoxy, run it home and call it good. With 180,000 miles I've got a resealed oil pump, new water pump, new cam seals, new cam belt, and I think the car should now rust apart long before needing to open up the front of the engine again. What do you guys think? Steve