Nice car... flickering oil light

I decided to go with the 97 Accord with 156K. It’s really in beautiful condition and the seller had an envelope with service records for everything - routine and otherwise. The car runs strongly but at idle or slowing to a red light, the oil light faintly flickers. Once I had driven it for awhile, the flickering stopped and didn’t return at the ide/slow speed. Explanation? Should I be deeply troubled by this?

I would replace the oil pressure sender and change the oil to 10-30. If that cures it, drive on…If not, have a shop check the actual oil pressure…If it’s low, drop the pan and replace the pump and pick-up screen. If it STILL checks low, sell the car…

Maybe you’ve discovered why the previous owner sold the car.

If you are able to cure the oil pressure problem without damage, make sure to check if the timing belt needs to be replaced. It could easily be due right about now.

Silly question, but an important one to get out of the way…how much oil shows on the dipstick? Have you checked the oil since purchasing it? Don’t just assume the seller topped it off before selling it.

Yes, you should be troubled by this and I wouldn’t be troubled by wagering a 20 dollar bill you bought a car with a worn out engine.

If the oil light went out after the car warmed up, that would indicate to me that the problem isn’t engine wear–usually you’ll have the opposite situation with the light coming on increasingly frequently as the engine warms up if it’s worn. Change the oil and filter first. I’d have the oil pressure checked with a mechanical gauge to get a better idea what’s going on. It may be a bad sensor, or you may be one of the very few people that have an actual problem with the oil pump.

I would certainly have the pressure checked with a mechanical gauge, both at startup and when the engine is hot.

With modern motor oil, I don’t know if this problem still occurs, but I have seen the oil-pump pick-up screen, located down in the oil sump, so varnished and carboned up it will FLOAT in a bucket of solvent, almost completely starving the oil pump…Usually the result of extended drain intervals. These screens can not be cleaned except by setting them on fire and burn the deposits off! But we are getting ahead of ourselves here. lets replace the sender first…

I would start with an oil and filter change. Use 10w30 oil. I had a filter cause this once on a car of mine. I was pretty sure that it wasn’t the engine as I had owned the car for about 12 years at the time. I had just done an oil and filter change, so I went and got another filter, put it on and added oil to make up. That was the end of the problem.

But this is disturbing on a car you just bought. One explanation is that this car has been sitting around for awhile, not driven regularly. You say there are receipts so I assume the owner has taken it in and paid for the regular maintenance. That doesn’t rule out a “maintenance accident” in the past, like the mechanic forgot to put in the oil and the owner drove it for a few miles before noticing it.

Anyway, an oil/filter change, be very clear to whoever is doing it that you want 10w30, not 5w30, should do the trick. If not, I would suspect the oil pressure sending switch or the wiring to it next.