For the first time my Oil Pressure gauge went below red and engine turned off today.

I think it had to do with me speeding on the freeway for about 15minutes excess of 90+ mph. When I exited my oil pressure gauge started to ding ding ding went below red and engine just shut off. (Engine was not overheated)

Car ran right back up few minutes later and I drove it home, I had to keep applying throttle on stop lights so oil pressure can stay above red line and not shutdown.

So even with a bad oil pressure sensor/sender the engine will still shut itself off?

Or is my scenario much worse than just a bad oil pressure sensor/sender.

I am really bummed out I just bought this car few days ago.

I really hope I just did not get scammed.

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182,000+ Miles

There does seem to be a slight oil leak somewhere.

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182,000+ Miles

Check your oil again. Is there 'chocolate milk' on the dipstick? Is the level OK ? Any foam on the oil filler cap's neck?

Have you checked the coolant level in both your overflow reservoir and the radiator? Has your car begun to lose coolant, but not leak on the ground?

Have you noticed any white 'smoke' from the exhaust pipe? Does your exhaust smell like anti-freeze?

Have you taken off the plastic engine cover yet, and inspected the upper intake manifold (UIM) to see if it has been replaced ? Here's how you can tell how old the UIM on your engine is :

viewtopic.php?f=53&t=1061

Read the entire article. There's some very important stuff in there you should be aware of regarding your '96 Bonnie.

-Engine oil looks clear. Oil level is full.
-No Foam on oil filler cap
-Coolant level in the overflow reservoir is the same as when I first bought it
-I'll check radiator tomorrow.(Do i just open radiator cap and look inside?)
-I do get white smoke from exhaust pipe but goes away few minutes later. (idk what anti-freeze smells like)

I will check tomorrow if the UIM has been replaced.

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182,000+ Miles

Planning on getting oil pressure checked manually tomorrow. Most autoshops should have this available correct? If it really is low I guess I will replace oil with thicker oil and just sell the pos.

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182,000+ Miles

Open your radiator cap with the engine off when it's cool to check the coolant level (rad should be FULL), and to learn what it smells like. BTW, what color is your anti freeze? Hopefully yellow/green, and not orange DexCool. (But that's another topic you really need to read about... http://www.dex-cool.net/ )

White smoke from your tail pipe could be coolant getting into your exhaust by way of a breach in the lower intake manifold (LIM). Eventually this could ruin your upstream O2 sensor, and possibly your catalytic converter if that O2 sensor dies and your engine runs rich for too long... (You'd likely have a 'check engine' light by then...)

From other comments I've read here, breached LIM's can allow coolant either into the crankcase oil or exhaust system, even if you don't see any external signs of a coolant leak. I'm not sure if it's usually just one or the other, or both at once...

If coolant has been getting into your oil, it MIGHT make the dipstick read very high, but the consistency of your motor oil would probably seem pretty 'watered down' and become dark a lot sooner after the oil change than usual if that was the case...

Maybe the guy who changed your oil added too much?

Coolant leaking into your crankcase over time is a death sentence for the bottom half of your engine due to the corrosive properties of antifreeze on metal crankshaft bearings, and symptoms can include white exhaust followed by very low oil pressure.

And you still don't hear any clattering or loud tapping noises from your engine?

The oil pressure check with the mechanical gauge will hopefully give you good news...

Ok I checked the UIM and yes it has been replaced, 2004.

Also when I turned on the car this morning I had no white smoke.

Also when I turned it on it jumped straight to 60PSI

Yes the coolant is green.

Could not open radiator cap, I turned it but kept getting stuck. (The radiator is new I can tell)

My biggest worry is the oil level.(Oil level way pass full) I'll be taking it to mechanic today and have it checked out.

-Ever since the incident I do now hear a slight tapping on engine somewhere. But barely noticeable.

-Been calling shops to get oil pressure checked and they are quoting me excess of over $70+
Could I just buy the gauge myself and do it without lifts? Is it possible to do it just using a tire jack?

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182,000+ Miles

Okay I was able to open the radiator cap, its very full, as soon as I opened it some poured out.

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182,000+ Miles

The car is toast. Drove it today and when I accelerate I can hear a engine tick louder and louder. When I idle the tick is still present but not as loud. The Oil psi drops alot faster also from cold to warm than it did yesterday.(Oil Gauge shakes alot now too)

Opened up hood and I can tell it is coming from engine. I can't believe this is happening to me. Just wasted $1400+

idk how all this could of happened just from driving to fast on freeway for a few minutes.

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182,000+ Miles

Oil way past full, this is no beuno. If car isn't completely toast do a quick oil change (fill with appropriate oil and amount and change filter).
White smoke could be by oil blow by in the combustion chamber if its overfull.
IMO, I would drop the oil pan gasket and inspect the oil pan pickup unit. If it appears to have gunk covering it, clean it and inspect the pan as well for gunk and varnish, clean both.
Replace oil sending unit gasket and pan gasket. I use Rockauto.com ..... Felpro....part no.OS30767R > http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php

See if this helps.

The ticking sounds like oil deprived valve lifters/valvetrain, thus resulting in a lack of oil to critical parts of the engine. It could possiblely be a oil pump problem.

AND quit driving it like you stole it lol, your engine block is a cast iron bullet proof mofo and can take it but sheeut man, take it easy on it lol.

AND if you don't feel confident doing this, take it to your local GM dealer and have them check it out. But an oil pan drop/replace gasket is pretty straight forward and not that difficult.

I will be posting video of engine noise. In next few minutes, and oil level is normal at full. Sorry I thought it was over full line.

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182,000+ Miles

http://youtu.be/GuN21u3zS-Q

Ok here is video

-Around 00:15 you can really hear the ticking sound.

-Around 00:56 you can hear the knock when pressing on gas

Sound and picture is off sync.

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182,000+ Miles

Dambit!!! yeah uh..... she's toast, you might as well chalk this one up to the chalk board and rev it till it blows. Rod's knocking, what my Civic Si sounded like before it threw rod and piston #4 through the front of the block.

How long did you drive it for before it threw the rod out lol

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182,000+ Miles

About 4 miles, noise got louder, then a small explosion, car filled with smoke, check engine light was blinking....lol the traffic behind me squatting in the front from them hitting their brakes from where aluminum was scattering the road way behind me, I shifted the car into neutral and the car limped to the closest exit ramp and gas station (about 300 yards from intial explosion) where it R.I.P'd

I tried to paint a good picture for you. Bought Bonneville then.

Crap.........

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182,000+ Miles

Here is my Mautofied listing for the car lol, you can see the motor in one of the pictures. http://www.mautofied.com/1999-Honda-Civ ... 100152933/

*dang*...

Wonder how much I can get off this while it still runs. Anyone have ideas?

Everything else working perfectly, Interior in very good condition. Exterior paint is good condition. All Electronics works perfect.

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182,000+ Miles

It maybe worth your while to replace the motor and keep the car. This member harofreak00 parts out Bonnevilles and may have a motor. Just PM him to catch a price.

I am not mechanically inclined to do a engine rebuild/swap. I don't have the kind of cash to spend thousands of dollars on new engine and labor for a car I spent $1350 for.

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182,000+ Miles