Oil light flickering

[Devin]

I was driving home today from work, ambient temps about 80F and I had just gotten stuck in traffic when I noticed the oil lamp would flicker rapidly if I went under 1K RPM. I quickly exited and checked my oil level and I was at the bottom of the hash marks. I threw in a quart of 10w30 to be aafe, but the light would flicker still everytime my RPM would fall down to idle (apparently 1K is idle for me). I babied it until I could drive at speed, but then 20 minutes later it stopped flickering, even in neutral at traffic lights. Is it a bearing about to spin? Oil pump? YamahaSHO casting voodoo spells?

 

[Devin]

Yeah, I'm boned.

 

[Devin]

So the question is, would I know if I have already spun a bearing?

 

[sperold]

There is usually a noise associated with a spun bearing, and it never heals itself.
You have to go through the check-list, starting with your pressure sender.

 

[Devin]

Is that necessary after finding metal in the oil?

No noise, and the engine pulled fine up the big hill to my town.

 

[sperold]

I am unable to see what is in your picture that you titled "Yea, I'm boned".
Can you give us a rundown? Or a clearer picture?

 

[SHOVNST]

If the bearing already spun you would definitley know. Assuming the metal is coming from the rod bearings, that is a sign they are about to let loose(spin). If that happens then you are almost guaranteed more damage than only the bearings. Either way, that much metal in the oil is NOT good for the rest of the engine. As-is I would no longer run the engine unless absolutely neccesary.

 

[Devin]

Sperold, it was night so the picture is a bit blurry, but that is the oil I extracted from the pan. It has confirmed metal flecks in it (those shiny spots in the picture), no larger than pieces of sand. I did find one piece that was about 1/4 long and about as thick as a hair.

I refilled the oil and changed filters and moved the car about fifty feet. I figured now it will sit until I can pull the pan and take a look at it.

 

[sperold]

I would cut open the old oil filter and see if anything looks odd in there.
Try to figure out if the particles are soft like a bearing, or hard like a piston skirt or casting flake.

Without any noise, it is not an automatic rod bearing issue, but it is high on the list. Anything unusual in the days / moments before the oil light came on (besides the low oil situation).

 

[Devin]

I will. The only property I hadn't mentioned yet is that they are not ferrous. Nothing stuck to my magnet that I dropped in the drain pan.

 

[luigisho]

At this point you have to open the bottom and look at the bearings and the wear surfaces on the crank and rods. Also keep in mind that the oil light will come on anytime you are below normal idle rpm. So if your rpm's dip too low the light will come on.

 

[Devin]

Yeah, I've lugged it before and had the light come on at 400rpm, but 800-900 ain't right

 

[shoray]

I experienced a similar situation to yours, but decided to do the rod bearings. Mine were very worn and one was even broken in half, but hadn't spun!! I'm not handy and I managed to get it done fine. With the flakes as large as you describe in some instances it would probably be good to drop the pan and take a look. Noone wants a dead SHO. That's a big hole to dig