I just bought a 97' wagon with a 1.9 liter soc with 135k miles. I bought it from the original owner for $200. He thought it needed an oil pump because the oil light was on and it sounded like it wasn't getting any oil. I took the oil pump out yesterday, and it looked as good as the new one at Auto Zone. I put the old pump back in with a new crank seal, a new oil filter. Now the car runs and sounds great, and the oil light is off. The old oil filter had a small dent in it. Would a small dent restrict the oil flow enough to make a difference?

 

Usually, an engine that has run for a matter moments with the oil pressure idiot light on indicating no oil pressure, it does not take long for it to be accompanied with loud ugly banging and knocking noises that sound as if they are expensive to fix. And it usually is.
If this engine has been run for any lenght of time with the oil pressure light on AND no additional noise, there was probably something wrong with the sending unit for the gauge or the wiring that went to it or even a temporary blockage to the sending unit for the gauge so it could not detect the pressure. All things considered, I do not believe that a small dent (define small) in the oil filter would even remotly affect the flow through it.

 

Personally don't think the dented filter had anything to do with the other issue, but in the process of performing service, the problem resolved itself ............