oil pressure question
 

Just aq quick question for everyone. Just fitted defi oil pressure guage with the sender underneath alternator and it is showing my oil pressure as been 0 bar on idle and only read a maximum of 3 bar. First of all it read at 4 bar on driving and 2 on idle but then dropped after about 10 min driving. I no my rocker cover gasket has a slight leak and my bottom end nocking aswel but still driveable till rebuild next year, would thease affect the pressure or could it be sensor needs tightening in a little bit more not had chance to check leaks yet as it was dark by time i got back home. Any help would be appreciated.

Andy

Hi Andy,

1. Pressure drops as it warms up.
2. 0 is bad !
3. Yes it could be leaking, mine did....

HTH

dunx

cheers for reply dunx. I no 0 is bad which is why im worried. Will check for leaking tommorrow.

Andy

You`d have to have 1 BIG BIG leak to get 0 bar !!!

The sensor could need tightening in more but again,it would have to be only screwed in 1 or 2 threads to get a poor reading, the amount of pressure that hole has the oil would still reach the sender/sensor

i had this issue on an old old cooled gixer,tried 2 sendor units and a different dial, all read the same low readings, then the conrod popped thru the block !

not saying yours is that bad tho,but re-do it all and try again,good luck,sure its gonna be somethign simple,it usually is

You have used some PTFE tape haven't you ? If yes try again, if no DON'T just tighten it up more....

:Suspiciou

dunx

As said , have you used PTFE tape on the thread?

Mine when the cylinders and piston rings were fooked was reading 4-4.5 bar when on the move and 2 bar when idle

Mine now reads around 2.5-3 bar at idle and then between 6-7 bar when moving since the rebuild

Engines knocking and your still driving? That's not good full stop mate, you could do a lot more damage which will render your complete engine useless.

As the guys have said above make sure you use teflon tape and check for tightness.

I would say Your main bearings have gone, hence why you now have oil pressure issues. My mate did what your doing i.e. running the engine when knocking and once i stripped it down it had chewed everything and ended up with a replacement engine.

That's Andy....

Only joking fella !

dunx

Lol Dunx. Bit of a daredevil then...

I would definitely put the oil pressure loss down to the knocking bottom end Andy. The leak on your rocker cover will only contribute to oil loss and not pressure.

Condition of cylinders and rings would have no effect on oil pressure. You must have had new bearings and/or pump to see higher pressure.
As said, a leak at the sender unit would have to be massive to loose that much pressure and would certainly be very noticable.
I assume the oil pressure warning light sender was discarded? That would have confirmed the zero idle reading!

JohnD

Yep new bearings and oil pump aswell as new block, piston rings etc, I was losing one litre of oil for every 100 miles!!!!, all four cylinders had barrowed

cheers for replys everyone. In answer to the question about ptfe tape yes i did use it on both oil pressure sensor and temp sensor. Got told when bottom end started knocking that as long as didnt go canning it i would be ok running it. Yes john the old sensor was discarded as didint know what to do with it still there just not connected.

Andy

:eek: Andy, i don't know who said this mate but it's not really accurate advice. Basically mate as long as your engine is running it will continue to excessively wear out what ever comes in its way. Possibly leading to major breakages and ultimate engine scrappage

Mate you lost me on this one? :wonder: you said it was discarded but then contradicted saying it was still there, just not connected? :confused: please clarify mate.

Once it starts knocking it's only a matter of time. Caning it will hasten the end, but nursing it will not make it last till next year, unless you do an amazingly low mileage.


Leaking rocker cover gasket will have NO EFFECT on oil presure. A rattling big end will have an effect but zero oil pressure is drastic.

By the way I have had two engines rattle to death. Get an old banger to run around in now before you get inconvenienced. Good luck....



:)

Incorrect reading can be caused when the sensors dont make a good earth with the block, which often happens when using ptfe or the like> try as a temp measure giving the sensors a seperate earth to eliminate this problem.

On a different note if its knocking, pressure will probably be all over the place and its unlikely the engines going to keep running for long>