Oil Pressure Gauge

[Phil205 1 1 Cars]

Is it normal for the oil pressure gauge to be a bit flaky ? It reads midway some of the time and then reads low for the rest of the time. I just figure it is a bit flaky and kind of ignore it.

 

Is there an easy fix ?

[Obey_R 23]

If you haven't already, eliminating the 'brown connector' could solve all sorts of problems like this. Mine didn't work at all, even after chopping out the connector and crimping all the wires, so I earthed the wire going to the gauge and low and behold, it still didn't move - new set of clocks and it should all be fine again.

[smithy 1]

Is it normal for the oil pressure gauge to be a bit flaky ? It reads midway some of the time and then reads low for the rest of the time. I just figure it is a bit flaky and kind of ignore it.

 

Is there an easy fix ?

 

 

either high ohms in the brown plug above bell housing or an iffy sender unit,the sender is the mushroom shaped one under inlet manifold as sadi above try earthing out the cable on block and see if gauge goes up.

 

at a guess with your problem i would say corrosion in brown plug and when engine heats up the ohms get higher and gauge reading drops.

 

I made up a new loom for mine and soldered and heat shrunk it on to main harness,IIRC there are 7 wires to renew?

 

1 starter solenoid

2 alternator exitation

3 oil pressure gauge

4 oil pressure light

5 oil temp guage

6 coolant temp gauge

7 coolant temp warning light

[Phil205 1 1 Cars]

Will I be able to see the brown plug easily ? I am not sure what is meant by the "bell housing" ?

 

Do I need to be under the car to see the oil pressure sender unit ?

 

Cheers.

 

either high ohms in the brown plug above bell housing or an iffy sender unit,the sender is the mushroom shaped one under inlet manifold as sadi above try earthing out the cable on block and see if gauge goes up.

 

at a guess with your problem i would say corrosion in brown plug and when engine heats up the ohms get higher and gauge reading drops.

 

I made up a new loom for mine and soldered and heat shrunk it on to main harness,IIRC there are 7 wires to renew?

 

1 starter solenoid

2 alternator exitation

3 oil pressure gauge

4 oil pressure light

5 oil temp guage

6 coolant temp gauge

7 coolant temp warning light

[GLPoomobile 958]

It reads midway some of the time and then reads low for the rest of the time.

 

I'm going to state the obvious now, and I apologise if it comes across as patronising.

 

Is it actually an inconsistant reading that would imply a (pretty typical) fault, or is it actual normal behaviour? Do you understand how the pressure gauge should behave normally?

 

When the oil is cold, you should see a reading of approx half way or more at idle, rising from there as the revs increase. When your oil reaches normal operating temps, the gauge will drop to somewhere between minimum and 1/4 at idle, rising to around half way with increased revs.

 

If what you are seeing is not normal behaviour, as described above, then it's likely that you have a wiring fault. Resistance due corroded wires and connectors is common, and will slowly cause a lower reading over time. But if the readings are inconsistant on a regular basis, then it sounds more like an actual break in the wiring somewhere or a loose connector. For example, when the spade connector on my oil pressure sesnor was loose, the needle would occasionally "waver". That then got worse to the point that it would "flicker", before then dropping down to complete minimum for seconds at a time. Eventually the tab on the sensor that the spade connector fits actually snapped right off. I soldered the wire directly on to the sensor and that worked for ages, until eventually the heat of the engine caused the wire to come loose again, and I was quite worried as I started to see lower pressure readings at idle (almost minimum). I just happened to notice the wire was coming loose when I was doing an oil change and then realised what had been happening - as the wire was getting loose the resistance was increasing and my gauge was reading lower. It had been a very slow and gradual process.