Oil pressure help

[Guest]

Hi Chaps

I'm after a little help from the more mechanically minded out there.

My car is sprightly, smoke free apart from the initial start up and uses very little oil, and yet the oil pressure guage sits at just over 1 on warmed up tickover and never goes above 3 under load??

Is it possible that the guage is faulty for example, or do I have real problems?

Cheers

Iain

 

[Geoff_Fields]

Easily verified by a competant technician with a calibrated test gauge. Do so ASAP.

 

[Guest]

So, if it's not the guage, what's it likely to be?

 

[38F3E1]

Worn bearings would be a good candidate. Worn pressure relief valve would be another.

 

[Jonathan Collins]

How long have you had the car and what is the mileage?
The oil pressure should be approx 1 Bar per 1000 rpm.
Ian is right, both of those things can cause low oil pressure as can a worn oil pump or even the wrong grade of oil.

 

[Guest]

Thanks - probably should get it to my local specialist then.

 

[Jonathan Collins]

However if the reading on the guage is the same with the engine hot or cold I would suspect the guage or sender to be faulty, as the pressure indicated should drop as the oil heats up.Has it just started to do this?
My guage easily reads 5 bar when cold at 2500 rpm, but with a hot engine the guage does show approx 1 bar per 1000 rpm.
The bottom end of these engines are usually very strong so lets hope it is just the guage!

 

[Guest]

Just spoken to Northways and they reckon that if the oil light is going out then it's unlikely to actually be an oil pressure problem. Most likely is the sender unit in the engine which isn't too expensive and if it's not that then possibly the guage itself which could be a bit more of a problem.

Anyway, I'm going in on Monday to have the sensor changed and take it from there..........

 

[Geoff_Fields]

Just spoken to Northways and they reckon that if the oil light is going out then it's unlikely to actually be an oil pressure problem.

Is that right?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![][]
I should take it somewhere else.

 

[Guest]

Eh??

 

[bones]

Go to Nothways they have a good reputation, I think it's extremely unlikely that the engine is actually making low all pressure if it 's performance is not otherwise suspect. My bet is if you 'tap' the sender gently with a spanner whilst looking through the rear window you will see it fluctuate proving it's demise, these senders are a common failure on 911s of this age.

 

[Guest]

They have a great reputation - one of the best in the country going by all of the positive comments I've seen and my past experience - hence my Eh??

Thanks for posting similar reassurances though as these are slightly scary times.

 

[Geoff_Fields]

Iain, my point was that just because the warning light is going out does not guarantee healthy oil pressure. So I still think the statement from Northway is misleading. However I'm also confident that the problem is more likely to be the sender. I hope the final diagnosis turns out to be the best for your pocket.

 

[Jonathan Collins]

And the problem was?