Low oil pressure

[steve d]

Hi everyone,

I recently talked my friend into buying his first T25 and it hasn't turned out that well.

He brought a 1987 1.9 petrol van fitted with a recon engine with under 200 miles on the clock. The bus has been in the garage having some work done and we have found out that the engine has very low oil pressure - 4 psi /under 1 bar when the engine is hot.

The recon engine is fitted with an up rated oil pump and the oil has been changed for the correct type. The engine is not leaking and the pressure has been checked by the garages equipment as well as the oil light and buzzer.

Can anyone shed any light on what could be causing this low pressure and will the "run in" period have any effect on the oil pressure?

All help greatly appreciated!!!!

[Ian Hulley]

He brought a 1987 1.9 petrol van fitted with a recon engine with under 200 miles on the clock. The bus has been in the garage having some work done and we have found out that the engine has very low oil pressure - 4 psi /under 1 bar when the engine is hot.

Don't touch it, it needs to go straight back to the recon engine supplier as it should be under warranty.

Ian

PS I would be VERY careful not to name said supplier pending their reaction to your initial contact.

[kevtherev]

Hi everyone,

oil pressure - 4 psi /under 1 bar when the engine is hot.

The recon engine is fitted with an up rated oil pump

at what RPM and engine temp was this reading taken?

should be 2 bar minimum at 2000 rpm 80 deg C

[steve d]

Hi,

We have spoken with the re-con company and are waiting for them to get back to us.

I'm not sure at what rpm, the mechanic said when the engine was hot.

Thanks

[Aidan]

4psi at idle is a little low but it should ramp up to 2 bar very quickly as revs increase as Kev says and on a rebuild you would expect 3to4 bar at 3000-3500rpm hot, 5-6 bar stone cold
what oil is it running ?
good luck with the recon company

[ghost123uk]

Agreed = don't do anything as it may invalidate the warranty.

I was just looking around (Haynes, wiki, Google etc) to find out what the oil pressure "should" be and all I found was this under https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... ure_survey" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Frank Condelli's WBX Oil Pressure Survey

In conclusion:-

Cold idle 45-70 psi
Cold 2000 rpm 50-70 psi
Cold 4000 rpm 50-70 psi

Hot Idle 8-15 psi (8 getting a bit low!)
Hot 2000 15-35 psi
Hot 4000 30-45 psi
Very Hot 4000 Should be at least 25-30

We often tell folks to go to a garage and get their pressure tested with a proper gauge, but (iirc) we don't tell them what reading to expect. Do "we" reckon that info above is accurate enough guide to add it to the wiki section under the "Petrol engines [WBX] low oil pressure" where no actual figures are quoted ?

[DuaneEddy]

He brought a 1987 1.9 petrol van fitted with a recon engine with under 200 miles on the clock. The bus has been in the garage having some work done and we have found out that the engine has very low oil pressure - 4 psi /under 1 bar when the engine is hot.

Don't touch it, it needs to go straight back to the recon engine supplier as it should be under warranty.

Ian

PS I would be VERY careful not to name said supplier pending their reaction to your initial contact.

I agree with Ian

I would like to ask a few questions and am thinking outside the box here!

How many miles has your friend done in it?
Was the reason it went to the garage LOW PRESSURE?
Did the engine go into the garage for engine work? Service?
Is the light on at tickover?
Was the light on before it went in?
Who alerted you to the problem?
Are you sure the fault lies with the recon company and the garage have not inadvertantly run it without oil - Can of worms - Here! - (probably too far out of the box!!!!)
Finally - Does the guarantee move with the engine (Hopefully!)

[California Dreamin]

we have found out that the engine has very low oil pressure - 4 psi /under 1 bar when the engine is hot.

Which one is it? 4psi or under 1 bar (14.5psi)

I presume the oil pressure light must have been flickering at idle (hot) ? to have asked for a more accurate reading.

As Ian says.....don't touch it, take it back to the recon/supplier.

Martin

[ghost123uk]

we have found out that the engine has very low oil pressure - 4 psi /under 1 bar when the engine is hot.

Which one is it? 4psi or under 1 bar (14.5psi)

Well spotted Martin, that slipped through the radar

p.s. = found this simple calculator HERE

[steve d]

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in relplying.

I would like to ask a few questions and am thinking outside the box here!

How many miles has your friend done in it?
Was the reason it went to the garage LOW PRESSURE?
Did the engine go into the garage for engine work? Service?
Is the light on at tickover?
Was the light on before it went in?
Who alerted you to the problem?
Are you sure the fault lies with the recon company and the garage have not inadvertantly run it without oil - Can of worms - Here! - (probably too far out of the box!!!!)

Finally - Does the guarantee move with the engine (Hopefully!)

He has done approx 70 miles on the engine.
It went to the garage to have the carb tuned and an issue with the cooling sorted.
The oil light / buzzer has not come on to my knowledge however i think it might of during the mechanics test run.
While doing the carb work the mechanic checked the oil pressure as the tappets were loud and that reviled the low pressure.

we have found out that the engine has very low oil pressure - 4 psi /under 1 bar when the engine is hot.

Which one is it? 4psi or under 1 bar (14.5psi)

I presume the oil pressure light must have been flickering at idle (hot) ? to have asked for a more accurate reading.

As Ian says.....don't touch it, take it back to the recon/supplier.

Martin

I'm not sure to be honest, this was what I've been told. I thought 4 psi didn't sound right.


My friend is speaking with the recon company. The garage has now said that they think a possible cause could be cam shaft bearings????

Thanks everyone for all your help and advice!!!

[kevtherev]

hydraulic lifters are inherently noisy on a little used engine and if the oil is too thin. They simply drain down and have to be "pumped up" by using it for about 1/2 an hour particularly on high mileage engines
Any main bearing wear would cause low oil pressure, but there would be significant noise from them to be sure.


Once you find out more information regarding this, the information from here will be more specific.

[Epiphone]

Ive had the tappets being loud before, from cold and then after 15-20 min drive, the get quieter and return to normal.

Recently I had the loud tappets, while at the end of a 10 min run, so the engine was already quite warm.
Left if parked over night and then the next day loud again upon start up and went for a 15-20 min drive and the noise has not quietened and has not been started since, over 2 weeks.

So first off, should I change the oil to see if this improves the tappets or should I change the oil and install new tappets?

Ive had issues with low oil pressure before, buzzer sounding (but might have been purely ground issue, Buzzer has never sounded since) and also fitted a oil pressure gauge which constantly shows low oil pressure when the engine is warm, but had no issues when using the Bus regulary during the summer.

Ive actually got a new oil pressure gauge, as I broke the old one, so if this does infact also show low pressure, then I must surely have oil pressure issues.

[Ian Hulley]

The recon engine is fitted with an up rated oil pump and the oil has been changed for the correct type.

I've been re-reading this and I have to ask you ... What was in it ? Who put it there ? AND more importantly ... What do you think IS 'the correct type' ?

Ian

[steve d]

The recon engine is fitted with an up rated oil pump and the oil has been changed for the correct type.

I've been re-reading this and I have to ask you ... What was in it ? Who put it there ? AND more importantly ... What do you think IS 'the correct type' ?

Ian

Hi Ian,

The engine had 10/40 oil in it, this was put in by the recon company and the mechanic changed this for 15/40 oil.

Cheers

[Ian Hulley]

The recon company put semi-pathetic in it ??! FFS that doesn't say much for them does it