Club 80-90 Forums

I've the 1900 DG engine and (worryingly) the oil light has started to come on.

It only does this after long runs when the oil will be nice and hot and the revs are at idle (a tiny bit of throttle makes the light go out). After the first event, I replaced the oil from 10/40 to 15/50 but this has no effect. Reading the forum some people report a buzzer going off, but I don't get that.

I replaced the sensor (on the LH cylinders) several months ago as it was leaking oil (the light has only started to come on recently).

Clearly I'm worried about what this means as I don't fancy the cost of a rebuilt engine.

I've tried reading up on the forum and the best advice I've read is to fit an oil pressure gauge as then I should know where I am.

Can anyone provide any advice on where to plumb a gauge in, and what bits I need. I'd quite like to keep the dash warning light if poss.

As for cause of the problem, Mr Haynes suggest a number of things as likely causes, worn bearings, worn oil pump, oil presure relief valve and blocked oil strainer etc.

Here's where I plead to the experienced folk on this forum.... Is it likely to be any of these and which ones are the likely suspects to I tackle first?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Rich

hi mate,

worrying, isn't it?

Your engne can be pressure tested hot and cold by any ha;f dcent garage. You could get that done first before you go to the lenghts of guages etc etc.

Sure someone will be along soon that can give some real advice


Em
x

OK, when you say 10/40 and 15/50 do you mean mineral oil or have you been putting sinthetic or semi-skimmed sinthetic in it ?

Do you have 2 pressure sensors ? ... 1 between the tubes and 1 near the pump ? No 2nd sensor no Buzzer Of Doom.

Where did you get the 'new' sensor from ?

Ian.

told you someone would be along ^^^

Em
x

As said..

where did you get the oil pressure switch from? Brickwerks ones are tried and tested quality... GSF ones known to be "variable"

Year of Van? as buzzer not fitted to early ones... second pressure switch just visible next to water pump pulley should be wire running up and over left of engine towards firewall.. this can be earthed out on the case preventing buzzer operation..

Wireing and connections can become damaged so worth tracing in engine bay and seeing if anything amiss..

15w50 semi/synth is still better than 10w40... but std mineral is better...

To fit a gauge, normally means extension hose and T piece to allow sender and pressure switch to be fittted, or you can get a dual sender and swithc unit...

Thanks for all the responses.

I'd better answer a few of the questions you've asked.

The year of the van is 1987 with (apparently) only 60,000 miles on it (but no paperwork with the van to prove it).

I believe I have got two gauges (the van has to live in a storage yard so I can't check until the weekend). One on the left bank of cylinders and one btm left of the crank shaft pulley. The wires head in the direction of the fuse box. They connect to plug near by.

No buzzer though, unless it's been disabled. Where would I look to see if I have a Buzzer?

The oil was castrol gtx mineral 15/50.

The replacement sensor was the one on the left bank of cylinders and was from Euro car parts.

It sounds like a fiddle to connect a gauge. Can I ask which sensor port would it best to take the feed from, the one on the cylinders or the one by the pulley (or does it matter)? Does anyone provide a kit, or can anyone recomend where to source the important bits?

Thanks again

Rich

In which case my money's on a faulty Europants sender, buy a proper one from Brickwerks.

If you really have low oil pressure the tappets drain down and the thing chatters like a Gattling gun until the inards become the outards ... the noise people who don't use their vans over the winter fill the Technical Forum with in spring

Ian

use the low pressure sender hole for pickup to t piece for gauge and retain the low pressure switch so you have correct start up lights
high pressure sender wire becomes paired with low p sender wire, two pin plug connection to main loom; if there's a known op issue then someone will have earthed the wire that should be on the high p sender so the bod circuit thinks it's ok, you'll need to physically check the wiring

bod circuit is in the binnacle actually in the speedo pod

use the low p sender hole for extenal wet gauge for proper testing

Ian, you've got me worried now as I did have an issue with noisy tappets and I was one of those who thought the engine was going to explode as it was so loud.

The general advice was to take it for a drive which would settle it. It seemed to work, but on my own volition I did drive it to Halfords where I treated it to a bottle of STP as I thought that 10/40 I'd recenty used might have been a bit thin.

It seemed to be fine for the 1500 miles I've put on it since, no tappet noise, and no concerns with oil pressure until now.

Aidan, Thanks for the Advice on the oil pressure sensor fitting, most T- pieces I've seen advertised are 1/8" NPT, can I quickly ask is this the right size?

I'll have to check the wiring at the weekend when I can get to the van. If more evidence was needed the most yellowed pages in the Haynes book that came with the van are those which cover oil pressure switches and oil pump removal.

Does this mean I'm doomed??

Many thanks

Rich

No.. not doomed

you need M10 X 1 thread for your T piece.
you can fit a mechanical or an electronic gauge

has the engine been well serviced with (regular) oil changes?

pump removal is easy enough and they are not expensive.. but it means the engine has to be dropped down to access it. (four bolts)

buy the right sender first... eliminate the cheapest

Hello Kev
I'd like to think that the van has been treated very during my ownership, it's had two oil changes since I bought it in May. Prior to that I've no knowledge as there was no paper work. The MOT website suggests its done very few miles in the last two or three years (so I'll assume it wasn't serviced regularly).

Thanks for the info on the t-piece, I'll order myself one straight away.

Ref. your comment on cheap senders, (I guess we all know what you get if you pay peanuts) but is there a specific problem with senders to watch out for? Ebay seems to full of cheap gauges but are these the bad brands to avoid. My budget can stretch a bit further than peanuts but I don't want to break the bank on a gauge (I'd rather spend it on the van). I'm planning to go to Vanfest, maybe this could be good place to pick up some bits.

Do you think a change of oil pump could be all she needs?

Cheers

Rich

op generally isn't down to the pump rather to the resistance caused by the tight fit of the bearing shells through which the oil is being pumped, don't jump to any conclusions or solutions just get the op checked properly

I have a wet op gauge that you can borrow for the price of a beer, I can take to vf if required and if you are not going pass it onto Patrick who lives in Bristol

that will allow you to check the op cold and then run the engine up to temp and see how it varies and see what op you have at revs, you can then fit an electric one if you want which should give you the same reading so you know the gauge is right and you can go from there

but 15W/40 and a Man filter every time imho

Hello Aidan

The bearings are my primary concern, as I'd rather not change the engine if I can avoid it. I'm hoping it might be something else (cheaper with some luck).

Still the right thing to do will be to check the pressures as you say. Thanks for generous offer of loaning me your guage it would really help me.

I'm definitely going to VanFest (although not in the Van), I'm not sure which day yet, either Saturday or Sunday. Will you be there both days? If so I could collect from you there (and have that beer perhaps).

Thanks again

Rich

only going to be there Friday got to be back here to work over the weekend, I could leave it with one of the club, you'll have to mail it back to me, give me a bell Thursday afternoon so I remember to put it in the van

I can keep it Aiden..
come over and have a glass of pop