Guage death!! Oil Pressure

T

TwinPlenum3500S

New Member
My clock was working fine until a month or so ago, now dead.

More worryingly, I gave the car a bit of a boot today around a roundabout and the oil pressure guage now goes all the way up to maximium?? Might be coincidental? Any ideas as to why guage is now faulty. Is it the sender?

Added to this, the rev counter works 9 out of 10 times, but sometimes stays asleep!!

In total then, no clock, no oil pressure, erratic rev counter and a speedo that needs recalibrating :D :D

The car is now in daily use and each day a new fault ... the wonders of old car :LOL:
 
If the pressure relief valve on your pump jammed , would you have high pressure or no pressure ? Otherwise your sender may have given up the ghost under the increased pressure it is now subjected to
 
To be fair the sender is an SD1, going into a P6 guage .... the needle now sits to the far right of the guage. When disconnected goes back to zero.

I dont think the guage is the problem .... could the pressure relief valve be stuck?? Could I really be producing in excess of 60psi ... I am worried now.

Really enjoying driving car at mo .... mothball it again and have a look sunday :(
 
Your clock problem is probably the small wires that power the self winding mechanism burning out. If you strip the clock you'll probably find a couple of wire to solder back on.

Don't think that's related to the oil pressure gauge though. More likely a faulty/incompatible sender unit.

Isn't there a test for gauges involving conecting them to 12v or something?
 
As testrider says, the Kienzle clock dying is a common fault and is usually the solder fuse. Check out this article.

As far as your oil pressure's concerned, my guess would be the sender as Dave suggests. If you earth the Light Green feed with the ignition on, does the gauge swing over to maximum? If so the gauge is OK and the fault's with the sender. They have been known to come back to life with a tap from a screwdriver.

Rev counter I'm not sure about..the signal's in circuit with the coil LT. If you're not getting misfires when it's sleeping, it could be it's just not picking up it's 12V from fuse 19-20.
 
Thanks for that. Had dash out and sorted clock I hope.

Oil pressure guage was substituted for another good one and same problem .... swings to +60 psi. I hope it is the sender ... I am not going to use the car in case it truely is putting out huge oil pressures and the inevitable damage this will do.

I hope it is not an oil pump rebuilt that is needed.
 
I have had the same problem. I pulled the sender out and there was a tiny bit of crud stuck in the hole. Once cleaned out with a needle (the wife never knew I used one of her good ones) problem solved. I am not really a fan of the elecric gauges, and intend to substitute a mechanical gauge in due course. It is also worth checking the wires that lead to the sender, if they are frayed they can short out.

My tacho also plays up, loose wire in the system perhaps? If the battery is low it wont play, if fully charged then plays most of the time. Some serious investigation beckons....

Cheers

GUY :p
 
My sender is an SD1 vitesse, unsure of differences between this and P6, but when wire removed, obviously needle drops to zero.

However, on inspection, when I touched connecter on top of sender it wobbles a little .... is this normal? Could it be it is on the way out, got damages or knocked during transplant of engine?

Maybe I am clutching at straws so as not to have to rebuild oil pump!
 
I really can't see that your oil pump needs rebuilding as it won't over presurise when failing. The pressure relief spring will only let excess pressure out when it needs to, i.e. high revs on colder oil, so I doubt if it is that.

I would get an electrical tester and connect it up to the sender when cold - on resistance. Start the engine and notice if the resistance of the sender changes when you rev the engine. It seems like it has gone from a gradual change to an on/off switch. If it goes instantly from 1 with the engine off, to '0' with it running, your gauge has failed.

If it does change gradually, run a new wire from the sender to the back of the gauge. If it works then, the wiring is at fault. Be careful not to touch anything else with it as you could short some stuff out.

There is an earth wire from the clocks to the body of the car. Check this is intact and that the spade clips are tight as this can cause the tacho to run in a strange fashion, as your clocks will be trying to earth on other things which could be intermitent. Also check that the screws holding the tacho in are tight, as this can give similar faults.
 
Similarly what I also noticed, was that when the car has been run and walm, with engine off, but ignition on, I get an oil pressure reading of about 15 - 20 psi. It is as if the guage is working, but excessive oil pressure is made? ANy ideas.
 
Similarly what I also noticed, was that when the car has been run and walm, with engine off, but ignition on, I get an oil pressure reading of about 15 - 20 psi. It is as if the guage is working, but excessive oil pressure is made? ANy ideas.
 
Connect up a mechanical gauge and be sure once and for all .
It does sound like your transmitter is playing up.
I don't recall what front cover you are using but taking the oil pressure relief valve out for a clean up is not hard for a man of your talent
 
Ordered a new pressure relief valve and spring from Alan at classeparts .... also a replacement SD1 sender. Ill do the pair .... just annoyed as I have not been able to use car. Thanks for all the feedback.
 
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