Serp Oil Pressure sender

[Richard 858]

I'm sure this has been covered before but I'm looking for a suitable sender for my 98 450 (white faced gauges, caerbont I think). Current one never reads more than 35psi drops as low as 10 when warm, this is after 12,000 miles since rebuild & 20/60 Millers Semi Synthetic (in the summer). I reckon this is reading low so looking for suitable replacement & wondered if there's a better option than Clever Trevor at £40 odd ? As ever any help much appreciated.

[Chuffmeister]

Lots on this thread…

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Goaty Bill]

Just in case you haven't read it elsewhere; that is perfectly normal for a standard TVR, Chimaera or Griffith.
It is no indication that something is wrong, it's absolutely how they all(?) were from new. It was even part of the handover speech given by the dealer on collecting your new car.

What you mostly need to be observant of, is deviation from the numbers you give.

That said, you are correct, it is normally not at all accurate, and the true picture is normally a lot more comforting for most owners
A number of people have resolved it as the link above shows.
Personally, I found that acceptance was easier. I always loved her just the way she was

[ChimpOnGas]

• My speedo reads 40 when I'm doing 60 - I have 12 points

• My temp gauge says 10 degrees at speed even though the true coolant temp is 80 - I have no idea if it's overheating

• My fuel gauge says I'm a quarter full even though I'm about to run out - I spend a lot of time walking to the nearest petrol station

• My oil pressure reads 15lbs even when the true figure is 50psi - I have no idea if the low pressure reading is the TVR gauge/sender acting up or if my engine is about to run an end

But hey my car is original, so I'm happy & proud

WTF use are gauges for if they don't read correctly??????!!!!!!!

Honestly Goat Boy you are deeply deluded


If Goat Boy was a pilot, would you fly "Goat Air"?





I f**cking wouldn't

[Mark.]

Goaty Bill said:

It is no indication that something is wrong, it's absolutely how they all(?) were from new. It was even part of the handover speech given by the dealer on collecting your new car.

What you mostly need to be observant of, is deviation from the numbers you give.

High Volume, Low Pressure.

[ChimpOnGas]

Mark. said:

High Volume, Low Pressure.

Very true, so in theory its just a case of keeping your eye on the oil flow gauge then.

Eh.....

That aint going to work now is it

I'm definitely in the "working accurate gauges are nice" camp

[Mark.]

I'm in the "if the gauge looks like it always has done then it's probably ok" camp. For me that's worked for the last 12.5 years.

[spend]

ChimpOnGas said:

I'm definitely in the "working accurate gauges are nice" camp

So they should all read the same then?

..the obvious answer to the OP is not to fart around with gauges and senders but to get a proper test done first with a calibrated tester (using the same location as the current sender). Then he can decide if the engine / oil / gauge / sender is faulty...

[Goaty Bill]

I wondered how long it would take Nervous Nelly aka GassedUpMonkey aka ChimpOnGas to get in on this.
Frankly you were a little slow to rise to it this time chum

Your are still a bit new to this. lets face it.
If you simply accepted that your car is like a woman; you have to work out what she means when she tells you something, rather than taking it at face value, then you would be okay.

Get to know your TVR, love her for what she is, you will both feel better for it

[ChimpOnGas]

Goaty Bill said:

I wondered how long it would take Nervous Nelly aka GassedUpMonkey aka ChimpOnGas to get in on this.
Frankly you were a little slow to rise to it this time chum

Your are still a bit new to this. lets face it.
If you simply accepted that your car is like a woman; you have to work out what she means when she tells you something, rather than taking it at face value, then you would be okay.

Get to know your TVR, love her for what she is, you will both feel better for it

I'll pass that onto Boeing Captain Goat Boy.



Getting to really know your TVR means working on it yourself a bit.

One year of working on your own TVR, is worth 50 years outsourcing everything it to a mechanic.

[Chuffmeister]

ChimpOnGas said:

One year of working on your own TVR, is worth 50 years outsourcing everything it to a mechanic.

Never a truer word said!

[Goaty Bill]

Cheers Dave, have saved that as my profile picture.

[ChimpOnGas]

spend said:

So they should all read the same then?

Eh!!!!, where's the logic in that

No they shouldn't read all the same, they should all display the correct reading.

Cant believe people are defending the woefully inaccurate TVR gauges, you wouldn't except it on a BMW or any other car for that matter.

So why are we defending it on a TVR, makes no sense to me whatsoever.

The gauges are there as a warning, to help you make decisions based on their reading.

If you've come accustomed to their accuracy, if you accept they are inacurate, what happens when they start indicating an impending issue?

Do you...

A: Just continue driving saying to yourself, "Oh well it's a TVR and the what gauges are are showing me is almost certainly an untruth"

Or..

B: Take avoiding action before you do any serious damage

The problem is if you dont believe in what the gauges are saying, you'll probably just drive on.

One day that attitude is going to bite you in the arsh, maybe it's already bitten some.

Bottom line is...if the gauges are not telling you what's really going on there's very little point in having then at all.

How about spending some time now getting them working better, so you can rely upon them when you need them most.

Seems like a much more sensible approach to me

[ChimpOnGas]

Goaty Bill said:

Cheers Dave, have saved that as my profile picture.

Lets do your oil change before it gets too cold mate

Edited by ChimpOnGas on Thursday 28th November 16:53

[Chuffmeister]

ChimpOnGas said:

Lets do your oil change before it gets too cold mate

Edited by ChimpOnGas on Thursday 28th November 16:53

Is this one of those Rorschach tests? What does the curler mean? A little disturbing these red Chimaera clubs!

Edited by Chuffmeister on Thursday 28th November 19:51

[Goaty Bill]

Chuffmeister said:

ChimpOnGas said:

One year of working on your own TVR, is worth 50 years outsourcing everything it to a mechanic.

Never a truer word said!

That's all true, assuming you want to fix it yourself.
Personally, I want to spend my time not

[Sardonicus]

Mark. said:

High Volume, Low Pressure.

Not really I can maintain 55psi at anything over 2.5k RPM stinking hot and yet idle at 25 psi (mechanical gauge and Serp motor) it may have volume but it is not that low pressure 15 psi idle and 40 psi at half max engine revs I would refer to low pressure most will fast idle pressure around 50psi

[Mark.]

Sardonicus said:

Mark. said:

High Volume, Low Pressure.

Not really I can maintain 55psi at anything over 2.5k RPM stinking hot and yet idle at 25 psi (mechanical gauge and Serp motor) it may have volume but it is not that low pressure 15 psi idle and 40 psi at half max engine revs I would refer to low pressure most will fast idle pressure around 50psi

Can't quite remember what the figures are on my gauge but it's up that end at fast idle and down the other at low

[ChimpOnGas]

At £26.85 it's a little more than my nice cheap £13.00 Ebay one...



But still a lot cheaper than the criminally expensive TVR liar model.

I've not tried this one yet, but its designed for a 0-80psi range gauge as opposed to my cheapo EBay one (itself much better than the original TVR one) which is designed for a 0-100psi scale gauge.

As we know our TVR Caerbont OP gauge is has a 0-80psi scale, so I'd say this one I found a few weeks ago has the potential to be the best yet?

Pay attention to Sardonicus' oil pressure figures, these are same figures I saw on a proper professional external Sykes Pickavant gauge, that does not lie.

So I think its safe to say the Sardonicus quoted oil pressure figures are what a serpentine Rover V8 truly makes, not the comically low figures you see with the TVR original sender

Don't accept the wrong information on your gauges just because it's a TVR.

Fix it by making the gauges read correctly, then you'll always know whats really going on so you can quickly & confidently respond to a failure before catastrophic damage is done.

Or just throw all your gauges in the bin, cos if they aint reading right, they aint worth st!

Who will be the first to try the new 0-80psi rated sender I've found?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150918952129?ssPageName=...

From the photo, the construction looks good and I'd put money on it giving the most accurate and reliable figures yet.

Well worth a £26.85 punt if your current sender had just gone tips up


Below are the figures you should be referencing when reviewing this sender....

Sardonicus said:

• 55psi at anything over 2.5k RPM stinking hot

• Idle at 25 psi

• Most will fast idle pressure around 50psi

15 psi idle and 40 psi at half max engine revs I would refer to low pressure

Edited by ChimpOnGas on Friday 29th November 14:01

[Richard 858]

Thanks to all, I'd already ordered the cheap E-bay one (0-100psi) before I looked back at the thread for the "new" alternative, so I'll see what difference it makes to mine. Couldn't agree more with getting to know your own by working on it yourself, am getting a somewhat perverse pleasure from rolling around on a creeper under mine !