Oil Pressure on my 1999 Caterham

[james S]

Morning all

The oil pressure gauge on my 1999 1.6 l 8v Vauxhall engined Caterham seems to do very little and spends the majority of its life in the red. I guess its probably the sensor, as the oil is new, full and the engine sounds fine.

Its been suggested I replace the sensor, so I was looking online this morning and got a bit lost. Is this the same as the sender or is it a different thing altogether. Any pointers of links to the right bit gratefully received.

Thanks

[DVandrews]

You might do well to replace with a capillary gauge, this are less prone to failure and very responsive to changes in oil pressure.

Dave

[elan_fan]

http://caterhamparts.co.uk/product.php?id_product=...

Mark

[james S]

Cool thanks I'll order one today.

The car also 'beeped twice' whilst I was driving along - a single beep both times. In the absence of any other warnings its a bit tricky to know what this means - any thoughts?

James

[Mavic82]

Has it always been low or recently changed. If it is recent then I am sure you are heading the right way.

However if it is new to you and been that way since you have had it.....

Are you sure it has enough oil in it? If it has the same sump pan as the 2.0 vx engine it might be worth over filling past the max by about a cm. They remarked the dipsticks and if it has not been done correctly then you may be low. Seen this on a couple of 2.0 litre cars. Just a thought

[Mavic82]

Has it always been low or recently changed. If it is recent then I am sure you are heading the right way.

However if it is new to you and been that way since you have had it.....

Are you sure it has enough oil in it? If it has the same sump pan as the 2.0 vx engine it might be worth over filling past the max by about a cm. They remarked the dipsticks and if it has not been done correctly then you may be low. Seen this on a couple of 2.0 litre cars. Just a thought

[james S]

Thanks, its about 150 miles since a major service and which I checked it yesterday, it was just below maximum. What oil do you guys use in these cars BTW?

[stuI]

James,

One of the first upgrades i did on my K-series VVC was to change to a Mechanical Oil Pressure guage after advice and the fact the senders always pack in.

Very easy mod to do. I have details on my assembly, although its specific to a K-series.

Only issue i have now is the stack guage is so good it makes all the other Caterham guages look poor in comparison!

Stu

[james S]

I've ordered the basic replacement part. It is a difficult thing to replace it, or just a case of screwing remove one and replacing it with the other. Thanks

James

[BritishRacinGrin]

Just disconnect the spade terminal, unbolt the old sender (21mm spanner I think), and bolt the new one on. There should be a copper washer. Access is made a little tight by the offside engine mount so this job needs to be done from below with the car raised.

[james S]

You are a helpful lot - thanks