oil pressure gauge
Discussion
how reliable are the oil pressure gauges on the 350i's of about 1986 . i have just bought a red one and at idle when hot it sits at about 1bar( ie about 14.7 psi)and when running at about 3000rpm its about 1.5bars which seems abit low to me, now this car has been stored supposidly for about 8 years s it could be that it just needs a good service as it does not rattle and the oil light dont come on when running, and what sort of service should i get done on a car thats been stored for so long....any info will help please.
The RV8 uses a high-volume, low-pressure system.
My '87 390SE runs about 1 bar at hot idle, rising to about 2.8 bar above 2000 rpm, hot.
Cold it's about 3 bar at idle and will go off the scale if you rev it, which of course we wouldn't do to a cold engine now would we, especially not one we spent nearly a thousand quid rebuilding
So yes, 1.5 bar at 3000 rpm does seem a little low. Maybe the oil pressure relief is sticking slightly (a known RV8 problem).
Biggest problem is that the oil pump is part of the timing cover. If you get any swarf in there it scores the pump chambers and lets oil past the gears. It's easy enough to check; you can buy new gears but if the body is scored it's scrap unless you have a mate who can weld and machine alloy. Probably cheaper to find another timing cover.
In the short term, I guess you need a known good gauge that you can connect to the oil gallery.
Ian
My '87 390SE runs about 1 bar at hot idle, rising to about 2.8 bar above 2000 rpm, hot.
Cold it's about 3 bar at idle and will go off the scale if you rev it, which of course we wouldn't do to a cold engine now would we, especially not one we spent nearly a thousand quid rebuilding
So yes, 1.5 bar at 3000 rpm does seem a little low. Maybe the oil pressure relief is sticking slightly (a known RV8 problem).
Biggest problem is that the oil pump is part of the timing cover. If you get any swarf in there it scores the pump chambers and lets oil past the gears. It's easy enough to check; you can buy new gears but if the body is scored it's scrap unless you have a mate who can weld and machine alloy. Probably cheaper to find another timing cover.
In the short term, I guess you need a known good gauge that you can connect to the oil gallery.
Ian
well i'll try changing the oil and filter and flushing the system first to see if that helps it, i also have on order from rimmers a new plunger and relief valve spring to see if that improoves things and if not i'll try changing the pump assy, as i dont like seeing the pressure too low ......
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