Oil be blowed !!

[broadside]

Advice please guys 'n' gals,

Have replaced the N/S exhaust manifold recently, had the car jacked up on the front for about 6 hours and then when finished, pushed the car back into the garage. Come to start it the following weekend after finishing the job, and no oil pressure on the gauge and warning light illuminated, not extinguishing at all.

I am hoping that with the car being jacked up the oil has drained out of the oil pump and it will need repriming. Does this rough diagnosis sound right or could there be something else ??

If this is the case, I will drop the sump and do an oil change this weekend.

Thanks

Nige' 450SE

[wedg1e]

Could be. Pull the distributor and make an adapter so you can use a drill on the oil pump shaft.

[dexy]

broadside said:

I will drop the sump and do an oil change this weekend. Thanks Nige' 450SE

Gee Nige i would just take the sump plug out
neil

[paul gotts]

Could also be a stuck oil pressure relief valve.Easier to check than dropping the sump - remove the retaining bolt on the pump cover and the spring and valve should hopefully come out. If it's stuck you'll need to take the pump cover off completely.

Paul.

[adam quantrill]

Jacking it up alone is very unlikely to be the cause. First check to see if you've disturbed any of the oil sensor wires.
Then I'd check the diff drive to the oil pump, make sure it's engaged/not broken.

If you do have to prime the pump, you can squirt oil down the central hole on the remote filter base (the "Adam Quantrill" method!)

- Adam

[The Colonel]

adam quantrill said:

If you do have to prime the pump, you can squirt oil down the central hole on the remote filter base (the "Adam Quantrill" method!)

The above is easiest way to prime it I reckon -


the other official method packing the pump using Vaseline sounds like a lot of (undoing bolts, new gasket etc)

Ah! Vaseline - reminded me of my Father-in-law, he has many strange uses for the stuff, smears it on all the hinges on the interior doors of his house, puts it on house keys, and -------

[broadside]

Ongoing saga:-

I was going to do the oil change this weekend. So I thought it best to see if the pump needed priming first, just to rule it out. Took off old filter, cleaned remote base and then put about 500ml of oil down the threaded intake as per Adam Quantrill method.
Put on new oil filter and started car. Voila, low oil pressure light goes off, oil pressure gauge goes up for about 10 seconds and then reverts to original thread, no pressure at all. I had a look at the oil pump and thought I would leave alone as I don't have the tools for the job.
So it looks like a quick trip to my mechanic and an MOT while she's in there.

I presume this is definately the oil pressure relief valve causing my problems !!

Regards

Nige'

>> Edited by broadside on Sunday 20th March 22:18

[paul gotts]

broadside said:

Ongoing saga:- I presume this is definately the oil pressure relief valve causing my problems !! Regards Nige' >> Edited by broadside on Sunday 20th March 22:18

The multi sided bolts holding the pump cover can be removed with either a 5/16" or 8mm socket/ring IIRC. If the valve is stuck, it is possible to re-use the cover provided that the ends of channel that valve moves in is cleaned up, and the cover face is not scored. However, I would recommend replacing the cover, gears, valve and spring. What happens is that debris in the oil causes the seizure in the open position, which you don't notice when running because the pressure would normally be enough to overcome the spring resistance anyway, but it doesn't return to the closed position when the engine is stopped, hence no pressure. And tell your mechanic that it must be petroleum jelly, not ordinary grease when repacking.

[broadside]

Cheers Paul for the advice.

As a side point, when I come to remove the oil pump cover:-
1/ Will I get covered in oil, or will there be only be a small amount if the pump is not primed.

2/ Is the oil pressure relief valve a std part or a TVR special ?

3/ Anything else I should know about before attempting the job ?

Cheers

Nige'

[paul gotts]

broadside said:

Cheers Paul for the advice. As a side point, when I come to remove the oil pump cover:- 1/ Will I get covered in oil, or will there be only be a small amount if the pump is not primed. 2/ Is the oil pressure relief valve a std part or a TVR special ? 3/ Anything else I should know about before attempting the job ? Cheers Nige'

There will be some spillage, mostly from the pipework connected to the sandwich plate for the remote take off. Before you decide to strip the pump, I would check whether the valve is actually stuck by removing its retaining nut on the side of the pump. The spring and valve should come out fairly easily. If it does, you need to look elsewhere for your problem. I had the top of the shaft that the distributor drives shear off, resulting in zero oil pressure. Assuming the valve is stuck, I would drain the oil first anyway, as it may well have been debris that caused the seizure. As far as I know, it's only the remote take off that makes it different to Rover/Land Rover etc. applications. Undo the large nut securing the sandwich plate, and move out of the way. You can re-use the gasket if it's not damaged. Access to a couple of the cover retaining bolts is slightly tricky, you need to use a good quality 5/16" ring spanner (don't think there's room for a 1/2" drive socket), and you'll probably need to give the cover a gentle whack to free it off once the bolts are out. The gears will probably drop right out once the cover is off. I would renew the cover, gears, spring and valve. I think the last set I bought was c. £80. Re-assembly is fairly straightforward, although the sandwich plate gaskets can be slightly tricky to seat and seal properly. You need to pack the pump cavity and cover and gears completely with petroleum jelly to ensure priming of the pump.The new cover should come with it's own new gasket. Once it's all back together, and filled with oil, I would pull the fuel pump fuse and remove the coil lead, and crank the engine until the warning light goes out. This may take 20-30 seconds or so. You should then be ok to fire it up. If you've got a copy ofn the Wedge parts manual, diagram E18 will help. If not, let me know your email off group and I'll send it to you. Good luck.

Paul.

[broadside]

OK, this is it. Hopefully the last posting on this subject from me .....

I spent 4 hours today tacling this job. I could not get the special bolts off the oil pump so I removed one 21mm diameter bolt that I could access by making a spanner to fit from an old imperial one. I thought it was for the pressure relief valve but it was just a blanking bolt... Unless the pressure relief valve has been kidnapped !!!

Anyway, let some oil drain out, then got the missus to turn the engine over, and got some more oil out, though only small amounts. Decided to pack this bolt cavity with vaseline by using a small syringe and my thumb, packed until I could pack no more !!

Turned over the engine and..... no oil pressure at all, low pressure warning light still on. Decided to prime pump again with Adam Quantrills method, and there was significantly more resistance to squeezing oil down the filter thread. Put the car onto its wheels and started the engine......Low pressure light goes out......Oil pressure guage twitches and moves up the scale and sits slightly higher than normal !!

Car then dissapears in a cloud of foul smelling smoke as the paint from the new manifold burns off, oooh the noise, the smell, etc !!!!

All I have to do now is see if I have oil pressure in the morningc when I take her for the MOT. I could not face the embarrassment of being towed to the garage !! (again!!)

Will let you know how I get on.

Regards

Nige'

[paul gotts]

broadside said:

I removed one 21mm diameter bolt that I could access by making a spanner to fit from an old imperial one. I thought it was for the pressure relief valve but it was just a blanking bolt... Unless the pressure relief valve has been kidnapped !!! Nige'

The pressure relief valve is located behind the 1" head bolt which lies parrallel to the cover joint face. I assume the bolt which you have removed is the one which lies at right angles to the joint face. The fact that you've now got pressure might indicate that, if the valve was stuck, it has freed itself once everything cooled down, although I would say this is unlikely. If that is the case, you should still dismantle and replace, to avoid a repeat.

Good luck with the MOT.

Let me know if you still need a diagram of the pump components.

Paul.