Oil pressure what's your display ?

[hiltonig]

Ok mine is about 40 ish on tick over , drops to 20-30 when above 3000 rpm is this what everyone else sees or do I have a problem coming ?

[MADMAX2]

Nowt to worry about dude how many miles has it done ?

[hiltonig]

New engine build last year , so not sure how oil pressure varies to engine speed and what it should read

[Harrytsg]

Assuming the pressure readings you give are at the same temperature, it sounds odd that your indicated pressure drops when therpm increases, it is usually the other way round where the pressure rises with increased rpm.

[Andy chimaera]

mine is lower on tick over and rises as the revs build, just over 30 i think and rises, i was told by the garage thats a perfectly normal pressure

[Jammy Dodger]

Nigel, you're scaring me

this happened to me BEFORE i had "the work" done, but only after 3 hours of hard abuse on an airfield and the car was very very hot indeed.

turned out when we pulled the engine apart that the sump oil pick up was clogged and that the engine had been cooked for a prolonged period (longer than desirable anyway)at some point. BUT, day to day pressure was steady at 39ish

Presume this has just come about ?

prob just a gauge/sender problem, you know what they're like

Can't remember if yours was a JE or V8D build, but obviously check with them monday

[haircutmike]

unless you have a mechanical gauge, the originals are best guess.

I wouldn't worry, if your that concerned , swap it for a mechanical, I did.

[hiltonig]

After all this it was the pressure sender unit, this one was a new one and has lasted just over a year, changed the unit and it's 60 all the way. Cheers rob for sorting it and putting my mind to rest !

[TV8]

Not sure where I learnt this but I thought the hydraulic thingys on the valves didn't like more than mid-30's and that there is a pressure relief valve to stop this happening?

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

When I first got my Chimaera, I was concerned that the oil pressure reading drops very low at tickover when hot - almost to zero. I phoned Jason at Str8Six, who confirmed that the pressure sender is almost certainly at fault, and that the real pressure is more like 60. He said not to worry provided the oil pressure warning light doesn't come on, which is a completely separate pressure switch.

So I ignore the actual value displayed on the gauge and just look for anything that's different from normal. Also the pressure is a useful indirect measure of when the oil is up to temperature: when the pressure drops to its normal value I know the oil's warmed up.

I've got one of the cheap pressure senders from eBay which I'll be fitting when I've got the car up on stands soon.

[haircutmike]

From memory, and I haven't driven my car for a few months, with a mechanical gauge it reads about 50 at speed and about 30 at idle

[Simon says]

haircutmike said:

From memory, and I haven't driven my car for a few months, with a mechanical gauge it reads about 50 at speed and about 30 at idle

with a correctly functioning sender thats about right on the Serp motor.

[Chimpafrolic]

Simon says said:

haircutmike said:

From memory, and I haven't driven my car for a few months, with a mechanical gauge it reads about 50 at speed and about 30 at idle

with a correctly functioning sender thats about right on the Serp motor.

I used to see the lower 30lbs type pressures (falling to 15 lbs at hot idle).

Then Rob Robertson did his double oil pressure relief spring mod on my Chim when he fitted the Stealth cam.

10 minutes after the mod the oil pressure gauge started showing some seriuosly low figures

I panicked a bit, Rob told me not to worry and suggested I fit a new sender.

Being a cheapskate I took a punt on an oil pressure sender from EBay.

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

I now see the following pressures:

• Cold idle: 60psi

• Cold over 2000rpm: 62psi

• Hot idle: 43psi

• Hot over 2000rpm: 60psi

I also had a chat with Jason at STR8SIX who told me the same thing, IE the Serp RV8 runs a true oil pressure of 55-60lbs (hot over 2000rpm).

This seems to be supported by & consistant with what haircutmike sees on his mechanical gauge.

I now believe my cheapo EBay find is better matched to the TVR gauge & gives way more accurate readings than the original TVR OP sender.

And yes folks, it's still going strong!

Edited by Chimpafrolic on Saturday 24th September 11:58

[TV8]

Are pre-serps different in oil pressures levels?

[Overhere]

It's the sender, I've had 3 different sender (2 failed) and completely different reading from each. The first which I assume was factory measured 30 when cold and down to 15 hot, in the middle of a track day at Silverstone it failed and read 0, ruined my day and turned out of course to be the sensor. second lated 2 years and strangely was fine (40 cold and a bit less warm) started reading 0 under acceleration but not in corners, the was at TAGII, and the one I have now, off eBay, the one (do the search) that has a pos and ground lead, much cheaper than the proper unit, read 60 most of the time.

I just want to know it's not zero or very low, and I think that's all you can expect to know from these gauges and sensors, they just are not accurate, same with the temp gauge.

One thing David Batty told me, if it's zero the hydraulic lifters will collaps and the valve train will clatter badly.

[Excitedoldgeezer]

I see a difference between oil changes, after a new change the dial reads about 10-15 when at traffic lights and about 35 when running, as the oil gets older it still runs at 35-40 but at traffic lights only drops back to about 25-30. Running a 4litre serp