Urgent - Oil Pressure (Hopefully not though)
Discussion
Hi all,
Since buying last week I've had lumpy idle speed and occasional stalling.
I'd read an old post about base idle which suggested screwing the screw in fully and then releasing 1.5 turns.
Tried that and it seemed to idle much better. No hunting and revving up and down just a steady idle at around 1,000 rpm.
I've just been for a quick 3 mile run and noticed when I pulled back onto my drive that I was showing 0 oil pressure(!!). Obviously this is not a good sign.
Any ideas? It was showing around 25-50 psi before I adjusted the screw.
I can't see how it can do much damage really and suspect that the gauge is playing up.
What have I done and what should it normally read ??
Dave
(Rapidly tiring of his new toy)
Since buying last week I've had lumpy idle speed and occasional stalling.
I'd read an old post about base idle which suggested screwing the screw in fully and then releasing 1.5 turns.
Tried that and it seemed to idle much better. No hunting and revving up and down just a steady idle at around 1,000 rpm.
I've just been for a quick 3 mile run and noticed when I pulled back onto my drive that I was showing 0 oil pressure(!!). Obviously this is not a good sign.
Any ideas? It was showing around 25-50 psi before I adjusted the screw.
I can't see how it can do much damage really and suspect that the gauge is playing up.
What have I done and what should it normally read ??
Dave
(Rapidly tiring of his new toy)
Does it show any pressure when it's revved, was it knocking at all, did the oil light come on? It is probably just the wire on the Oil Pressure Guage sender has come off/bad connection or the sender has broke, happens all the time with Griffs, but to be on the safe side get a new sender and try it (£30, most dealers have stocks of these). Don't drive it at all until you know it has pressure. You can get this tested with a mechanical tester, about £20 I think.
>> Edited by dougal on Friday 31st May 18:39
>> Edited by dougal on Friday 31st May 18:39
Hi,
I've just checked the oil its between min and max
so a good start.
I've just wound the idle valve back to where it was and tried again.
The Oil gauge go up to around 50psi (normally as high as it goes) and then drops as usual to around 30-35 psi and up to 50 psi if I accelerate. However intermitantly it reads 0 and then around 25 psi if I accelerate instead and then goes almost immediately back up.
I only ran it for a around 30 seconds as a little concerned obviously.
I'm hoping for a dodgy connector somewhere does this sound likely or like something more serious ?
I didn't notice any unusal noises although my engine is quite loud & rumbly but it my first TVR (or non 4 cyl engine) so I'm not sure if theres anything untoward in there or not
Any help appreciated.
Dave
(And his annoying Turquoise money trap)
I've just checked the oil its between min and max
so a good start. I've just wound the idle valve back to where it was and tried again.
The Oil gauge go up to around 50psi (normally as high as it goes) and then drops as usual to around 30-35 psi and up to 50 psi if I accelerate. However intermitantly it reads 0 and then around 25 psi if I accelerate instead and then goes almost immediately back up.
I only ran it for a around 30 seconds as a little concerned obviously.
I'm hoping for a dodgy connector somewhere does this sound likely or like something more serious ?
I didn't notice any unusal noises although my engine is quite loud & rumbly but it my first TVR (or non 4 cyl engine) so I'm not sure if theres anything untoward in there or not
Any help appreciated.
Dave
(And his annoying Turquoise money trap)
More than likely a dodgy conection or could be a dodgy earth as i had on my fuel gauge.
The one that was loose on mine was the one if you look from the front of the car through to the radiator and just below it is a bolt that holds the body to the chassis (its quite had to see),you can get youre hand to it to feel if its loose.
Its a bloody nightmare to get a soccat on.In the end i ended up cutting a slot in the grp just below it to get an open ended spanner on it.
Otherwise theres two earthing points under the transmission tunnel and on under the bonnet near the starter solenoid.
Good luck
Simon
The one that was loose on mine was the one if you look from the front of the car through to the radiator and just below it is a bolt that holds the body to the chassis (its quite had to see),you can get youre hand to it to feel if its loose.
Its a bloody nightmare to get a soccat on.In the end i ended up cutting a slot in the grp just below it to get an open ended spanner on it.
Otherwise theres two earthing points under the transmission tunnel and on under the bonnet near the starter solenoid.
Good luck
Simon
OK then assuming its dodgy electrics and not a broken engine
Where do I look for the wiring for the gauge and sender ?
Help.
Dave
(And his hopefully OK turquoise 5 litre monster)
From reading a few old post it would seems that 25 psi at idle and 50psi under load is quite a good oil pressure then yes ?
Where do I look for the wiring for the gauge and sender ?
Help.
Dave
(And his hopefully OK turquoise 5 litre monster)
From reading a few old post it would seems that 25 psi at idle and 50psi under load is quite a good oil pressure then yes ?
Do you have the bible ....
Yes and I'm praying although I suspect that not what you meant!
Is Steve's bible worth a buy then ??
PS Car took a turn for the worse last night when I apparantly overfilled it with oil.
The dipstick (the one on the car not me!) said min so I added a litre. It showed just under full but clearly had more in than that as it was keen to produce clouds of smoke.
I was up a 6:00 this morning doing an oil change I removed 6 litres of oil (!!) and on filling back up I now have a rocker cover gasket leak too! Seems it makes a difference which way in you put the dipstick in. Other way round it showed full and then some (b@gger!)
Car is going to Wedge automotive in Sheffield during the week. Has any here used them before. He seemed knowledable on the phone and suggested it was unlikely to be too serious. He was talking low hundreds (rocker cover gaskets, manifold gaskets and plug leads etc.)and not fortunately thousands (phew!). If its around the stated price I'll get them to do the rest of the service items too.
I might sell it once it fixed or just drive it and not touch the oily bits again as this was mostly my fault barring the pressure guage sender
It would appear that you need a good sense of humour with these cars
Yes and I'm praying
although I suspect that not what you meant! Is Steve's bible worth a buy then ??
PS Car took a turn for the worse last night when I apparantly overfilled it with oil.
The dipstick (the one on the car not me!) said min so I added a litre. It showed just under full but clearly had more in than that as it was keen to produce clouds of smoke.
I was up a 6:00 this morning doing an oil change I removed 6 litres of oil (!!) and on filling back up I now have a rocker cover gasket leak too! Seems it makes a difference which way in you put the dipstick in. Other way round it showed full and then some
(b@gger!) Car is going to Wedge automotive in Sheffield during the week. Has any here used them before. He seemed knowledable on the phone and suggested it was unlikely to be too serious. He was talking low hundreds (rocker cover gaskets, manifold gaskets and plug leads etc.)and not fortunately thousands (phew!). If its around the stated price I'll get them to do the rest of the service items too.
I might sell it once it fixed or just drive it and not touch the oily bits again as this was mostly my fault barring the pressure guage sender
It would appear that you need a good sense of humour with these cars
quote:
Do you have the bible ....
Yes and I'm praying
Is Steve's bible worth a buy then ??
PS Car took a turn for the worse last night when I apparantly overfilled it with oil.
The dipstick (the one on the car not me!) said min so I added a litre. It showed just under full but clearly had more in than that as it was keen to produce clouds of smoke.
I was up a 6:00 this morning doing an oil change I removed 6 litres of oil (!!) and on filling back up I now have a rocker cover gasket leak too! Seems it makes a difference which way in you put the dipstick in. Other way round it showed full and then some
Car is going to Wedge automotive in Sheffield during the week. Has any here used them before. He seemed knowledable on the phone and suggested it was unlikely to be too serious. He was talking low hundreds (rocker cover gaskets, manifold gaskets and plug leads etc.)and not fortunately thousands (phew!). If its around the stated price I'll get them to do the rest of the service items too.
I might sell it once it fixed or just drive it and not touch the oily bits again as this was mostly my fault barring the pressure guage sender
It would appear that you need a good sense of humour with these cars
Was the smoke coming out the exhaust or from the engine? If it's from the engine bay, it could be you just have a leaky rocker cover gasket, which is no big deal. If it's from the exhaust, that suggests you're burning oil (from the breather, presumably). I think you would have to overfill by miles to get this. I regularly overfill by about a liter on track days to prevent oil surge. (Fully baffled sump with flap valves but on long hi-G sweepers it can still run out.) You have to overfill a *long* way to cover the breather, which is the only real danger.
Re your other questions, on the few occasions I've dealt with Richard he's been very helpful and certainly knows his way round TVRs. And yes, you should definitely get yourself a copy of the 'bible' if you're working on the car yourself.
Hope this helps,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
The base idle screw should not really be touched because the stepper motor controlled by the ECU actually handles the idling. This does get get gunged up and need cleaning quite frequently. For most people this is an automatic reaction to any idling problem or anything to do with engine running.
OIl pressure soulds like a falling off lead but please please please check before driving as it might not!
steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
OIl pressure soulds like a falling off lead but please please please check before driving as it might not!
steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
Hooray - Not oil pressure
Car needs servicing (which I knew) and setting up as its badly out of tune and not running on all cylinders.
Good news indeed as I didn't fancy too big a job after only 1 week of ownership.
I'm using the opportunity to address a couple of other issues too (eg. fitting a fan switch and loom, setting up for normal unleaded etc.).
Dave
Car needs servicing (which I knew) and setting up as its badly out of tune and not running on all cylinders.
Good news indeed as I didn't fancy too big a job after only 1 week of ownership.
I'm using the opportunity to address a couple of other issues too (eg. fitting a fan switch and loom, setting up for normal unleaded etc.).
Dave
quote:
Hooray - Not oil pressure
I'm using the opportunity to address a couple of other issues too (eg. fitting a fan switch and loom, setting up for normal unleaded etc.).
Dave
Good news on the oil pressure front!
Why set up for normal unleaded? - the cars were set up for 98 RON from the factory (this may be different on new cars)
Normal unleaded is 95, so why not get some Octane Booster from Demon Tweeks part no OP250ML - £2.54 bottle
1 bottle does 2 tanks & boosts 2 octane points
Difference between 95 & 98 RON is between 15 & 30BHP which is about 5-10% power increase.
cheers,
Craig
>> Edited by craigalsop on Friday 7th June 23:47
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