help ! lost oil pressure

[jut]

driving to work this morning,just happened to be looking at the oil pressure gauge at the time when it dropped to zero.skidded to a stop and checked under bonnet,couldn't see anything amiss so started her up again, 10 psi at idle but drops to just below 0 psi if I rev it or put it under load,managed to limp to work. I'm hoping it's just the sender or gauge, any ideas before I start her up again and completly knacker the engine ?

[steve1c]

Only the obvious I'm afraid....check the oil level carefully, unlike modern motors, these cars do use oil. Check for leaks under the car. But better play it safe.....it could be a sender fault, they are often innacurate. But you could do a whole heap of damage if it is the pump or a blockage in pick-up pipe. Personally, I'd get it checked out ASAP and don't drive it.

[tallbloke]

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=12&h=&t=180778

Hope it's easily sorted.

[jut]

thanks for your advice , the oil pressure light goes out and the oil level's ok so i'm thinking it's a dicky sender, i hope !

[tallbloke]

Replacement sender £15

Replacement engine £2500

Worth spending a few quid to test the hypothesis I reckon.

[jut]

makes sense, do you know if it's a standard over the counter Rv8 part or a tvr special? thanks in advance.

[tallbloke]

Not a TVR special as far as I know.
Don't know if yours is bi-thermic or air cored but the sell both here:
www.famousfour.co.uk/parts/parts_rrc7085_v8.html

[jut]

thanks for that info

typical isn't it,after 4 years of perfect running in the tvr including the annual pilgrimage to le mans,we decided only 15 minutes beforehand to take the boxster instead,apart from having soul the chim must have good ears as well !

[tallbloke]

A car which has given you such good trouble free service deserves some preventative maintainence, How about paying out for a few extras on the next service?

I'm sure other people on the Chim forum would be able to recommend the right things to spend on.