Chimaera 450 Engine Oil Pressure Sensor
Discussion
I need to replace the Oil Pressure Sensor on my Chimaera 450 as the push-on Spade terminal has broken off the existing Sensor body.
The following letters & numbers PTR1000-6-10 are stamped on the existing Sensor.
Any idea where I could buy a replacement Oil Pressure Sensor?
Grateful for any help on this.
The following letters & numbers PTR1000-6-10 are stamped on the existing Sensor.
Any idea where I could buy a replacement Oil Pressure Sensor?
Grateful for any help on this.
The British VDO senders aren't great quality and they're very expensive from the TVR parts specialists too, I recommend switching to the far higher quality American made Isspro sender..
Call these people...
https://dmcomponents.co.uk/pages/contact-us
Ask for an Isspro R8917-03, expect to pay about £35.00 delivered to your door.
The R8917-03 I use is 0-100psi where as the R8917-02 is 0-80psi, unlike the single terminal original that earths through the body of the sender, with your new Isspro R8917-03 you'll need to make up a short earth lead as it takes its earth from the second terminal.
This is simple to do and gives a more reliable earth, so a dedicated earth lead is actually an advantage.
Call these people...
https://dmcomponents.co.uk/pages/contact-us
Ask for an Isspro R8917-03, expect to pay about £35.00 delivered to your door.
The R8917-03 I use is 0-100psi where as the R8917-02 is 0-80psi, unlike the single terminal original that earths through the body of the sender, with your new Isspro R8917-03 you'll need to make up a short earth lead as it takes its earth from the second terminal.
This is simple to do and gives a more reliable earth, so a dedicated earth lead is actually an advantage.
My pleasure 
Be aware, you will find the body of the Isspro sender is a little longer than the original, but I assure you it does fit. At worse you may need to gently lift the engine by placing a flat plank under the sump and using your scissor jack, but we're talking millimeters here and once the engine is lowered there are zero clearance issues with the chassis.
The Caerbont TVR gauge is on a 0-100psi scale so make sure you specify this when you call, the earlier SW gauges fitted to Mk1 Chims may be different (0-80psi?) so you'll need to check this if you have an earlier car?
At the end of the day no TVR oil pressure gauge will be especially accurate no matter what sender you fit, the analogue sender and gauge arrangement is very old tech. I suggest Chimaera owners view the readings as just an indication of approximate pressure rather than an exact figure, for reference a Rover V8 with good oil pressure should idle idle at 15 - 20psi hot and run at 45 - 50psi.
If you want to see the true pressures you need a modern digital gauge that uses the more modern media isolated pressure transmitter...
These are designed for the harsh environment of automotive applications and use a monolithic silicon element coupled with high level output ASIC circuitry ensuring excellent accuracy and long term stability, they're used as fuel pressure sensors too. The automotive industry moved on from the ancient, inaccurate, and unreliable diaphragm & variable resistor type sender we have on our Chimaeras some 40 years ago!
If you're going to stick with the original stone age viton rubber diaphragm type variable resistor sender and analog gauge, don't expect it to be perfectly accurate, or have an especially long service life. While the diaphragm inside these old school senders will be made from oil resistant viton rubber it will still get effected by hot acidic engine oil, so it will eventually fail. And when it fails hot engine oil under pressure floods coil side of the diaphragm, like this pressure equalises either side of the diaphragm and your gauge will read zero. The sender will leak too, because the seam on the coil side is just bead rolled and was never designed to hold back typical engine oil pressure.
Dave.
Be aware, you will find the body of the Isspro sender is a little longer than the original, but I assure you it does fit. At worse you may need to gently lift the engine by placing a flat plank under the sump and using your scissor jack, but we're talking millimeters here and once the engine is lowered there are zero clearance issues with the chassis.
The Caerbont TVR gauge is on a 0-100psi scale so make sure you specify this when you call, the earlier SW gauges fitted to Mk1 Chims may be different (0-80psi?) so you'll need to check this if you have an earlier car?
At the end of the day no TVR oil pressure gauge will be especially accurate no matter what sender you fit, the analogue sender and gauge arrangement is very old tech. I suggest Chimaera owners view the readings as just an indication of approximate pressure rather than an exact figure, for reference a Rover V8 with good oil pressure should idle idle at 15 - 20psi hot and run at 45 - 50psi.
If you want to see the true pressures you need a modern digital gauge that uses the more modern media isolated pressure transmitter...
These are designed for the harsh environment of automotive applications and use a monolithic silicon element coupled with high level output ASIC circuitry ensuring excellent accuracy and long term stability, they're used as fuel pressure sensors too. The automotive industry moved on from the ancient, inaccurate, and unreliable diaphragm & variable resistor type sender we have on our Chimaeras some 40 years ago!
If you're going to stick with the original stone age viton rubber diaphragm type variable resistor sender and analog gauge, don't expect it to be perfectly accurate, or have an especially long service life. While the diaphragm inside these old school senders will be made from oil resistant viton rubber it will still get effected by hot acidic engine oil, so it will eventually fail. And when it fails hot engine oil under pressure floods coil side of the diaphragm, like this pressure equalises either side of the diaphragm and your gauge will read zero. The sender will leak too, because the seam on the coil side is just bead rolled and was never designed to hold back typical engine oil pressure.
Dave.
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