oil pressure warning light

[Griffcymraeg]

Morning Chaps,
Woke up to a fine sunny morning yesterday, thought i would take the griff 500 for a blast after 6 months of being laid up in the garage. Started him up and the yellow oil pressure warning light came on and stayed on, turned it off after a minute and thought i better leave it for another day. Its a 1995 N plate 500,serpentine, anyone had the same issue?
Many Thanks

[tofts]

Yep, have a car in the workshop at the moment with this problem.

Turned out to be a spun camshaft bearing, to cut a long story short.

The most straight forward answer is pressure relief. Are you handy with a set of tools?

[portzi]

Griffcymraeg said:

Morning Chaps,
Woke up to a fine sunny morning yesterday, thought i would take the griff 500 for a blast after 6 months of being laid up in the garage. Started him up and the yellow oil pressure warning light came on and stayed on, turned it off after a minute and thought i better leave it for another day. Its a 1995 N plate 500,serpentine, anyone had the same issue?
Many Thanks

Hello, have you ever had your car in the garage for long periods before without use, as l have heard that these cars do not take too well to long periods of no usage?

[Griffcymraeg]

Within reason yes, but not to the point of deep internal examination How difficult are we talking to correct? In answer to the leaving it unused for a few months, yes im in agreement now.

[Griffcymraeg]

Would it be anything to do with the oil pump needing priming? Someone said if you leave them for a period of time,they need priming?!

[Boosted LS1]

If this engine has a G rotor oil pump in the front cover it should make pressure fairly quickly. The older engines with a dizzy had a much more basic oil pump and they do sometimes need priming. You could pull the spark plugs out and crank the engine over a few times and see if that makes pressure. Also, you could remove a rocker cover and see if there's any fresh oil upstairs. You may be lucky and find that oils been arriving in which case you'll get pressure soon enough. :-)

[carsy]

How did the engine sound. Normal or rattly. If rattly there is a problem. If normal maybe just a pressure switch issue. These serp pumps self prime so there shouldnt be a problem with it having been stood for a long time.

[rev-erend]

The serpentine pump is self priming.

Make sure the engine has plenty of oil.

Check for any oil leaks after you ran the engine.

Possible issues :

oil pressure relief value
Oil strainer in sump is blocked or loose at block.
Oil pump gear worn out
Oil guage reading incorrect
Crank bearing spun

The engine does suffer from drain back - some oil filters are better than others.

You could try - disconnect HT lead from coil.

Do - 5 long cranks.

Reconnect HT lead and start engine. Hopefully you then have good oil pressure again.

If you try the items about.

[stevesprint]

carsy said:

How did the engine sound. Normal or rattly. If rattly there is a problem. If normal maybe just a pressure switch issue. These serp pumps self prime so there shouldnt be a problem with it having been stood for a long time.

Ditto and won't break the bank, plus when a friends Defender did the same it turned out to only be the oil pressure switch.
Fingers crossed.

[tofts]

Agree with most of above, I could give you a list as long as my arm on what "could" be wrong, but each case is different.

assumptions I will make:

1. Oil pressure has been fine up to now, as in it has been consistent and not dropping over time
2. Car regularly serviced,
3. Plenty of oil in engine
4. No knocks or rattles even with this low reading,
5. Pressure gauge AND light are "on" and or "low reading"(If the pressure gauge reads low, AND the light is on, there is an issue as the systems are independant. If the gauge is reading good and light is on, then your probably OK and it needs a new switch.)

Pressure release is your most likely cause. On the filter housing, left hand side there is a circlip that holds the pressure release in, take OSF wheel off for easy access, dont even need to get under the car. It will leak out oil so have appropriate tray to catch. there will be a spring, maybe a small rod/bar and then a plunger at the end, remove the plunger with either a strong magnet or a pair of pliers. check this plunger for scores/marks and check the housing it seats in for scores/marks. Housing maybe difficult to see with oil pouring out so might be worth waiting for a time. If all looks well and (very importantly) the SEAL around the cap is OK, then reasemble. If the seal is crap, it can cause you issues. The only company that sells the right seal in VITRON is RPI engineering. DO NOT use any other seal, as they will NOT seal correctly, it has to be the right size and material or it will tear it apart as you push it pass the sharp lip on the inside of the housing (feel it with your finger).

Reassemble and start the car, and I mean start. The pump is self priming on SERP and its just messing about trying to prime disconnecting the HT lead etc etc, honestly, don't bother. The engine will build up pressure faster and will spin less times than any other way, thus doing less damage.

If it takes longer than 2 or 3 seconds for the light to go out, and about 7 seconds for pressure to come up above 30+ then there is more investigation needed. THe serp int he shop at the moment generated pressure, but took about 10 seconds to get pressure, it has lost a camshaft bearing COMPLETELY, but the pump is still able to self prime and generate enough pressure (30 ish warm) which is incredible really.

Come back to me and I will take you through a few more checks if this has no effect.

J

Just FYI, check http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... for my oil issue!

Edited by tofts on Tuesday 31st May 21:12

[Griffcymraeg]

This is all good stuff guys, i will go through your check lists in the next couple of days and report back. Im hoping that seeing as theres no rattles or knocks from the engine that its nothing major inside. Cheers Boys

[Griffcymraeg]

Morning All,
Managed to take out the pressure release valve last night, took out plunger and spring expecting oil to pour out, but No Oil came out. Does that sound right or does it indicate somethings wrong elsewhere? The plunger seal seemed ok, and there was no scoring on the plunger.

[TheRainMaker]

Does it not have a pressure gauge? Did it back up the pressure warning light?

[Griffcymraeg]

yes it did, pressure guage on zero and warning light on

[hillclimbmanic]

Hey Marcus!

Sorry that I was away in London when you called - Sod's law!

Is yours a pre-serp? I forget what you said.

I'm just rebuilding the timing case on mine...New oil pump gears, uprated spring, new water pump,etc.,

I'm in the workshop, if you want to call in

Paul