oil pressure panic

[storm grey]

first trip out this weekend and it started off with a panic .i had only just got of the drive when the oil pressure gauge decided to go mad from 45 down to nothing and so on seemed to settle down when the car warmed up a bit .same thing on the sunday morning aswell but not as bad did over 300 miles this weekend and once the gauge settled down it would stay at 45 on the motorway all day i presume its going to need a new oil pressure sender.

[Chimpafrolic]

Just solved the exact same problem for £16.00 & 10 minutes work.

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

[storm grey]

looks good to me mine is a 1996 4 litre should it fit straight on to mine aswell ?

cheers steve

[Chimpafrolic]

storm grey said:

looks good to me mine is a 1996 4 litre should it fit straight on to mine aswell ?

cheers steve

Yes Steve, it should fit fine, my car is a 1996 4 litre too (serpentine engine).

The original TVR sender is screwed into a thread adapter that you will need to re-use, you also need to make up an earth lead as described in my post, the whole job only took 10 minutes.

The new sender has given me really stable & accurate oil pressure readings, for the first time I actually believe what the gauge is telling me.

I would recommend this £16.00 Ebay sender to anyone suffering from oil pressure anxiety.

If your TVR oil pressure gauge shows erratic or worryingly low readings the chances are the problem lies with the original TVR sender.

Fitting the Ebay sender will tell you if you genuinely do have oil pressure issues or not, for £16.00 & 10 minutes work its a no-brainer.

[Colin RedGriff]

Also worth checking that the connection on the sender is clean and tight and that the cable isn't fraying around the spade connector. This can give similar symptoms

[ph1l5]

That happened to me on the way down to Le Mans I was on a bridge with no hard shoulder out of Rouen when the needle started to drop to 0 I gave the dash a magic slap and it came back to life

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Chimpafrolic said:

The original TVR sender is screwed into a thread adapter that you will need to re-use, you also need to make up an earth lead as described in my post, the whole job only took 10 minutes.

I think I might do this myself, because my gauge shows very low readings as well. I was assuming it's necessary to drain the oil, but if it only took you 10 minutes to do, maybe not??

I've not really done anything to this engine myself yet, and my concern about draining the oil is the risk of un-priming the oil pump. How much of a risk is that, in practice?

Edited to add: Do you reckon this sender would be right for a '99 450 as well?

Edited again: Just read this bit from the "deadpineapple" link: "Note the oil catch pan on the ground. A noticable quantity of oil escapes so place something to catch it." So it sounds like that guy did it successfully without draining the system?

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Tuesday 12th April 08:28

[Motik]

My Chim stayed for one week without oil (and without an oil drain plug... I had lost it while driving after meeting a particularly pervert speed hump ) and I didn't need to prime it.

I read somewhere (maybe in the bible?) that you don't have to prime the oil pump unless you have completely disassembled it and cleaned each part.

HTH

[Chimpafrolic]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

I think I might do this myself, because my gauge shows very low readings as well. I was assuming it's necessary to drain the oil, but if it only took you 10 minutes to do, maybe not??

I've not really done anything to this engine myself yet, and my concern about draining the oil is the risk of un-priming the oil pump. How much of a risk is that, in practice?

Edited to add: Do you reckon this sender would be right for a '99 450 as well?

Edited again: Just read this bit from the "deadpineapple" link: "Note the oil catch pan on the ground. A noticable quantity of oil escapes so place something to catch it." So it sounds like that guy did it successfully without draining the system?

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Tuesday 12th April 08:28

Correct, expect a tea cup amount of oil to escape so be ready with something to catch it.

I had an old margarine tub to hand so I just used that, it was plenty big enough.

There is absolutely no need to drop the entire contents of the sump to fit the new sender.

When I started the car with the new sender the pressure shot up to 65 lbs immediately, so on my serp engine there was no need to prime the pump.

I've now done 120 miles with the new sender and it seems very reliable so far, the readings on the gauge are nice & consistent and it seems to respond much quicker on start up too.

Once the car was fully warmed up the original sender gave the following oil pressure readings on the gauge before it finally died.

Running 2,000 rpm & above: 35 lbs
Idle: 25 lbs

With the new sender & the double relief spring mod by V8 developments I now see the following pressures:

Running 2,000 rpm & above: 60 lbs
Idle: 40 lbs

It was 20 degrees on Sunday, even when I got stuck idling in traffic the oil pressure never went below 40 psi.

Very reassuring

I'm not suggesting for a minute that this cheapo Ebay sender will last forever, in truth none of us know how long it will last.

What I can tell you for sure is that so far it's much much better than the original TVR one I had.

For £16.00, lets face it's well worth a try.

Have a look at how much the TVR specialists want for an original sender, £60 - £70 and above!!!!

I took a chance on this sender and it worked out great for me.

I choose to ignore the doubters, the way I see it we are all here to help each other by sharing our experiences, both positive and negative.

If someone else here gets a better oil pressure reading and saves some money by fitting this sender I have done my part in helping the TVR community who have consistently helped me.

And that makes me happy.

Edited by Chimpafrolic on Tuesday 12th April 09:20

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Thanks Chimpafrolic. I agree it's worth a punt, so I've ordered one!

[Chimpafrolic]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

Thanks Chimpafrolic. I agree it's worth a punt, so I've ordered one!

Good luck Dr Mike, will you be so kind as to let us all know how the Ebay sender works out for you?

I will let everyone know if my one fails.

But for now at least I am very pleased with it.

[Ribol]

spend said:

Chimpafrolic said:

Just solved the exact same problem for £16.00 & 10 minutes work.

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

Forgive me for seeming cynical but what if it only works reliably for a few weeks... Personally I wouldn't be advocating something until it had been given a decent test...

+1

Buying the SAME identical part cheaper, great, result etc, substituting a part with a cheaper alternative, not always a great idea - not everything can be bought cheaper.

Still, if you are coming from the direction of it is cheaper and if it doesn't work I will bin it then fine, it is after all only oil pressure.

[Chimpafrolic]

Ribol said:

1

Buying the SAME identical part cheaper, great, result etc, substituting a part with a cheaper alternative, not always a great idea - not everything can be bought cheaper.

Still, if you are coming from the direction of it is cheaper and if it doesn't work I will bin it then fine, it is after all only oil pressure.

Great to have your positive input again Ribol

I would say its probably best just see how others get on with the cheapo Ebay sender.

To be honest the only direction I am coming from is this:

1) My oil pressure sender has failed

2) I need a new one

3) Oh my god, the TVR specialists want £60 - £70 for one

4) Surely its just a Smiths 100 lbs sender like fitted to an old Jag XJ6 and shouldn't cost any more than £20.00

5) Lets try a cheap one from Ebay and see how I get on

6) Get a great result and save some money too

7) Share the results with my TVR mates and hope it helps someone

I know how easily some people's egos can be damaged, I'm also aware that some enjoy winding people up as a sport.

I however have a simpler more peaceful view on life.

However for anyone wishing to spend £60 - £70 for an oil pressure sender please don't let me stop you.

Certainly not worth getting our knickers in a twist over, its just an oil pressure sender after all.

[Ribol]

Chimpafrolic said:

Great to have your positive input again Ribol

Positive input based on track record:

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

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

[Chimpafrolic]

Ribol said:

ositive input based on track record:

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

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

Its heart warming and deeply flattering to see you have taken so much trouble to follow all my posts Ribol.

Although it looks like it to others, I am confident you are not just trying to find examples of where I have made mistakes in the past and are taking pleasure them, that would be deeply sad.

Because I don't carry any chip on my shoulder I am always happy to share my good and the bad experiences in persuit of helping others.

I find this approach is much more rewarding than pointless snipping.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
In the case of the starter if you read the full post I simply followed a recommendation from another Pisonheader, and at no time would I dream of blaming him for the failure of the starter, he like me was just trying to help.

When we both had issues with it I thought the right thing to do was to warn others so they wouldn't experience the same frustrations.

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

The discs were supplied to me as the correct fitment for my car, the vendor has freely admitted that it was their mistake & not mine.

They have also agreed to a full re-fund.

I freely accept there are some amazing people out there that never ever make mistakes.

To those people I recommend they start a web based support forum.

Perhaps we could call it RibolHeads?

Now I really must get on with something more important than responding to the petty minded.

[neal1980]

I found my water gauge not too reliable when checked so only solution to truly know is fit capillary ones right in the oil and water. I had the black TVR gauges so easy to match. Much better now, job done.



Im assuming I have a spare sender now then any takers...lol

[rainifa]

I fully agree with sharing experiences on a forum and have just bought an 'ebay' sender. Like Chimp, mine has always waived about a bit to say the least, so a cheap fix is well worth trying. If it doesn't work, £16 lost - so what.

[Johno]

Chimpafrolic said:

so on my serp engine there was no need to prime the pump. . . . .

. . . the double relief spring mod by V8 developments

Double relief spring mod for a serp engine ? ? . . .

I get through an oil pressure sender about every 12k, this one gave up 500 miles ago and haven't had a chance to replace it yet, so interested in the debate. Especially if longevity would be better than current one, but perhaps to early to know.

I always get so intrigued by the flap the members get into when the OPG stops working, there is a fail safe after all and how many of your regular cars actually have an oil pressure gauge?

In fact driving without it stops you worrying about it - I'll still restore mine, but it's strangely liberating not driving along watching each and every dial all the time.

I've seen all sorts of mods on these fori over the years from in line resistors which play about with the signal top different pick up points, in my view making the reading look better (higher) rather than necessarilly giving the correct reading.

If I were to do a proper mod it would be a mechanical one with temperature as well as it seems most mods are about making the gauge read what people want it to say rather than what the oil pressure actually is.

Have you checked your new found oil pressure with a mechanical gauge to confirm the accuracy ?

[Ribol]

Johno said:

I get through an oil pressure sender about every 12k..............?

Surely that can't be right?

Have they all been all original ones?

[Ribol]

Chimpafrolic said:

Ribol said:

Positive input based on track record:

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

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

Its heart warming and deeply flattering to see you have taken so much trouble to follow all my posts Ribol.

Hardly - there isn't enough time in the day with the amount you type (why use one word when ten will do ).

But, when I want something amusing to read and the plumber isn't about you are always worth a read