Technical Oil pressure gage for MultiJet

[olNick]

Hi all,
Wondering as to where I may tap into on the 1.3 Multijet to connect an "old style" mechanical oil pressure gauge.
I've had the "Insuffcient oil pressure, stop engine" messages of and on last months.

Garage's multiscan reported bad oil pressure valve, so duly replaced at 200Euro only for the message to come back on minutes after receiving the car.
Currently the messages have not been coming on....

I would like to avoid making and adapter and tap into the ol pressure valve if there's an easier point.

tia,
Nick

 

[AndyRKett]

Hi all,
Wondering as to where I may tap into on the 1.3 Multijet to connect an "old style" mechanical oil pressure gauge.
I've had the "Insuffcient oil pressure, stop engine" messages of and on last months.

Garage's multiscan reported bad oil pressure valve, so duly replaced at 200Euro only for the message to come back on minutes after receiving the car.
Currently the messages have not been coming on....

I would like to avoid making and adapter and tap into the ol pressure valve if there's an easier point.

tia,
Nick

How old is the engine? how many miles has it done? what car is it fitted to? What’s the service history like ?
Has it ever had a new timing chain?

My first instinct would be to drop the oil and do an oil change, assess the state of the oil in the engine, look for any forbidden glitter in the filter, and make sure there is any point taking it further if the car has been having intermittent low oil pressure.

Assuming you now have a good oil pressure sensor, it really leaves a couple of options 1. Oil pump, 2. The oil is actually tar and can’t move due to lack of servicing.

There is also the possibility of something like a spun bearing or other “leak” in the oiling system that is meaning the pump cannot make pressure.

An oil change will tell you if it’s worth doing anything with the engine you have, if the contents of the filter sparkle then put the engine in the nearest bin and find a new one.

And just to preempt any reply, even if it’s had a recent oil change, do it anyway you’re not changing the oil for the health of the engine but taking out the old oil to assess the condition of the engine

 

[olNick]

How old is the engine? how many miles has it done? what car is it fitted to? What’s the service history like ?

Hi and thanx for replying,

Car is Qubo, 2012, w/ 90,000 miles, original engine.
I've owned it for last 2 years approx..
No service history, out side of the "reported" oil changes (14 of them) in the ecu.
The 3 oil changes I have done no trace of glitter in oil/filter.
New timing chain a few months ago

Car runs very well, esp after the timing chain replacement.
Only other issue is that the EGR needs cleaning/replacing as reported on the diagnostic.

Still would like to add a gauge that would verify whether there's oil pressure or not

regards,
nick

 

[AndyRKett]

The 3 oil changes I have done no trace of glitter in oil/filter.
New timing chain a few months ago

And were any of those 3 oil changes done since the intermittent oil pressure light, I’m not suggesting there is some historic problem I’m suggesting if it has been running low oil pressure that damage may now of occurred.

Also worth noting that the oil pump has to come off to change the chain, all the chain covers I believe are RTV sealed back in place and it is quite possible you now have sealant floating around in the oil blocking channels or the pump intermittently.

I stand by my previous statement of dropping the oil and changing the filter you need to make sure there is nothing in the oil that shouldn’t be.

Fitting an oil pressure gauge would just be a case of fitting a t-piece in to where the normal oil pressure sensor lives, a manual gauge is no more reliable than an electronic gauge

 

[olNick]

And were any of those 3 oil changes done since the intermittent oil pressure light, I’m not suggesting there is some historic problem I’m suggesting if it has been running low oil pressure that damage may now of occurred.

Also worth noting that the oil pump has to come off to change the chain, all the chain covers I believe are RTV sealed back in place and it is quite possible you now have sealant floating around in the oil blocking channels or the pump intermittently.

I stand by my previous statement of dropping the oil and changing the filter you need to make sure there is nothing in the oil that shouldn’t be.

Fitting an oil pressure gauge would just be a case of fitting a t-piece in to where the normal oil pressure sensor lives, a manual gauge is no more reliable than an electronic gauge

Although I am not sure, I believe that one change was done since the insufficient oil pressure message.
Yes I am aware that the chain covers have to come off, and it is a possibility there's sealant floating around there. The oil and filter were changed at this time.
I will take your advice and change the oil/filter and check again.

Whether relevant or not, this car has had, IMHO, excessive oil consumption since we have had it, ~700-800ml per 1000Km. I made a post awhile back wrt this. Three other cars with the 1.3 MJ in my area have the same, if not worse excessive excessive oil consumption

Here's where I found the switch and location
1.3 MJ oil pressure switch
For a few bucks I'll tap into this place and replace the switch as well...
If indeed there's lack of pressure, :-( I'll change the oil pump, which I believe is integral to the cover before I ditch it

Thanx again for taking the time

 

[AndyRKett]

The oil pump on these cars is built into the cam chain cover so if the chain has been changed then the pump will have been disturbed, it is usually advisable to change the oil pump when you change the chain.

Have a look on this site for threads started by a member @DaveMcT he did a full strip down and rebuild of one of these engines last year and there might be some helpful stuff in that thread.