Technical Oil pressure light

[usafstud]

Hi,

My oil pressure light comes on and the engine dies when i come to a near complete stop after beening on the accelator for more than 10 minutes or so.

The engine actually died in the middle of a round about once.

Is this normal? What can be the cause?

The oil pressure light is also on when I first start up the engine.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bambino]

No one else seems to want to respond to your question, so I'll have a go.

As engines wear, the tolerances (clearances) increase. With bearings this means they progressively 'loosen' permitting oil to leak out. This is reflected in low oil pressure and either a flickering of the oil light or in extreme circumstances, the oil light will stay on. It will be worse when the oil is hot as it is thinner.

I guess I'd do the following -

1) Don't drive the car.
2) Check the current level of oil in the sump and look for leaks if it is low.
3) Change the oil for a good mineral oil (20W40 or 20W50). Do not either underfill or overfill the sump.
4) Clean the centrifugal 'filter' and replace the o-ring gasket.
5) Clean the air passages around the sump as engine overheating will exacerbate the problem.
6) If you think the sender is a fault, replace it - or better still fit a pressure gauge.

Have a look at the on-line manual available on this site or better still, buy yourself a copy if you don't already have one. The one available on-line is OK, but the pictures don't load.

Hope this helps,

Chris

PS: Welcome to the bb

 

[vvatc]

I would also check the wire connecting to the sensor and the sensor itself. I know mine is right on top and pretty easy to get to, but I'm not sure about the upright motors. I'm not sure if the sensor is designed to cut the engine out, though...

 

[Bambino]

Someone else posting - thank God. I thought I was the only one here.
I'm usually a fairly quiet chap who loves old cars and has restored a few, but looking at the recent responses on the forum you'd think I was hogging all of the bandwidth

The stalling is odd - hopefully not associated with a terminal bearing clatter from deep within the motor

My other thought was that he'd misread the lights and confused the fuel reserve lamp for the oil pressure lamp. They are both red and sit next to one another under the speedo. Easy mistake to make when the script is in Italian. Much easier to fix as well.

I owned an MG once that had a similar problem. You'd give it the beans for a few miles and it would make a nasty clonking noise and the oil light would come on. It blew clouds of blue smoke and was basically stuffed. A mate of mine and myself rebuilt the engine, clutch and gearbox over a couple of weekends. I eventually sold it to him for a song and we spent a lot more time on it chasing the rust before it was rear ended and written off. Shame really because at the time of the accident it was a really nice car. We learned a lot about cars by pulling it apart and reassembling it.

Since then both he and I have only owned European cars - I don't have any non-metric tools left anywhere in my shed.

Sorry - got a bit off topic there. I hope usafstud gets his car sorted - though he has gone suspiciously quiet ....

Chris

 

[usafstud]

I have a 500L model. The light that comes on is on the right side of the dash and it says pressure.

I recently added a 1/4 bottle of engine treatment stuff. Looked like really thick gel. When for another 50 KM drive after that where I was on the accelerator going for about 30 minutes and 25 KM. Going to a stop, the pressure light came on and stayed on. But the car didn't seem like it wanted to stall.

I'm looking at replacing the oil pressure sensor next to the dip stick soon.



Another thing is the GEN light comes on also when i start my car up in the mornings or when it is cold. Comomn problem?

 

[vvatc]

Another thing is the GEN light comes on also when i start my car up in the mornings or when it is cold. Comomn problem?

Yes, my generator light also comes on when the motor is cold. Run with the choke on for about 5 - 10 minutes, depending on the outside air temp. My little air cooled motor takes forever and a day to warm up when it's below 40°F out...

 

[oopsadaisy]

Someone else posting - thank God. I thought I was the only one here.
I'm usually a fairly quiet chap who loves old cars and has restored a few, but looking at the recent responses on the forum you'd think I was hogging all of the bandwidth

Noooooo...... lots of people read these posts, but thanks to useful and informative posts like your sChris, we know when we have someone who clearly knows what they are talking about, and we simply wait for your response!

Sereiously though, problems like this can have many causes, especially where our babies are concerned.

Witness how many "My engine keeps cutting out" or "It won't start when it's hot" posts we have!

I think there is lots of collective head scratching goes on in this section, and we really do appreciate it when someone like Chris comes up with a really useful response, especially when accompanied by photos.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Bambino]

Thanks for the vote of confidence - I appreciate it.

If I'm ever wrong or out of order, please let me know. I am, after all, only human.

Chris

 

[usafstud]

Thanks all.

I replaced the oil sender yesterday night. I'll go for a drive tonight when I get back home.

 

[oopsadaisy]

Keep us posted!

Chris - thanks again!

 

[usafstud]

Since I have replaced the oil pressure sender, it seems the problem is gone. Drove about 70 KM and the oil pressure light never came on.

Thanks y'all. Next thing to do is rebuild the carb, replace spark plugs, and adjust timing.

 

[oopsadaisy]

Since I have replaced the oil pressure sender, it seems the problem is gone. Drove about 70 KM and the oil pressure light never came on.

Well, nice to hear it was nothing nasty!