K series oil pressure sender

[Silver Machine]

Thank you Jonathan. I think that was the discussion I had in mind. Given the work I am currently carrying out bleeding the oil pipe would be a little messy but not a big job.

[pensioner]

I have just bled my gauge and made sure there are no sharp bends or kinks.

 

The reading now was 70 at tick over cold and 80 at 3000 rpm and. reducing to 40 psa at idle  and 65-70 at 3000 rpm when warm.

The gauge now certainly reacts  instantly to engine change in revs but is reading much higher than the suggested range

Im beginning to wish I had bought the stack electronic gauge.

Any suggestions

[SM25T]

Just drive it.

[Brian Deacon]

Now fitted a replacement gauge. All working fine (no bleeding). For anybody thinking of changing from an electric sender to a mechanical gauge its well worth it.  With the electric gauge my pressure from cold never went over 4 bat, hot idle was around 1.25 bar and running it was 2.5 bar, occasionally it would drop into the red when hot even at 2000 rpm and over. With the new gauge it is 65 psi cold idle and about 35 psi hot idle.  instant movement on the gauge when the revs increase.  Now confident that I am actually looking at the oil pressure not an estimation!

[SM25T]

Good news. Another convert.

[John Vine]

Good news. Another convert.

For anyone wishing to do the same thing on a Duratec, these are the bits I ordered from Think Automotive (£42 incl VAT and P&P):

• 1x OPG100W -- 0-100psi gauge with white dial (an approximate match to my silver dials).  For a black dial, order OPG100
• 1x GL6 -- gauge line 6 feet, 1/8" BSP x 1/8" BSP
• 1x MMS 10-3-4 -- steel adaptor 1/8" BSP x 1/4" NPTF, replacing the standard Caerbont electronic sender

There are some photos here, and some OP readings here. Note that I routed the gauge line through the bulkhead rather than via the hole in front of the gear lever.  This was simply because the hole was already full, as I've two fat FIA battery master switch cables in there.

JV

 

 

[SM25T]

Is that adaptor M10 (early k-series) or M12 (later k-series) ? Ah ... reread it ..... Duratec. What thread was that.

[John Vine]

Ah ... reread it ..... Duratec. What thread was that.

1/4" NPT.  Actually, the adaptor was described as NPTF, so I suppose I didn't need to use PTFE to seal it!

JV

[MTS]

As a point of interest I've managed to source some solid state pressure sensors on Ebay for under a tenner. They work well as oil pressure sensors on my K-series as I've been using them for over a year in association with my custom dash display. As my oil gauge has been reading all over the place for some time now, I've finally bitten to bullet and started to develop a converter to drive the standard gauge from the new sensor. Currently awaiting a couple of parts, but hope to have it in and working by the end of the month.

If anyone is interested in retaining their original gauge, then once I have it working, I will be happy to provide the details.

[Alastair B]

MTS - I would be interested in your new pressure sensor to original gauge conversion. Perhaps you could write it up for inclusion in a Low Flying article? Either way I have sent you a BM for the details.