JP Posted June 27, 2003 Share Posted June 27, 2003 1.6KSS / wet sump / no appollo: I hope I'm going to get a "buggered oil pressure sender" response - here goes... Today I noticed after blasting down a slip road, little or no rise in pressure from 2 with acceleration. This is a sudden change - usually idles hot at around 2 and reads about 4 or just below when cruising. The car runs fine and I haven't lost any oil. On checking the oil level with the engine running there is little to see on the dipstick, so I guess oil is circulating. Symptoms when driving are erratic readings anywhere between 2 and 4 when cruising at 70. The readings are steady but vary with each slow down and acceleration back to speed. For a short time I had the needle bouncing around on the guage between 4 and below zero, the point where the needle sits with the engine off! This was slightly worrying - almost as much as trying to keep the car on the road with 32s and torrential rain at the same time! At idle it sits quite comfortably at 2. Does this sound like a sender problem? The other thing that occured to me was that the wire to the sender looks fairly flimsy - is this prone to problems? Car has only done about 30,000 miles, no track use yet and gets regular servicing. Help? BTW, if its likely to be the sender, does anyone know where i could get one tomorrow, either in the Colchester area or A140 around Mendlesham or in between? James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mav Posted June 28, 2003 Share Posted June 28, 2003 I would have thought you should see some oil on the stick when running. Symptoms you describe are that of a badgered sender - That s £27 + vat from Caterham thank you very much! Check the contacts and clean them. If the problem persists, then change the sender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted June 28, 2003 Author Share Posted June 28, 2003 Cheers mav - will give it a clean up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridgway Posted June 28, 2003 Share Posted June 28, 2003 the symptoms are sender no doubt! Change it and see what happens! Actually my advice is to dump the OP guage, what use is it? Mine is so erratic that the only use it has is keeping me amused on the motorway! Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted June 28, 2003 Author Share Posted June 28, 2003 Cheers Graham! That's just the reassurance I was hoping for. Will fiddle with the connection toworrow and ring up Redline for new sender on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillson Posted June 29, 2003 Share Posted June 29, 2003 I had this problem recently and it was due to lack of oil. The oil level should be checked with the engine hot and running. If you are not registering anything on the dipstick under these conditions, then you have seriously low oil levels. Do you notice a drop in pressure in a RH bend? That is another indication of low oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted June 29, 2003 Author Share Posted June 29, 2003 I'm not running an appollo and so I thought the oil should be checked ~30 secs after switching off? When checking, the oil level is 3/4 of the way up hatched area on the yellow plastic bit on the end of the dipstick - that's ok isn't it? Why don't Caterham make a dipstick with the correct markings??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillson Posted June 29, 2003 Share Posted June 29, 2003 No. The wet sump no apollo should also be checked with the engine running. I've been through all this on the Se7ens email exchange and also had it confirmed by Caterham. You risk serious engine damage if the pressure fluctuates as you describe. I had exactly the same symptoms and an extra 1/2 to 3/4 litres of oil sorted it. Regards Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted June 29, 2003 Author Share Posted June 29, 2003 Cheers! Will fill 'er up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted June 30, 2003 Author Share Posted June 30, 2003 Tom, You were right about checking with engine running (confirmed by Caterham) - not that I didn't trust you! 😳 Only needed about 1/2 l to fill up though. Ordered new sender from Redline today - hopefully this will sort the problem. I'm now getting even more bizarre behaviour. Pressure RISES on RH bends, and on cruising, drops on acceleration!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillson Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Could you let me know how you get on with the new sender? Although the extra oil has cured the problem, I occaisionally get strange readings and wonder if the sender is to blame. The "experts" say that the standard Caterham wet sump arrangement is pants and the dips in oil pressure can lead to premature failure of the big ends. The general opinion for a satisfactory cure is to go for a dry sump but at £1000+ I can't really afford that at the moment. The other option is the apollo tank at £200. I may upgrade to this over the winter. Regards Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted July 1, 2003 Author Share Posted July 1, 2003 Got my new sender today - ordered yesterday afternoon from Redline (has anyone ever had crap service from Redline? I think they're excellent). Fitted it an hour ago. I've now gone from a cold pressure between 0 - 1 bar up to a cold start now of 5-6 bar! It must be the sender. I haven't tested on a blat yet as it was pouring with rain - will post driving results tomorrow. I have been using the car for about 100 miles a day for the last few days (praying the problem was the sender)! Last dodgy behavior today was a hot idle of 0 bar, with the guage flicking between below zero to 2 on hard acceleration and stable at 2-3 at cruising speed. I hope its all sorted now. Word of warning on fitting new sender - it needs to get hot to properly tighten it up - I tightened it cold and once warm, oil was dribbling out around the join - I almost didn't notice. James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony C Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 My oil pressure indication has just started to "waver" in the reported "usual Caterham fashion" after 5800 miles and nine weeks from new. It always used to show 4 bar when hot and running and 2 bar hot idle. Today it was showing 2 1/2 bar hot and running and 1 bar hot idle for a while, then going back to its previous values, then down again. Gives you the heeby geebies The engine sounds healthy and the oil level is fine - checked hot and running. Luckily I have already purchased a mechanical gauge and connectors from "Think" so will be fitting it this weekend when I do the oil change - hopefully it will return to steady reading - and in psi too 😬 BRG SV 😬 It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted July 1, 2003 Author Share Posted July 1, 2003 Good Luck! The symptoms are very unnerving! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted July 2, 2003 Author Share Posted July 2, 2003 It gets better! Now 4 bar hot idle, 5-6 bar hot cruising. The senders are obviously crap! I think the key is to ignore the values and to only get worried about readings when they start to fluctuate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 I'm not a techie and therefore feel free to ignore my post. My view is that as long as the pressure reading remains within the normal range that I see on my repeater, then all is well. If I saw new readings at various states of driving ie cold or blatting, then I would worry. Currently I read just above red when iddling warm/hot, to 2 bar when blatting. I have a superlight with an Apollo. Tom And what's more, I didn't eat all the sausages! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted July 3, 2003 Author Share Posted July 3, 2003 Tom, After my recent experiences I'm now inclined to agree with you - the reading doesn't matter as long as its consistent... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony C Posted July 6, 2003 Share Posted July 6, 2003 Fitted my mechanical oil pressure gauge yesterday and the oil pressure reading, whatever it may be is now rock steady 😬 28-30psi hot idle and depending on rpm, 50-65psi hot running. My LARGE low oil pressure warning light is now wired-up too and set to illuminate at a falling pressure of 35psi I feel a lot more confident with the oil pressure indication now BRG SV 😬 It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony C Posted July 6, 2003 Share Posted July 6, 2003 Rob YHM If anyone else would like a parts list for the mechanical gauge and low pressure light, just drop me an e-mail and I'll send it to you. BRG SV 😬 It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old captain slow Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 Must say I ditched the electric sender too. Could never get a consistent reading. Think it was probably a bad conection but never able to find it. Rock steady with a mechanical gauge. Just couldn't relax with the other one no matter how often Caterham confirmed ok. It's psychologically a nightmare running at pace with no pressure showing. No gauge at all would have been better. For the record - red hot and steaming with 0W40 oil = 20psi on idle and 45psi running. Ditto with 10W50 42psi idle and 63psi running. C7 CDW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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