SvenDriver Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 1.8 Rover K-Series, Wet sump running Halfords 5/40 Fully Synth. Oil levels are good. Oil is only a few K old. When cold oil pressure is around 4.5. When hot and under normal/hard driving it is around 3-4. However, when hot and idling at traffic lights it is dropping into the red, sometimes quite suddenly. Sometimes when it does this the engine develops a diesel-like clatter. This suggests oil starvation to me. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CageyH Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 Have you checked the oul pressure sender? From what I have read on here, they seem to be a bit prone to failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CageyH Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 Diesel like clatter? Does not sound too good.... It would suggest oil starvation to the hydraulic tappets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F355GTS Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 Sven When was the sump foam baffle last changed?, I wonder if your oil pickup maybe partially blocked? Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SvenDriver Posted July 25, 2004 Author Share Posted July 25, 2004 Mark, dunno. According to the service cycle (12K?) Given the diesel clatter the foam baffle would be my guess. However, I have had fun with the LAMBDA probe being loose (someone else cross-threaded it) and when it is properly fitted oil pressure seems better bizarrley. How much work is it to fit a new one? Presumably unbolt the sump (dozen hex bolts) and plug it in - plus an oil change of course.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS CLARK Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 S.D. Changing the internal sump baffle is easy, but has this one been in there a long time? It may have deteriorated with bits going up oilways etc. Sounds drastic I know, but its not unheard of. I change this sump foam every year just to be sure. It is a very easy job to do but can have disasterous consequences if left too long. Diesel clatter sounds bad news. Big ends running a bit dry? ☹️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 The diesel like clatter is a red herring; it is the same old gearbox.noise we all get. Disengage the clutch to test this as the noise will go away. This oil pressure behaiour is probably fine. If you are really worried, drain the oil, drop the sump and look for nasties, including foam breakup or anything blocking the pickup. Sahf London; every 1st Wednesday from 19:30 at The Duck just around the corner from Clapham Junction station Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Piper Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 "The diesel like clatter is a red herring" I've had the misfortune to run the bearings in several engines (never a K yet - they just seize up on me ❗) and an "endy" engine will clatter too. As Peter says - put the clutch in and see whether the noise disappears - if it doesn't then you may have damaged bearings (drop the sump and see whether they look worn). If it clatters from start up and you've ruled out tappets, then this is also a sign of an endy engine. Good luck and be sure to post on here to let us know what you find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SvenDriver Posted July 26, 2004 Author Share Posted July 26, 2004 I've ordered a foam baffle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garf Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 SvenDriver, have a good close look at your oil and old baffle when you take it out. Unfortunately my rattle in the engine bay turned out to be the Big End bearings ☹️ and it ended up costing me a pretty penny to get the engine sorted by Chris at 7 Workshop - it is a 95 1.4K SS with 24k miles. Here is the link to my original post when I was after some advise from the group - it may help you identify if the noise is the same here Tell tale sign was the little bits of shiny metal collected in the foam 😳 Also - like you - when I got the car my engine pressure was low but having read some posts thought it was "normal". My car used to start at 4 bar then drop to 1-2 when hot and the red light would come on during acceleration and right hand cornering as it dipped to 0 Again Dave said this was wrong - it now starts at 5 then drops to 2-3 when hot BUT under acceleration INCREASES in pressure by 1-2 bar. Overall a BIG difference ! Car goes like a dream now even though still running it in to max of 6,000 rpm 😬 Good luck and I hope your problem's not the same. Neil Wilson Garfield - M100 EOW - Yellow/Green 1.4K SS Edited by - Garf on 27 Jul 2004 18:26:59 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridgway Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 dont forget to change the OP sender. This has cured my low oil pressurte problems in 4 caterhams so far since 1996! Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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