Series III Oil Pressure

Series 3 2,25 PETROL Over the last few miles the oil pressure light has been coming on at idle, something that only used to happen if the oil level had dropped towards the min level, on a 15 mile run last week the pressure light came on once the engine had warmed up and on the return journey the same happened. Yesterday I started the engine up and the light came on and stayed on. So thought it best to switch off.

I use Castrol Merit 20/50 changed less than 800 miles ago.

I have checked for previous posts and only found mention of failed oil filter or failed pressure sensor.

There doesn't seem to be mention of oil pumps failing, I will check/change the filter tomorrow, what else can I check.

If the pressure has been low for some time I'm probably faced with a rebuild/recon anyway I suppose.

Reply to
Martin
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There is no history of oil pump failure with this engine, although anything is possible. The most likely cause of low oil pressure is wear to bearings, but there is the possibility of a stuck pressure relief valve or other obscure problems. Particularly if the engine is not noisy, I would check, first, the circuit of the oil pressure light. Simply disconnect the wire from the sender and check that this does in fact switch the light off. If it does not you have a wiring problem not an oil pressure problem. Secondly, I would check that the pressure sender is working correctly by replacing it with a new one - they are not that expensive. Other possibilities are a problem with the dipstick tube resulting in low oil level (did it take about the right amount to fill last change?), or engine overheating for unrelated reasons such as low coolant or retarded spark. JD

Reply to
JD

The first step would be to change the oil filter, oil, and oil pressure switch to rule out the cheapest options. By all means take the pump out and check it over, but I suspect the problem may be that one or more of the cam bearings has shifted. To check this, take off the rearmost of the two covers on the right hand side of the block (from the sitting in the drivers seat). Making sure the engine won't actually run (!) crank it over on the starter. If lots of oil is pumped out of the hole where the cover was then the cam bearing has shifted blocking the oil way from the pump. Then things get time consuming and expensive!

Richard

Reply to
beamendsltd

Thanks for the tips, I will try them this afternoon and will get hold of the pressure switch ASAP.

thanks again.

Reply to
Martin

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