help! my oil pressure gauge reading is all over the place,sometimes it reads 60 (started up from cold) but sometimes it reads 30 &sometimes 0! anyone else had this problem? if so did you replace anything ? hope someone can shed some light on the problem ..cheers .....gerry

 

Gerry,

Our gauges are not noted for their accuracy, as a mechanical gauge will give a much more concise reading. Rest assured that the oil pump will very rarely be at fault, and if you cannot hear any valve train clatter when the gauge reads 0, the chances are your oil pressure is ok.

One possibility would be the oil pressure sender, which are a more common fault and can display fluctuations as you describe. It's also the cheapest item to replace.

The first thing I would do is put a litre of diesel in with the oil, run the car at idle for a few minutes until warm, and then do an oil and filter change. You may find that a build-up of sludge in the oil is causing a small starvation. If you still experience the same problems after this, then a new oil pressure sender would be the next logical step. Look out for the valve train noise, as this is a dependable sign of oil starvation.

Hope this helps,

Si

 

G-Z28,

If you have a running engine with 0 oil pressure, you'll have other indications as Si described, such as bearing knocking, lifter clatter, and eventual engine failure.

If you are leery of diesel fuel (kerosene) in your oil, you can instead try a quart of ATF. Remove the oil filter, install a cheap replacement filter and one quart of ATF, then run the engine until thoroughly warmed at various RPMs. That should loosen and suspend a lot of deposits in your engine so the filter can trap them. That may not solve the pressure gauge problem, but should assure a cleaner lubrication system, and may clean up the passages enough to make the gauge sender work better. Of course, you should check the electrical connector at the gauge sender as well.

Incidentally, Welcome Aboard!

 

Thanks again for the replies everyone,I think I`ll do what you say with the oil/etc & change the sender,I bought this car from yeovil & drove it (without a murmer ) back to leeds,it read 30 all the way, I stopped at home for about 15 mins.& when I re started I noticed the gauge reading,I have run it a few times since (because there was no rattling/knocking or any other noises),the engine runs smoothly with no lifter noise at all!By the way,I used about £35 worth of fuel to do the trip!!which I think is amazing,I `ll be using this site a lot,thanks for all the help.........gerry