Andrew et al:
I think I'm getting old, but I'm starting to agree with the
manufacturers who have discontinued installing oil pressure gauges. All
they do is worry the driver of the car.
Do I have enought oil pressure? Why does it drop at idle? How much
is enough? The pressure drops when the engine is hot, is the engine ok?
Hard cornering and emergency stops with low oil level are the two
times that oil pressure has a tendency to go away. In both of these
situations, I would hope the driver does not have their eyes glued to the
gauges. At any other time there is usually enough squishy stuff flowing
around the passages of the motor to prevent bits sticking. As the engine
ages and main bearing clearances increase, hot oil pressure will slowly drop
but in this day and age few owners bother to install new bearing shells
until the engine has other problems, such as excessive oil consumption,
smoke or the unique sound of Thor's hammer of doom on #3 rod.
If you are interested in a useful early warning system, take a leaf
out of the road racer's book and install a 20psi oil pressure switch in
addition to the gauge. An easy way to mount a switch on the 63-67 and 72-76
MGB is to use a 77-80 3 way connector on the firewall in place of the stock
2 way. Switches are available from any race supply store. Come to think of
it, maybe this would be a good kit to offer, hmmm.
Kelvin.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew B. Lundgren [mailto:lundgren@byu.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2002 6:10 PM
> To: David Councill; Dodd, Kelvin; james; mgs@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: oil pressure guage
>
>
> I had a problem. I heard the problem before I even looked at
> the gauge.
>
> I lost power, and engine started rattling; uh oh, what's wrong I
> thought. Then I looked at the gauges and the oil pressure gauge was
> already showing that the pressure was gone.
>
> Now if I had been watching the gauge the entire time, I might have
> noticed it before I heard/felt it. Then again, I might have had other
> problems as I was driving in traffic.
>
> I have the electric gauge. At this point, I have no inclination to
> change it. I don't want the hot oil on my side of the firewall, or the
> potential mess...
>
> After the last thread on this I did have mine tested to make sure it
> was correct.
>
> I have a spare sender and gauge as well, just in case.
>
> Just how much faster is the direct line? Are you going to be looking
> at the gauge to notice the difference in time when it does drops?
>
> The electric gauge was fast enough to answer the question when I
> thought to ask it.
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|