I loath that oil line!
When I bought my TR6 in 1986 the oil line was leaky and kept slipping. I
used to remove the dashtop cigarette tray to look in and see if there
was oil coming out of the fitting at the back of the guage. One day I
was driving along with the tray removed and the pipe slipped off and a
perfect fountain of oil rose from the hole in the dash and poured all
over the car and me.
So, I replaced the pipe with a nice yellow pneumatic hose that could
take high pressure. All seemed good. Unfortunately, in my dimness I had
not realised that the pipe could not take high heat. One day I headed
out on a date at the beach with a girl in my TR6 along with a friend
with his girl in his X-19. We hit traffic and sat in 35C (95F) sun for a
while. Unbeknownst to me, the oil line melted off at the engine end and
drained the motor of oil. The engine was a bit worn so I didn't notice
the low pressure at hot idle and the sun was on the idiot light. The jam
ended and we took off down the highway. About 2km along the engine
started to wind down and completely seized the camshaft. My friend had
taken off ahead and never imagined we had got such a small distance down
the road. Five hours we sat baking on the side of the highway in the
middle of nowhere. I certainly did not have the money to pay for a fancy
tow so I could only wait for my friend to pull me back to Montreal with
his Fiat. For some reason I never saw much of my date after that...
Anyway, following those joyous events, I swore off those mechanical
gauges. Now I have a standard electric oil pressure gauge installed. It
looks a little different, but no leaks! If Gower-Oaks web site hadn't
gone dark I had planned to switch to a Smith's unit this year to get the
look back to original.
Mark
1972 TR6
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-triumphs@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-triumphs@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of John Macartney
Sent: May 22, 2007 11:27 AM
To: triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [TR] Oil line failure
> Has anyone ever heard of a failure in the flex oil line that connects
> the oil pressure gauge?
Yes, though in my case it wasn't a failure of the pipe or joint - but
carelessness on my part. One year into my apprenticeship at Jaguar in
1963,
I spent sometime in the Service Department and was tasked to replace a
defective oil pressure gauge on a 3.8 Mk 2 saloon. Everything went well
(or
so I thought) until the customer returned the car three days later in a
state of high dudgeon. He and his wife were attending a Ball one evening
and
Mrs. Client was wearing a full length ballgown in white that had cost a
bomb. It wasn't until they arrived at the venue that it was discovered
both
footwells and the ample hems of her gown / trousers bottoms of his
evening
dress were swimming in Shell 20W/50.
Leak source?
A not-quite-tight-enough joint from the pipe to the gauge and if anyone
knows how much oil a Jaguar XK sump holds (believe me, it's a lot!)
it'll be
understood why the customer wasn't too happy.
Took quite a long time before I was tasked with a similar job.
Jonmac
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