Hi all.
Has anyone come across this problem before.
Ok, The car in question has not moved for two+ years and has sat on a mates drive (when i say its not moved, i mean its not even been turned over/ Touched), he recently decided to get it ready for Summer and bring it back to its former glory.
A bit of Back ground First, The car had a rebuild about 15k ago and was running spot on before it was parked up, the reason it was parked up was that it had a single turbo fitted and when the Down pipe was made they didn\'t fit the 02 bung and a couple of minor Vac pipes where off and as these things go, it was put off until a 2 months became two years.
Anyway today i went round and did all the bits and bobs to get it in a running state (just wants setting up). The problem arose when we kicked it up, first off it only just had enough juice in the Battery to get it started the first time and although it ran reasonably well it was noticed a few things weren\'t working (radio and wipers etc) but the most concerning thing was the Oil Pressure seemed to be lower (it had been drained of water so it was idling at 1500 and the pressure was about half what it should have been cold) anyway thinking maybe a plug or Pipe was loose the car was turned off and i spent a hour or so checking everything was connected and in good order.
Ok so an hour or so has passed and we decide to try it again, so this time the battery was dead so i took the battery off my Shogun (big monster battery thats properly 1/3 bigger than the standard fd one) anyway this time the oil pressure was about the same until the water had got round the motor properly and the Revs dropped to 8-900 rpm on idle when it dropped to 1/4 of where you would expect it on idle, at this point i noticed the cars speakers even though the Radio was not on/Working was buzzing, so i turned it all off and checked the Earths (put a Jump lead to the engine from the battery too) and cleaned the connection up on the Oil pressure sensor (which looked old and grubby)
So as the light was starting to fail i took the egi fuse out and removed the Oil feed in to the turbo and turned the engine over, there was a second delay then at starter motor speed there was a Good stream of oil. So i kicked it up again (oil pressure was the same and the speakers where still buzzing) so i blipped the throttle and the oil pressure dropped to nothing like the engine had been turned off and came back up when the revs dropped to idle.
Now i\'m thinking could this be a Bad sensor/Bad earth, but as the Normal Fd battery did not show any signs of Buzzing etc i\'m charging it up as i write this and will be going back on tomorrow, But its the oil i\'m most worried about, before it was put away there was no Issues with Pressure etc and there has been nothing done that would effect it?? so i\'m thinking its a bad connection/moisture in a Plug etc but i\'ve also got this thing going round my head saying what if the some things stuck and the oil pressure isn\'t building with the revs?? So i thought i would put it on here and see if anyone has any ideas as to what could cause it? And if its Damp should i run it up to temp? (an i correct in saying if there is any oil pressure showing it won\'t damage the motor on idle?)
Cheers
Chris
Is it reasonable to assume you are using an aftermarket Oil pressure gauge? Could it be possible that over time, something has clogged up in the little strainer thingy inside the sump?
sounds like an earth problem there dude, id check every earthing point on the loom, sounds like its pulling the earth back thru some of the sensors and or the radio, id have an auto electricion have a lookie at it and you\'ll more than likely find the oil pressure is ok
Quote from: JitIs it reasonable to assume you are using an aftermarket Oil pressure gauge? Could it be possible that over time, something has clogged up in the little strainer thingy inside the sump?
No, its only got the factory Oil pressure gauge in the Cluster.
Quote from: olly-civicsounds like an earth problem there dude, id check every earthing point on the loom, sounds like its pulling the earth back thru some of the sensors and or the radio, id have an auto electricion have a lookie at it and you\'ll more than likely find the oil pressure is ok
Yep, i was kind of thinking this myself, I\'ve seen some wacky things happen with cars that have not run for a quarter the time this has been off the road and a good idea of how much damp there is knocking about is there is Mold starting to grow on the leather :(
I have to admit i\'m tempted to run it up to temp (carefully on idle) and get everything nice and warm then see what happens. I also have a spare Oil pressure Sensor that i know works ok, so that may see action too.
get a propper oil pressure gauge, iv got a snap on one that has loads of diffrent ends for diffrent cars, that gives you an accurate reading, but imo it will be an earth problem, have u tried an earth lead from the chassis tot he engine?
Well i put a jump lead from the Neg to the Alt body, but that didn\'t make allot of difference.
The factory gauge is next to useless. Ive never had one that works! Are you sure youve got an oil pressure problem!?!
Thing is it worked when it was left? I would say i\'m 60-70% sure i don\'t have an engine oil pressure problem but i think there is issues with the Electrics. Thing is i\'ve killed a Motor with similar Symptoms when it actually had no oil pressure. (hence the caution)
i think best bet would be to get an aftermarket mechanical Oil Pressure gauge and then work with the numbers from there...the stock gauges are woefully unreliable and tbh i dont even look at it any more. Id say diagnosing OP pressure problems with a stock OP gauge is about as useful as diagnosing possible coolant issues with the stock WT gauge! See what you mean about the caution though...
Yep i know what you mean, i think your right about the gauge. I\'m going to leave it alone until i can hook it up to an aftermarket gauge and see for myself it has pressure there.
Just out of interest, from what i remember the sensor looking like, does it work of Resistance to ground? (i.e. if i grounded the plug or touched it on the Block of the engine would the clock move inside??)
Well i\'m really happy :) Just swapped the oil pressure Switch for one i know works fine and we have lift off :chat love the easy fixes.
It ran ok but i noticed the fans don\'t come on? i ran it upto 86 on the PFC but they didn\'t kick in. So thats going to be the next job :(
Dont the fans come in at 92ish normally? I know you have an apexi but just wondering :)
Thats a good question, i know my car is set up to come on at 82deg (i thought they all where tbh) but i ran it up to 86 then turned it off so it would not go to far over 100. I kept the ignition on and watched the PFC water temp climb up to 105deg, so i would expect thats more than enough.
After it heat soaks, if you turn the ignition on then the car is reading what the PFC sees so if the fans dont come on then thre if deffinately a prob :)