Board logo

Some backward progress and Questions
Slater - 28/11/08 at 09:22 AM

I had an eventfull time in the garage last night.

Put oil in the engine and a little bit in each cylinder and turned it over, expecting to see some oil pressure on the gauge and the warning light to go off. I had no spark plugs/exhast/inlet manifold fitted.

Should I see some oil pressure with the plugs out?

How can I check the oil pump is operating properly?

In a foolish attempt to fault find I checked the oil pressure sender putting 12V direct from the battery to the oil pressure warning light sender terminal, a spark appeared and my warning lamp went off. The light is still OK because if i connect the warning lamp wire to earth it still lights up. However I think I have burned out the sender!

How can I check the sender? It's an ETB one with pressure and warning light in the same little can.

Also fitted my rear fog light.

andylancaster3000 - 28/11/08 at 09:40 AM

How long were you cranking for? Sometimes it can take quite a while for pressure to appear if its been standing for a while or it has been re-built.

I haven't got any ideas on the sender I'm afraid, might be worth calling ETB, theyre generally pretty responsive.

Slater - 28/11/08 at 09:48 AM

3 go's at cranking approx 5-10 seconds each. The engine has sat for 18 months, it has not been re-built.

[Edited on 28/11/08 by Slater]

whitestu - 28/11/08 at 09:51 AM

From my experience, you'll need to crank for a bit longer than that. Around a minute would be more like it if the engine has had an oil and filter change.

Might be worth connecting the original light sender up to test with

Stu

02GF74 - 28/11/08 at 09:59 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Slater
In a foolish attempt to fault find I checked the oil pressure sender putting 12V direct from the battery to the oil pressure warning light sender terminal, a spark appeared and my warning lamp went off. , The light is still OK because if i connect the warning lamp wire to earth it still lights up. However I think I have burned out the sender!

How can I check the sender? It's an ETB one with pressure and warning light in the same little can.



Inside the sender, there is a spring loaded membran that acts on a switch for the warning lamp. Normally it is closed thus grounding the lamp and gets pushed open by oil pressure thus the lamp goes out.

What you did was effectively ground the battery via the switch hence the spark and the lamp still working afterwards.

The fact that your lamp went out and that the wire you used did not melt kinda implies the contacts within the sender burnt out so they are now open circuit. I assume now when you connect the lamp to the sender it does not come on?

I doubt you can repair it.

To test the sender you should try to hook up the business end to an air line - it takes about 5* psi for the low pressure lamp to go out - or poke it with a matchstick?

* this does vary but that is typical value.

[Edited on 28/11/08 by 02GF74]

coozer - 28/11/08 at 10:18 AM

Zetecs some times need the oil pump priming after a long lempty lay off. Maybe the pump is dry and not pumping oil at all.

Slater - 28/11/08 at 12:28 PM

Peeps

Thanks for the advice.

Coozer, how do you prime the oil pump?