Oil pressure guage - tempermental in heavy rain

[Sean Toms]

Hi all 

Recently had a new Caterham oil pressure guage ( the sender ) fitted , new one usually fine but when driving in very wet condition ( to Harewood two weeks ago ) , it sometimes stuck on nothing and then back to life. 

Anyone else ever seen this any thoughts ? , I can ask Kenricks to fit another new one at next service under warranty ,  but does the sender need sealing instead ?  its very exposed to the elements it seems ? 

 

[Jonathan Kay]

Which model and engine?

Which make and part number is the sender?

Are you sure that the fault is at the sender... does it fail for long enough to explore what happens?

I'd start by inspecting the contact(s) on the sender and the adjacent bit of wire. Do they feel OK, do they look OK, can you replicate the fault by wiggling?

Jonathan

[SLR No.77]

The K-Series pressure senders are notoriously fickle and very exposed in the Caterham install leading many owners to make the swap to a mechanical gauge. As well as being totally reliable this also has the advantage that the needle sweep is 270 deg so better to see what's actually going on with the pressure. I believe Think Auto do a kit of all the bits you need and you can add a low pressure warning light at the same time.

 

[John Vine]

Agree with #3.  Engine vibration is the main killer here, IME.

Definitely worth going mechanical.  Think Auto parts list here.

JV

[Luegonigel]

Intermittently my tacho and fuel gauge don't register until the car has done two or three miles. Never have managed to sort it. Normally more frequent in spring when the car is cold and damp, summer rarely occurs. Also occurs if the car has got very wet. Have put it down to a bad earth somewhere but never able to find.

After winter layup I normally take the earths that I know the location of and clean/lubricate them as this has also been the source of non-starting/breakdown. 

I have a mechanical oil pressure and temperature gauge now as a by the way.

[Paul Richards]

As has been said the best course of action is to go mechanical, especially as you can do it for less than the cost of a new sender. However if you are continuing with an electric gauge in my experience it is water ingress that causes problems. When I took apart a defective sender it was clear that water ingress had rusted up the innards. To help prevent this I suggest silicon around the terminal (there is a gap which allows water in). It is also beneficial to relocate the sender to a point out of the way of muck and water. This can be done by using a braided hose and if located higher up behind the radiator on the cross member where the steering rack mounts it will also reduce the vibration.

[Toby S]

Demon tweaks do a mechanical gauge kit for the k series caterham engine (or did) with low pressure warning light.

Fitted mine around 4 years ago after a very fickle standard electronic gauge and sender which when it recorded anything didn't move much once warmed up - Big thumbs up for this kit as it works really well

[Toby S]

Demon tweaks do a mechanical gauge kit for the k series caterham engine (or did) with low pressure warning light.

Fitted mine around 4 years ago after a very fickle standard electronic gauge and sender which when it recorded anything didn't move much once warmed up - Big thumbs up for this kit as it works really well