DOD7 Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 I used to have 4 bars while running and 2 bars at idle with my 1.6K. Now, I am at 3 bars or lower while running and 1 at idle. The car is 9000km now and is due to renew the oil at 10000km. It had been done at 1500km, in December. Am I the only one? Is there a risk to the engine if I continue driving my car 1000km before the next maintenance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulo Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 It's probably the sender that is faulty. Do a quick search it crops up quite often. The remote sender is a good idea. Paul REAL POWER FROM HELLIER PERFORMANCE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 I assume that you are not planning to do the oil-change yourself, otherwise you would change it now as a precaution... It might just be the sender/gauge/wiring (less than perfectly reliable on a caterham), but OP is usually more robust than the coolant/oil-temp systems... ...or it might be that your sump-foam (assuming it is fitted and you have a wet-sump) is breaking up and blocking the oil-pickup (in which case you are risking serious bearing damage by continuing to run the car)... ...or it might be that your oil is past its' best and simply needs changing. However, are you sure the OT is not just higher at this time of year compared to what it was reaching during your early ownership during the winter??? Do you have an OT gauge? Project Scope-Creep is underway... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOD7 Posted March 28, 2005 Author Share Posted March 28, 2005 Yes, I have a wet sump. I do not intend to do it myself as I am not equipped to lift the car up and my sump has a protection that needs to be removed in order to change the oil. My biggest fear is that a piece of foam is actually blocking the oil flow but I bought the car brand new on Dec 3rd, 2004. It cannot be that... I hope. I did not quite understand what you wrote about OT. Is it Oil Temp? Is the pressure supposed to go down with an increase in temperature? I would think that it is the other way around (PV = N RT). All I have is a water temperature gauge. I haven't noticed any obvious difference in temperature between the winter and now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Yep, sorry - common abbreviations are: OT -oil temp WT - coolant/water temp OP - Oil pressure It's not so much that pressure goes down with temperature directly- it's more that the oil tends to get thinner with increased temperature, and *this* makes maintaining pressure harder. It's quite natural to get lower running-pressures if the oil is significantly warmer. As an illustration- on startup, I sometimes see OPs as high as 5-6 bar (75-90psi) at this time of year with the OT at around 10deg C - when running at normal temp (70-80 deg C), this is back down to 4 to 4.5 bar (60ish psi) - but on Friday on a trackday with OT at 95 degC, my OP was down to around 3.5bar (50+psi) - all measure with SPA gauges, so more accurate and reliable than with CCs standard gauges. Project Scope-Creep is underway... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 These readings seem very similar to mine, which seem to have changed since I changed the oil a few weeks ago. Before this I got 4 bar cold when running, and 3 bar hot. Now I seem to get 4 bar cold and under 3 bar when hot, and under 2 at idle when hot. Sump was dropped and new baffle fitted ( old one was like new!) and re-filled with 15/50 fully synth oil. Any ideas why the readings should have changed???????? Inside of the sump was clean as a whistle. Only thing thats different, is new oil. Still Shaking. 6 speed 1600k Supersport (keep forgetting to tell people what it is!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Are the temps the same though? Have you put more oil in - which is then being whipped-up by the crank, increasing the temp and lowering the pressure? Project Scope-Creep is underway... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bare Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 And you paid How much for yr Car?? Change the OIL.. remember it's far more about the change intervals than the type of oil used ...10k intervals are errrr...a silly risk.. given the price of a few litres of oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim_H Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 yep, change the oil. In a type of car that gets so much abuse (driven hard) , nearly all the time, I'd be changing the oil say every 2000 miles. - as you're giving the oil a really hard time. Personally it's something that I do religiously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Myles. I think you may be right. When I checked the level last week, it was a bit too high up the stick. Also, oil temp does seem higher when driven hard. Is this likely to cause me a problem?????? Trouble is, the car didn't use any oil in 3000 miles last time, so it won't naturally disappear. Is there an easy way to let a little out. Thanks in advance. Oz. Still Shaking. 6 speed 1600k Supersport (keep forgetting to tell people what it is!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Any thoughts????????????????? Still Shaking. 6 speed 1600k Supersport (keep forgetting to tell people what it is!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Paul Richards Posted March 30, 2005 Area Representative Share Posted March 30, 2005 Change the oil pressure sender. They are the problem in 99 out of 100 cases. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOD7 Posted March 31, 2005 Author Share Posted March 31, 2005 The car went for 10000km maintenance yesterday. I'll see what the garage tells me tomorrow when I take it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Gentlemen, Dod7 is in France and works in kilometers. I don't think 10k km is at all excessive for an oil change, and I certainly don't think there is a need to do it more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOD7 Posted March 31, 2005 Author Share Posted March 31, 2005 Especially if this mileage is reached within 4 months with only one track day . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Update, for anyone who's interested. Turns out I had overfilled the sump ( thanks to Myles for his input). Let out exactly 1/2 litre of oil, which turned out to be spot on, according to the dipstick. Oil pressure and temp have now returned to normal after rigorous testing today. 😬 Still Shaking. 6 speed 1600k Supersport (keep forgetting to tell people what it is!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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