oil pressue gauge

[snowy892]

Hi

I've got a seiw westy factory build 55 plate. Recently the oil pressure gauge has stopped working, Ive had the oil pressure checked (all ok) Can anyone tell me is the gauge mechanical or electrical? I only ask this as Ive seen gauges for sale mechanical or electrical. As you've probably guessed I haven't a bl**** clue!!!

Regards

Richard

[Thrustyjust]

Potentially a factory built car will have a Ford engine. As a whole, it will be an electric gauge with a VDO gauge and sender. The sender on the Ford block is on the drivers side near the front and looks like this as a sender.

 

If you have a gauge like this

 

If you have had the oil pressure checked the person doing this would have removed the sender.

[snowy892]

thanks for the reply. Do I need a new sender rather than a gauge?

 

[Thrustyjust]

If you disconnect the wire on the sender and earth it to the block, the gauge should go to maximum, with ignition on. If it does then the sender is at fault. If it doesnt move, then it could be the wire from sender to gauge, the live feed to the gauge or the gauge itself.

[Quinten]

I'm really sorry to somewhat barge in on a thread, but this question is rather apt, and raises a question for me as well.  On my previous engine, a Crossflow, I only had an oil pressure warning light, no gauge.  My new Zetec has the above mentioned sensor in the block and now I am wondering, will that only work with a gauge, or also on the light?

[Thrustyjust]

4 minutes ago, Quinten Uijldert - Northants AO said:

I'm really sorry to somewhat barge in on a thread, but this question is rather apt, and raises a question for me as well.  On my previous engine, a Crossflow, I only had an oil pressure warning light, no gauge.  My new Zetec has the above mentioned sensor in the block and now I am wondering, will that only work with a gauge, or also on the light?

Quinten, you will need a dual switch , that has a variable for the gauge and a switch for the light.

[Quinten]

@Thrustyjust brilliant, I will try to get one in pronto...  getting to the end of my conversion!

[Quinten]

Oh bother... there are so many of them...  Any clues what sort of pressure I should be buying it for? (180bhp Silvertop Zetec)

[Andy (Sycho)]

1 minute ago, Quinten Uijldert - Northants AO said:

Oh bother... there are so many of them...  Any clues what sort of pressure I should be buying it for? (180bhp Silvertop Zetec)

It should be wrote on the one you have.

[Quinten]

2 minutes ago, Sycho said:

It should be wrote on the one you have.

Would that not be only applicable to the gauge value?  I need to find out for the light...

[Thrustyjust]

You need to match the sender to the guage too, as it will have a resistive variable internally and that must be the range the gauge is looking for. Anything with a switch change at 15 psi should be enough for a Zetec.

[Quinten]

As I don't have a gauge; mine are VDO Cockpit in White, so not so common; maybe I should instead replace it with a single switched value?  Or maybe add a second sensor instead of replacing it?  Thought I was passed all the issues now  

[Thrustyjust]

5 hours ago, Quinten Uijldert - Northants AO said:

As I don't have a gauge; mine are VDO Cockpit in White, so not so common; maybe I should instead replace it with a single switched value?  Or maybe add a second sensor instead of replacing it?  Thought I was passed all the issues now  

So you need a VDO sender like this then

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p/vdo-pressure-sender-5-bar-1-8npt-with-low-warning-360081030086

 

[Quinten]

32 minutes ago, Thrustyjust said:

So you need a VDO sender like this then

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p/vdo-pressure-sender-5-bar-1-8npt-with-low-warning-360081030086

 

Yes, indeed.  Having spoken briefly to Steve at NMS, he reckons I should have a 10 bar gauge, and 1 bar warning light threshold.  And 1/8NPT thread?

[Thrustyjust]

10 bar gauge is a bit ott. Thats 150 psi oil pressure !! Zetecs dont go anywhere near that.