Void8 Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 When firing up the Westfield the oil pressure gauge shows a healthy four bar but the oil warning light stays on under idle. When revved the light stays on for a while then goes out. Anyone got any experience with this one? Sticky switch (?) or knackered engine (!!). Separate concern - under cornering and breaking the gauge shows next to no pressure. I can fit baffles or foam the sump but was wondering if this was a normal Pinto thing. Quote
scruffythefirst Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Doesn't sound good. You may have a sticky switch or a small bubble of air trapped in it. Loosing pressure in cornering is bad. You will probably need to fit a baffled sump, what do you have at the moment and are you running slick tyres or simmilar? Its not something silly like an earth or wire loose behind the dash that shorts out in the corners or under braking causing the guage to read zero? What is your grade of oil and what pressure do you get fully warmed up. On my cossie (same thing pretty much) I get 1-1.5bar at hot idle with 15w50 fully synthetic. Quote
Darkspeed Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Westies don't generally have an oil light - just the gauge - any chance it may be the ignition warning light? As for the oil surge - does it have a shortened sump - if so could be a cheap cut and shut job thats remove 40% of the capacity with not added baffles Andrew Quote
StuartMackay Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 suggest you try a good olf fashioned 20-50 Duckhams or 10-60 Castrol Edge or Valvoline mineral oil, modern synthetics are IMO too thin for an older engine designed to looser tolerances than more modern engines. The westfiel alloy sump works quite well, but all pintos/YB seem to suffer from oil surge under braking due to the pick up being at the rear of the pan in our cars. Some baffling is always needed to minimise the surge effect Quote
scruffythefirst Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 No surge on my cossie under braking with a standard ali sump or my shortened and winged one. Not sure if the standard tin pinto sump has a baffle. The synthetic oil thing is a myth. Two 15w50 are the same viscosity at 0 deg c and 100deg c regardless of the composition. Synthetics resist breaking down better and so stay in spec longer. I saw absolutely no difference in oil pressure between the 15w50 mineral oil i ran the engine in with and the 15w50 fully synth silkolene i use now. Quote
Void8 Posted January 12, 2009 Author Posted January 12, 2009 Thanks for the info, I have definitely got an oil light and was interested in the different output between this and the gauge. I was also wondering about the best oil for the job, I have been using a semi-synthetic 10W-40. Quote
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 My Pinto loses pressure if the oil level drops more than a quarter inch below full. Because the shallow sump has less 'headroom' the pick up is shortened and it is more likely that the surface of the oil will move away from the open end. Keep the oil level at or slightly over the full mark and it shouldn't happen. Quote
scruffythefirst Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 What pressure do you have at hot idle? A 15w 50 or 10w 50 may help with pressure. Quote
combatsapph Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 You may also have a "high low pressure" switch, i.e. the switch activates the light at 22psi instead of the usual 5psi (which imo is too low as if you see 5psi whilst driving, the damage is already done. What does your pressure gauge show when the light comes on? Quote
simon besant Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 i have seen cheap oil filters cause this problem. fit a genuine filter and see if this makes a difference all to do with the valve in the filter (or it is on a rover V8 and normally solves the same problem) Quote
Void8 Posted January 12, 2009 Author Posted January 12, 2009 Problem sorted (hopefully), swapped switch for a spare I had. For what it's worth I am getting a good 4 bar (60 psi) of pressure at idle. I am going to keep it topped right up and change the filter, see if that makes any difference to the surge. If not it will be a baffled sump and a new oil pump for good measure. Quote
scruffythefirst Posted January 13, 2009 Posted January 13, 2009 I assume thats cold, as 4 bar is typically the relief valve pressure. Its what the oil pressure is when the car is fully up to temp that counts. Quote
Void8 Posted January 17, 2009 Author Posted January 17, 2009 Thanks for the 'Hot' idle point. Took the Westy out rather than run static and the pressure at 1k revs is 2 bar. As a side point have removed additional plumbing and switch and am now running on the gauge alone. Quote
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