Help! Is the engine a goner???

[MarkM]

Definately need pics, the adapter I have seen that config. with NPT fittings but not as large as the oil sender light switch. Did the adapter come with the kit?

[Guy88]

i Got the adapter seperatly. just asked for it at the counter when i got the guage

[madmark]

dont have to worry about the light in the dash just get a gauge ! but that wont sort your problem out and the chance of getting another engine do the same is very slim! if you were engine minded you could save your engine by fitting a new pump and shells but its not a plesant job so best change the engine!
have a word with transit geoff he will probly be able to suply a good engine and maybe fit it as well!

[MarkM]

i Got the adapter seperatly. just asked for it at the counter when i got the guage

Ok, I have been looking at gauges and there are many listed as being electric however they also (not all) mention the need for a pressure sending adapter that is placed between the oil filter and the block. These appear to be the Pressure guages and then the others are Oil Temp gauges, so which do you have fitted? You really need to post up some good pics and all the connections etc in a How to thread.

[Guy88]

This is the set up i got

Top is sender for the guage and the one on the end does the light (was orriginally screwed into block ).

Mine is an oil PRESSURE guage. there is no need for anything to be done with the filter just unscrew the switch and screw in adapter
will do a how to me thinks

[gemini]

what pressure you got guy on tickover

[Guy88]

About 45 psi

[MarkM]

Ok I have just looked at my DI and yes the thread looks very similar to the one on yours. However, your picture is still confusing me as the sender is the big silver thing with the blue wire going to your gauge, but the black tube coming out of the adapter pipe is HUGE compared to mine and yours infact looks as if it is a capillery tube rather than a wire feeding a light. mine is simply a screw in plug with a wire coming out and no I haven't got confused with the water temp sender as that is in a totally different place on the DI compared to the Pinto, Pinto temp sender is above the Dizzy, DI is on the top of the engine on the raised pipework.

[Guy88]

there is a wire undreneatn. thats a bit of rubbedr to stop anything shorting it and putting the light in

[MarkM]

I understand what a sleeve is, mine is simply the insulated plug going straight into the loom, my server is on the fritz otherwise I would post a pic.

The sleeve you have there just seems over large (black part) for just a wire

[Terry]

Right heres my 2 pen'worth.
In Guy's piccy the large silver cylinder is the interface between the oil and the electrical gauge (probably a diaphragm & solenoid arrangement), this converts oil PRESSURE on one side of the diaphragm to an electrical signal the gauge can use .
This is the pressure adapter (it can be placed in a 'ring' between oil filter
canister & filter housing/block)
I may be teaching Grandma to suck eggs, but here goes.......
The oil pump generates a pressure that pushes oil around the engine, this pressure is dependant on the pump and the engine condition, so Guy's 45 psi on tickover indicates an engine in pretty good condition internally. This oil under pressure keeps the moving metal parts apart, reducing both friction & damage. When the oil pressure drops the moving metal parts come into contact with each other & severe damage is done.
Now the reason the oil pressure light on the dashboard is called an 'idiot light' is because the damage is already done when that comes on !
These things are set to light at between 4 and 7 psi. Any engine probably cant survive with less than 15psi, and if its revving probably 30 psi.
These figs are not gospel just an indication.
Now with an oil pressure gauge, the 'normal' (revving) engine state moves the gauge needle to a reading (call it 60 psi, though figures don't matter because your eye gets used to where the needle is), when under normal conditions the needle shows a drop, it indicates a problem, hopefully giving you a little time to prevent a disaster.
As a little aside to illustrate my point look at any competion car and the instruments will be all turned out of position, this is to align the needles all vertically when in normal operating mode, so the driver can with a glance at the dash see all is well or not.
Should you feel the need you can also get higher rated oil pressure switches, from places like Burton Engineering in Romford. But my recommendation for any oil / brake fluid problem / parts is THINK Automotive in Isleworth (West London), no I have no connection but all the people in racing I know use them, and I used to when rallying 25 years ago..

[MarkM]

Terry,
Good teaching eggs comment ...it was actually informative. My 'problem' is quite simple really. I understood the idiot light to be a low oil warning but NOT a pressure rating or perhaps even a Oil temp warning light. The reasoning behind this the diaphragm (silver thingy) makes sense as a pressure to electrical signal....but since the original connection is a simple plug in electrical pin, where is the diaphragm for the existing connection...inside the block?? Also of course Guy88's picture appears to be a pipe rather than a wire connection but Guy88 is saying the sleeve (oversized compared to my wiring) contains a wire.
Sorry if this sounds like rambling but the idea of fitting one these gauges appeals to me but I want to 100% sure of what I am connecting to and how, as a gauge is a minimum of £20 plus the extra parts (cabling, adapter, pressure sender, Pod) which is going to make this a possible expensive mistake so I don't want to throw that money away on a whim. Did that once with a Mondeo instrument cluster that was a cable not electric (didn't check my cluster ) though now I can get proper Transit rev counter clusters (not Mondeo with lights that light up that shouldn't ) but so far all have been cable. Ok I got my money back on the wrong cluster but shifting a gauge might prove to be a little harder.

[MrMPuk]

I understood the idiot light to be a low oil warning but NOT a pressure rating or perhaps even a Oil temp warning light.

Low oil pressure not low level you mean.

[Guy88]

the oil pressure switch Just uses the oil pressure to mowe a contact and break the circuit.

The oil pressure sender for the guage works on the same principal but alters the resistance inside. then the guage works this out and displays it via the needle

[MarkM]

I understood the idiot light to be a low oil warning but NOT a pressure rating or perhaps even a Oil temp warning light.

Low oil pressure not low level you mean.

Well actually no, it was how I wrote it but now it is all starting to make some sense, just still don't understand how the stock plug in item doesn't illuminate every time, after all the water temp switch is reading temp which is simple and makes perfect sense in the electrical circuit. Is it that the pressure is constant so stops the contact making contact so the light stays off? This being the reason why the light comes on when you originally turn the key and then later restarts the light doesn't always come on (stop, start driving)