Another Oil Pressure Problem Update - Onwards
Turbo Mini Forums

Well chaps after a long phone call with mr austin and loads of feckin abart I just can't get oil pressure. I'll start from the beginning, the other day the oil pressure went off the scale 7 bar style, then after a Half hour drive the pressure plummited to 1bar then to 0. So I checked the pressure relief valve and everything seems good, back filled the pump and still nothing. So I pulled the oulet hose off and put it in half coke bottle, on crank the oil glugged out. But I still didn't have any oil coming from the clock feed on the front. So I fired up the car and let the run into the bottle and it came out a little faster but I could slow the flow with my thumb. The next step is have the transfer housing off and the bolts and pump. The weird thing is the pressure has always been a good steady 3 bar and now I've got bollock all! Any suggestions will be brilliant

Ta

Mike

Edited by MikeRace on 16th Mar, 2009.

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

what oil pump is it?

could the housing have cracked like on jasons when he was using the alloy backed ones??

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

Did you use gallery plugs or threaded plugs? could the gallery plug behind the transfer case have popped out?

Is this only a problem at idle and the pressure picks up with RPM?

Do you have zetec oil jets?

Oil pump gasket problem?

Or the center pick up is blocked.

All I can think of at the moment. I have the 16v in bits to resolve my oil pressure problem, but i knew what the problem was. I fitted the Zetec jets without the check valves. That caused the oil pressure to drop right off and tickle the oil light at idle when the oil got up to 110c. raise the revs and the presure rose, and I only ever seen 50 psi at 7K+ rpm even with the 80psi cooper s ball and spring.

No Zetec Jets, Normal Gallery Plugs, Steel Backed Pump. Its very very Strange indeed. The problem is there all the time.

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

Have you tried to back flush any crap off the oil pick up?

You say the oil pressure went off the scale? Any chance you could have a knackered gauge? Might be worth sticking another one on just in case.

Ive done this mate, i originally though that my gauge was screwed as it was electronic, so ive swapped to capillary style.

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

I reckon a leaky gallery plug could be the problem, blown out when oil pressure went sky high. The question is what caused the spike in oil pressure??

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

Are you sure that the pressure relief valve is moving freely?

It sounds like it is sticking wide open to me.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

My thoughts exactly, i hope it is the gallery plug tbh and not something lowerdown :(

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

To eliminate this problem i tried another spring and plunger then i even rammed an old valve in there and held the relief valve shut, i could feel the pressure pushing my hand but it wasnt that hard to keep the plunger inside.

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

any signs of sticking on the old relief spring/ball?

could this have stuck, wanged up the pressure, popped out a core plug, and also the extra pressure freed off the relief?

stranger things have happened.

going to be hard to see any signs of sticking though, look carefully.

As colin says did you check gallery plugs

Hmm the plug had not crossed my mind wouldnt the plug be bouncing around in the transmission??

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

I had a similar thing on a 998 a lot of years ago. I had a sheared bolt on my oil pump! I still dont know to this day what caused it.

Im thinking the bolts have come loose in mine some how.

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

The plug is my guese mike I Have blown these out with 80psi

Hmm, seems to be the popular one

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

Best way to test mike is take the main oil fed pipe of the one that feads the filter stick a presure guage on it if you get a good presure under cranking then you know the pump is ok and you need to go looking futher

Hmm, I'm not sure of this theory

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

The theory is that the main pipe (the external one that goes to the filter) is before all the galleries - so if you take the pipe off and connect the gauge straight to the block (where the banjo bolt is/was) the oil can only go to your gauge (and the relief valve) so if you get good pressure showing there at cranking speed, the oil pump and relief valve are fine.

Don't crank it too long though with the pipe off as obviously no oil at all is going to the bearings while the pipe's off.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

I though the oil went straight to the bearings?

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

nope,
oil goes up the picup pipe, to the relief valve, then out the front of the block, thnto the filter, back into the block into the oil gallery, and top the bearings.

When does it reach the oil pressure gauge feed!

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

When it's in the galleries.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.