oil pressure
Turbo Mini Forums

how do boys

read through the threads and couldnt find what i need.

I got the mini out today after being stored over the winter, i took it for a bit of a run to blow her out and lost oil pressure. here is what happened.

drove it steadaly untill warm, then gave it some beans. after a few minutes of this the oil pressure droped not so much under load but when changing gear and idleing, when sitting at junctions etc smoak started poring out of the exhaust, at this time the water temp was pretty high to.

it wasnt boiling over or anything but i was worried.

so i left it to cool for about 10 minutes and re started her water temp had dropped a fair bit and i have some oil pressure, enough to get her home anyway.

i stoped on my drive to see if it was doing it again and it was.

i really need some ideas of what is wrong.

any help will be greatly recieved.

cheers

If it breaks... build a much faster one

i suspect that the oil pressure relief valve is partially stuck open with some debris from the gearbox or ... the spring may have broken?

that’s the large nut half way down the engine on the left

this is your first port of call

keep us Informed

I have just removed the valve from the block,

there is no crap in there and the spring is ok (would the spring be to slack?)

the cap is pretty scored and there are a few really smooth points on it, almost polished

If it breaks... build a much faster one

What kind of oil pressure readings are we talking about here? E.g. driving along? Idling?

If it breaks... build a much faster one

idleing : between 0 and 10
driving : 30 to 40

If it breaks... build a much faster one

any oil in it?

sounds like bearings or oil pump to me dude.

plenty of oil in the engine bang on the full line on the stick.

some oil between the end cap and and the valve end where the spring sits.

ah,,,,, should oil have pissed out when i took out the valve??

If it breaks... build a much faster one

how many miles has this engine done ???

if its high mileage it will be the bearings worn and oil pump jossed!

i can assure you

Edited by BENROSS on 19th Jun, 2006.

sounds like bottom end rebuild and new pump to me, go for a steel backed oil pump they are buy far the best, just get a standard one they are well up to the job

always looking for them bigger bunches of bannanas

DONT get a Minispares oil pump, whatever you do!

they are made out of chocolate and last about an hour pure Crap!

steel backed one like hogster says

yes 30-40psi at cruise is too low unfortunately, sounds like you are going to have to look into a rebuild.

the only thing that confuses me is that it has just suddenly started doing it?

have you considered removing the turbo and blanking off the oil feed just to make sure that your turbo hasn't suffered a major failure whilst you have had the car stored over winter??

i jus need to get it to a photo shoot on friday then it looks like i will have to strip her down

why does this happen when its hot and not straight away? i realise that the oil gets thinner when hot but it cant make that much difference can it?

If it breaks... build a much faster one

any idea of where to find the cheapest steel backed pumps or the best place to get one?

If it breaks... build a much faster one

yes, getting it hot REALLY CAN make this much difference!

For example, if using 10/50 oil, the oil is approx 5 times thinner when hot than when cold!

I have had this in the past, 65psi when cold and starting up, down to 10psi! when hot!

The cause was bearing failure, this had then got into the oil pump and knackered that too!

Do NOT drive it any more now, if you do it now you may be able to just put in new bearings after a THOROUGH clean out of the oilways, e.g. remove gallery plugs. If you leave it you may need the crank grinding undersize which is not desirable......

PS AVONBAR sell top quality oil pumps, also if you ask nicely they will do you some TURBOMINIS discount

thanks for your help guys, not the news i wanted but there you go.

If it breaks... build a much faster one

please dont run an oil any less than 15/40 grade

a craking good cheap oil that the minis love is... castrol 15/40 if you change it under 3000 miles

having said that theres more to oil than that

my advice is only a guide

ANYONE ?

OH! the avonbar pumps are about 34 ish .. pounds

dont get owt less....superb pump

Turbo Dave! has rave reviews about the Minspares Pump .....lol

this minispares pump you showed me

this is a steel backed one

this is ok

its the ally bodied one from minispares which is the chocolate! one with minispares wrote on it

the turbo supaflow one is the best though for a turbo motor from AVONBAR

Is there anything else you guys would recoment i do whilst i do this job?

also what bearings should i go for, i see there are many sizes, the engine has done about 70 thou, part numbers would be a great help if possible

oh one more question, why is the water temp effected by this problem? has been bugging me all day.

Edited by 1976 clubamn on 20th Jun, 2006.

If it breaks... build a much faster one

the water temp is probably getting higher because of the oil thinning out. you loose your lubrication a bit when it thins, thus creating more friction, resulting in more heat. voila!

balls to the blower!!!



1330,stage3 head, gt1549, canems ecu, S/C box and drops

but why does this not happen all the time then?

does the pressure of the oil effect the temp?

If it breaks... build a much faster one