SG10

Appreciated, thanks!

Thanks all for your help and guidance. Unfortunately I can't be doing with any more time spent messing. One of the problems with being out in the sticks is the absolute reliance on your vehicles, and the "skip" was well past its best. As of this afternoon it has gone to a new owner for a bargain price, and he's getting all enthusiastic about messing about in sump oil, whilst 'herself will be receiving her far newer Citigo in a few days time. Probably all for the best.

Pete - perhaps surprisingly, the aircon works a treat, and has never been regassed in 117k miles! JR - thanks for your thoughts. Oil pump is chain driven off the crank end. Ref one of my earlier posts, hot engine oil pressure doesn't rise much above 1 bar at 2000 rpm, and barely increases any further at 3000. Oil pressure switch is, I believe, specified 0.3 - 0.6 bar (5-10 psi, ish?), and system should be around 2 bar @ 2000 rpm, with a 5 bar max. Fwiw, I was only joking about the 10w40!! I'm scratching my head over whether this is most likely a worn crank, worn oil pump, a stuck pressure relief valve, or if I've missed something else.

Sorry, pressed the wrong button! Don't have vcds access, unfortunately. Might it be worth forcing the fan on with the aircon, perhaps, to give some extra cooling?

Today's latest. I was curious about the cold oil pressures, so I fitted the gauge to the head to see what was going on. Initial cold oil pressure was over 2 bar, but fell to around 1 bar by the time the blue low temp light went out. Corresponding 2000 rpm figures were 3.5 bar cold, 2.5 bar "warm". So far, so good. Reconnected the oil pressure switch and took it for a drive. At around the 5 mile mark, I could get the oil light to come on by holding the revs just above 1500. Raising the revs to around 1800 extinguished the oil light and kept it off. I'm now realising that this behaviour is repeatable and reproducable if you avoid switching off the oil pressure monitoring light by letting the engine drop below 1500. Looking like crank wear perhaps? Time to buy a gallon of 10/40?

Pulled filter housing, o-rings were in place and looked to be OK. They are both stood slightly proud of the groove on the stick, and do not feel hard. I reckon these are ok(?). Out of interest, does anyone know what the black rubber/plastic jobbie is in the base of the filter housing? Having done all of this, and out of curiosity, I then rechecked my oil pressure switch with the engine cold, and it was behaving itself, suggesting that I have more acceptable pressure on a cold engine. Didnt connect the gauge to collect numbers - maybe I should? I guess this explains why my camchain and tappets are quiet on start up, and possibly why I haven't scrapped the engine yet? Thinking this through, maybe the question now becomes why does my oil pressure drop off sometimes, but only when my engine is hot - anything between 5 to 15 miles driving? To reiterate, it has done this pre and post service, has the correct grade of oil and a decent filter. The failure pre service was around 10 months after the last oil and filter change, not immediate. The oil pressure switch has been changed for a new (branded) part, and its behaviour corresponds with the readings on the oil pressure gauge. Filter housing seals look good, and there are no obvious leaks anywhere. Anticipating possibilities such as crank wear, the bottom end sounds quiet - no rumbles or knocks. Vehicle has been regularly serviced. Pressure relief valve, possibly? I assume its integral with the oil pump? If so, what's the labour time look like to swap it out? TIA Steve

Thanks, Xman! Appreciated!

Xman Thanks, I'll take a look at these. Can I get away with just unscrewing the cap, giving it a minute to drain down, and pulling it out, or do I need to do a full oil drain first?

There is virtually no oil pressure at tickover, measured at the switch - the gauge reading and the operation of both the original and the replacement oil switches confirm this. If there was an upstream restriction, any idea where to check? Its deffo the 3 cylinder htp!! I'll check the o-rings, but the car started doing this 10 months after its last service, with no intervention, so unless it was some sort of "delayed effect" (can that happen?). What purpose do the o-rings serve? Thanks all Steve

Update time. Gauge arrived today, more investigations carried out. Got the engine warmed up prior to testing. 1 - Using a continuity checker, new oil pressure switch was open circuit on tick over, and closed reluctantly at around 1800 revs. I guess this confirms that the car ignores the oil pressure switch under 1500 rpm, as suspected, and also that my tick over oil pressure isn't too good. 2- Pulled oil switch and fitted the test gauge. Tick over pressure was next to nothing on the gauge, too low to accurately estimate it (fraction of a bar). 3- Increased revs to 2000, pressure slowly increased to 1 bar (15 psi). 3000 rpm didn't make much difference. Believe the spec is about 2 bar at 2000? Strangely, the tappets and the cam chain were quiet all through this process. I guess the question now is is it the oil pump/ relief valve, or is it worn crank bearings? Is there an easy way to differentiate? I'm inclined to think a crank would be noisy, but I'll take opinions on that one! (Maybe a bit of wear on both?). FWIW, the car has done 115k miles, but has a full service history from our local indipendant. Has anybody done an oil pump change, and if so how many hours labour should I be looking at? Also, can it be done from underneath by just removing the sump, or does the timing side have to come apart as well? Final point, if anybody is looking to buy a cheap oil pressure test kit off ebay, avoid the ones with a pressure relief button in the base of the gauge - mine sprayed hot oil all over my hand when pressed.

Will report back in a few days when my gauge arrives!

Pete Correct, just one oil pressure switch. Replacement came from a local Europarts store, and was a branded component. You may well be right about the 1500/1800 rpm switching point, (I was working from memory!), but I guess as long as the oil switch has closed before the pack reads that engine speed, the logic should be satisfied and the light should stay off? The bit I'm struggling with is the apparently random and intermittent nature of the fault - next step is probably to put a pressure gauge on the engine and see what's happening there, but I'm guessing that if the "blip" is intermittent, I'll be lucky to see anything. My other thought was to replace the oil switch with a conventional oil switch (open under pressure), wired through to a led and buzzer in the car, so that I can monitor the oil pressure indipendantly of the vehicle wiring.

Having read a few tales of oil light issues on the forum, I've still not been able to figure out my own issue. 2011 htp 1.2, owned 11 years, 120k miles, full service history, last serviced/mot a week ago. Looks like it has spent most of its life being used for target practice on a tank range, but has been mechanically loved! A week or so before going in for service, we started to get a random (?) three flashes/3 bongs from the red oil warning symbol on the pack. No apparent pattern in terms of speed/cornering /temp etc, no apparent issues at tickover, where I would expect low oil pressure to show up, and no issues with tappet or camchain tensioner noises. Filter removed during service is in good condition, oil levels were on max. Sometimes it will go 5 miles and fault, sometimes 30+ miles. Oil + filter at the service made no difference - fault still present. Should probably point out at this point that the timing chain was swapped out and the head rebuilt 12 months ago, and the sump, oilways etc were cleaned out at the time. Engine is suitably "oily" up top, and has probably done c.100 miles with this issue, so I dont think its a "real" problem. Swapped the pressure switch, and replaced the connector and harness tail, suspecting an intermittent open circuit, with no improvement. There are no other known electrical issues on the vehicle. If I've understood correctly, the sequence of events on start up is as follows: Ign key on, pack does self test, oil light goes out. Crank/start engine, oil pressure switch closes to ground, pack starts to monitor switch over approx 1800 revs. (Ref the comment regarding no low oil pressure warning at tickover, does anyone know if the pack continues to monitor once "triggered", or does it always ignore the oil pressure switch at low revs?) In an attempt to seperate engine issues from wiring issues, I've run with the oil switch disconnected, and the pack throws up a continuous oil pressure warning when revved over tickover after starting, so that appears to confirm that the pack is ok. I've also run with the oil pressure switch wire grounded at the engine, thinking that this is what the pack is expecting to see, and any further alarms would indicate dodgy wiring, but with no further false alarms. (I did wonder if part of the self test routine actually looked for the change of state on the pressure switch on start up before activating monitoring, so I'm not entirely sure that this test is valid - open to others experience on this one!) Appreciate this is a bit wordy, but wanted to try and capture everything I've done so far. Any suggestions other than holy water or a gallon of petrol? TIA Steve

Hi. Currently the owner of a 2011 1.2 htp Fabia (AKA "the skip"), which is a little tired and overworked but still struggling on, and a 2018 Karoq 1.6D, which I've had less than a week and am still getting used to. Based in North Worcs