Oil Pressure

[byroncobra]

The oil pressure in the Windsor fluctuates quite significantly bouncing around at 150 to 200 kpa (20-30psi)at 2000 rpm and nearer 100 (15psi) at hot idle.

The gauge needle can bounce from almost zero to 200kpa even at constant revs. It rarely get higher than this at redline.

On the track it's most worrying, under extreme cornering as the oil sloshes around in the sump the pressure is all over the place. I don't really want to go dry sump.

I'm wondering if the (new) gauge or sender maybe dodgy or is this normalish pressure for a Windsor.

Also any recommendations for an oil pressure alarm/buzzer.....might make me feel a bit less nervous about an engine failure

Thanks

[Merv and Sharon]

That sounds low Greg. Mine was quite high and almost never below 40-60psi. Changing the sender would seem a start.

[Towmaster]

If you are considering doing more racing then get a Canton Road Race sump either locally or from Summit. It's what Pete & I run. We also run an Accu Sump that puts oil back into your engine if the pressure gets low when cornering... Poor mans dry sump...

[vector1]

make sure the ground is good.

[bobcowan]

15psi at 2,000 rpm's is definatly too low. There's a problem some where. And if there's a big variance in in pressures, that's a bad thing.

The first thing to check is the gauge. Go down to Wally World and get your basic mechanical pressure gauge. All you need is the cheap plastic tubing type, nothing special. If you're getting the same readings in the garage, then most likely the dash gauge is correct.

Big fluctuations while driving usually means you're sucking air. Could be for a lot of reasons. You'll need to pull the pan and pump and inspect everything to see what's amiss.

[byroncobra]

Ok thanks....I will check that ground, plus have a look at your recommendations Towy......a poormans dry sump sounds like me.

I apologise for my lack of appearance at the Sprints.......paid my rego fee and had too many other commitments to race......I'm really trying to get to the last 2 rounds

Are you still considering Goodwood? I've got a few brownie points up and it'd be great to hang with a few cobra guys.

Greg

[Mrs flatchat]

Or at worst, a parting company oil pick up, --- pending which type you have ?

[Rob. Smith]

I have the accumulator in mine and also use it to pressurise the enging before I start it. Maybe check the oil level as well whilst it is running.....could be down just enough to make the pump work harder ( just a thought. I once saw this happen after a remote oil filter and cooler was fitted....the extra capacity was under estimated ) Oil pressure was low no damage was done .

[Rick Parker]

Indicative of excessive bearing clearances.

[byroncobra]

I have wondered about the oil volume as the engine was supplied without a dipstick so i purchased an aftermarket one which needed to be cut to length.

I believe (from Ford Forums) that the standard sump, which I "think" I have, holds 5 litres. So i put this volume in and then cut the dipstick to indicate correct level.

Any better ideas to determine if I'm running too little oil?

I'm not running a cooler.

Bearings maybe......the condition of the bottom end if the engine is unknown, it's a donor with who knows how many km on it!

Chris, maybe pulling off the sump is the go after checking the other suggestions.

Thanks Fellas

[boxhead]

if the needle is "bouncing" rather than moving from high to low, it really does sound like an electrical problem (weather that be sender. gauge or earth needs to be investigated)

Buy a gauge like this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pressure-...ht_5615wt_1139

Screw it into the block direct where your sender is and see what a mechanical gauge does.

[byroncobra]

Yeah, it's not really bouncing......wrong word choice, just fluctuating 20 -30psi at fixed rpm.

I'll check grounds then grab a gauge as you suggest and rule out the easier options first.

Thanks

[Gav]

Originally Posted by igokhoa

Úp phụ nè................. nhớ úp lại nha pro, cám ơn hehehehehheeh.........

For maximum effect you need to hang sh#t in english.

[letsboogie351]

Rick P could be on the money.
The Clevo in my boat before a rebuild ran 5 psi at idle (hot) and 35 psi full noise. It ran like this for ages (years) until I decided to do something about it. The engine builder reckoned that he could have walked through the clearances in the bearings.

[dhs.buckley]

I must admit, i was a little worried about oil psi on windsor when i picked it up, it was on25-30psi on idle and around 50 psi @ 4000rpm, gauge was flicking, but sourced the problem to a bad earth, also what oil viscosity are you running, i know my 1998 windsor in an xh ute could not handle 10-30 as at idle the warning light would come on when hot.
changed oil to 15-40 and problem was gone.

[byroncobra]

I'm running 25w50 so it's probably heavy enough

I've ordered a gauge to check my instruments are correct so we'll see when it arrives

Thanks for the advice

[Aussie Mike]

There's a simple solution to your problem that Ford came up with.

My daily driver is a Tickford Pursuit 250 ute. It runs the last of the windsor motors that was factory stroked to 5.6L. It's a bit of a factroy hotrod.

As part of the Tickford package thay came with a different dash cluster that includes an oil pressure gauge. Cool! My Oil pressure was always good and the gauge rock solid.

The sender started leaking so I went on the hunt for a replacement. After searching through parts lists and shelling out $50 on a new sender from Ford I had the ute up on the hoist and replaced it. After firing it up I had no oil pressure. WTF!

After further investigation I found that part way through the model run Ford had replaced the pressure sender with a pressure switch. No wonder the bloody gauge on the dash was always so solid. Turns out customers had been complaining about fluctuating oil pressure so they found a way to solve the problem.

Cheers

[07cob]

Greg

I bought a new dipstick from Summit (something like this: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fm...c303/overview/). You could probably get something similar locally. It is a replacement part and is dimensioned the same as the original dipstick that I removed. It would give you the right level without having to calibrate. I use just over the 5L mark at each change.

For what it is worth, my oil pressure runs around the 350kPa mark at running temp. It picks up to the 400kPa mark at full noise. That is with all new brearings and rings.

Geof

[07cob]

Double post