Oil Pressure ?

[GeniusAndHisAssistant]

Today, while driving the rover around (yay!) I stopped on a hill for a traffic light. Oddly enough, the oil pressure light came on and the gauge read 2... so I revved up the engine and it went back to normal. I came home and changed the oil (it was time anyhow) and put oil in to the (H) mark on the dipstick. Now, it idles at 38, which seems a little low to me. It still dips low when on a hill, but goes away when the engine is revved. I was wondering about a clogged filter.. does that sound like it might be? Any other suggestions?

Thanks!
e

[GeniusAndHisAssistant]

Update: It now holds about 40 at speed and 38 at idle on flat ground, and about 35 at idle on a reasonable grade. Does that sound ok?

Thanks!
ebben

[SafeAirOne]

The oil pressure light should come on somewhere around 7 psi, IIRC, depending on which pressure warning switch you have.

There are several reasons the light could come on. See chart from the 2.5 Diesel Section of Workshop Manual. If it happened only on a hill, I'd suspect low oil level, personally.

[GeniusAndHisAssistant]

Thanks for the chart. Very helpful! From some more looking around I seem to have found that 40psi at speed is OK... do people agree?

Thanks!

[LaneRover]

Is it the original gauge? Mine reads about 40 at speed. Long ago a friend in Rovers said, 'if its steady don't worry if it seems a bit low'. He thought that the original gauges weren't that accurate (as to whether it was 40 60 or 50 lbs of pressure) but that it being steady was the important part.

[Zimbos]

what weight oil are you using, seems like marks chart says thin oil may cause this , 50 weight seems to be landys recommended

[cedryck]

I purchased an oil pressure gauge from NAPA ( I know they look at you sideways like you just grew another head our of your neck when you tell them what your using it for) regardless, It plumbs in with a copper pipe and fits nicely to the stock oil filter. Works great, is it stock no, but working sometimes is more important. my 2 cents.

[TeriAnn]

Your problem might be caused by a faulty seal between your oil pump and the pick up tube. A faulty seal would cause a lack or low oil pressure when the vehicle is at an angle. The fix is to pull the pan, & install new seals.

20-50 works much better than straight 50 wt oil and is winters get cold 10-40. A lot depends on how worn your bearings are.

[siiirhd88]

The copper pipe can work harden where it flexes, and then snap off where it becomes brittle. I've used a grease gun hose as a flex line to run from the block to a fitting on the wing, where the copper connects. The grease gun hoses are 1/8 NPT and typically rated for very high pressures.

Bob

I purchased an oil pressure gauge from NAPA ( I know they look at you sideways like you just grew another head our of your neck when you tell them what your using it for) regardless, It plumbs in with a copper pipe and fits nicely to the stock oil filter. Works great, is it stock no, but working sometimes is more important. my 2 cents.

[GeniusAndHisAssistant]

We put in an oil pressure gauge that we had sitting around... and the problem has fixed itself!

Thanks for the suggestions,
e