[E-Type] SIII Oil Pressure Guage -- Part II

E-Type
1

A month ago I asked about replacing my oil pressure guage. All of
a sudden my reliable guage pegged at 0 after about 10 miles of
travel. A restart would give me another 10 miles before it pegged
again.

At the time, the concensus was to get a replacement guage and
sender from JEG. Some folks liked a mechanical guage, but I was
leary of a failure causing a hot oil shower in the cockpit.

I called JEG and ordered the guage and sender. However, they
called back to say they didn’t have guages and senders for SIIIs.
They had never heard of one failing. They were going to get back
to me if it made sense for them to make a run for the SIII. I
never got a call.

So I ordered a sender from SNG and recently installed it. The good
news is the guage no longer pegs at 0 after 10 miles. The bad is
that it barely moves.

Before I had problems, the guage would move slowly to 80 at startup
and stay between 70 and 80 until the engine warmed up. Then it
would go down to 10 or so when idling and back up to as much as 80
depending how much I pushed it. It seemed about right or at least
believable.

Now it goes to 10 or 20 at startup and moves between 0 and 20
depending on RPM as I drive.

I’ll put a portable mechanical guage on it when I get a chance, but
assuming the original pressure was roughly right, what could cause
this lower reading?–
Bruce Bellrose
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2

In reply to a message from Bruce Bellrose sent Fri 24 Jun 2005:

Bruce, the senders from the aftermarket are notoriously unreliable,
(if my experience means anything) and may take the gauge with it.

I wouldn’t be afraid of a mechanical gauge. Yes - the ones in a 30
yr old MG might leak. When my OP gauge & sender died I went to
autozone and bought a $15 Sunpro. It does not leak, and I suspect
any mech. gauge properly installed will not.

APT (www.gaugeguys.com) can sell you a mech. Smiths gauge and swap
faces with your old gauge (if authenticity is important) for less
than a sender and gauge from JEC (which you can’t get anyway).

If knowing your engine’s REAL oil pressure is important to you, you
likely need to have a machanical gauge IMHO.–
David Ahlers
Skaneateles, NY, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–

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3

Bruce,
Sounds bad but don’t assume a thing until you get that mechanical gauge installed. You don’t have to do a complete installation. I hung one on a frame rail with a tie wrap for months. All I had to do was make a comparison between it and the electrical guage so I had a baseline. I have since removed it.

If indeed its low I would highly suspect a problem with a stuck bypass valve in the oil filter housing.
pauls 67ots

A month ago I asked about replacing my oil pressure guage. All of
a sudden my reliable guage pegged at 0 after about 10 miles of
travel. A restart would give me another 10 miles before it pegged
again.

At the time, the concensus was to get a replacement guage and
sender from JEG. Some folks liked a mechanical guage, but I was
leary of a failure causing a hot oil shower in the cockpit.

I called JEG and ordered the guage and sender. However, they
called back to say they didn’t have guages and senders for SIIIs.
They had never heard of one failing. They were going to get back
to me if it made sense for them to make a run for the SIII. I
never got a call.

So I ordered a sender from SNG and recently installed it. The good
news is the guage no longer pegs at 0 after 10 miles. The bad is
that it barely moves.

Before I had problems, the guage would move slowly to 80 at startup
and stay between 70 and 80 until the engine warmed up. Then it
would go down to 10 or so when idling and back up to as much as 80
depending how much I pushed it. It seemed about right or at least
believable.

Now it goes to 10 or 20 at startup and moves between 0 and 20
depending on RPM as I drive.

I’ll put a portable mechanical guage on it when I get a chance, but
assuming the original pressure was roughly right, what could cause
this lower reading?

Bruce Bellrose
<<<<<<<<<<

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Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.phpFrom: “Bruce Bellrose” bellrose@ix.netcom.com
Subject: [E-Type] SIII Oil Pressure Guage – Part II