adamh
05-11-2015, 01:48 PM
I like to post up my experiences with an oil pressure problem i had recently.
i brought an aftermarket oil pressure gauge and installed it on a TEE from the oil filter housing so i could also plumb in the original sender.
When i installed the TEE i did not tighten the 1/8npt thread enough or didnt use any liquid thread sealer, whatever it was and the TEE and it leaked a few drips enough to see on the garage floor after 50 miles road testing.
I decided to remove the TEE and A/M gauge and in doing so accidentally sheared the Hollow thread of the TEE by applying torque perpendicular to the thread instead of radially. So, it sheared, if you worked on this sender you would know how difficult it is for access to swing tools, mistakes happen easily.
the thread i sheared had a 3/16 hole , with a wall of abou 0.060"
One piece of thread was left in the oil filter housing casting, nicely flush so i could not get a grip on it, the other piece was of course in my hand.
Wether or not a small piece of brass found its way into my oil system i can not confirm at this stage.
i was lucky (very) to be able to back out the hollow broken TEE piece from the housing by using a suitable 1/4" drive screwdriver bit and a small
Bit Ratchet , a sharp torx bit grabbed it and backed it out. I didnt have any screw extractors that would have worked also.
After removing the broken piece (shaped like a tyre) i very carefully put a small screwdriver up the oil pressure switch hole with some tissue wrapped around it, made some circles on the bore to try and catch any possible small bits of broken off brass , but i did not find any.
after removing the screwdriver i checked it still had all the tissue.
put in the new sender and cranked the engine, i saw the red oil light on the dash and thought perhaps an airlock where the sender feed hole points downwards a little and bled off a little oil when i removed it. I thought the pressure would build back up after a minute of driving down the street.
It didnt, and by the time i got to the end of the street, my turbo was stalling if i tried put my foot on the gas , so, with the garage less than 300feet, and i decided to turn back and creep up to the garage.
The sound i recorded will be added later (turbo stalling is almost identical to this noise HERE (http://s837.photobucket.com/user/mintycloth/media/IMG_6140_zps496kkvde.mp4.html))
i removed the air pipe from turbo to inlet manifold to find that when the noise came the air flow all but stopped, hence, it was the turbo stalling. All starting to make sense why the van cut out half way down the road when i was reversing . (no air to inlet when it stalled!)
So, why no oil pressure? All i did was change the oil pressure sender back to original.
i loosened off the sender until it was floppy in the thread, disconnected glow plug power, tried cranking without starting to bleed the sender. nothing!.
i tightened that back up and disconnected the turbo return oil pipe (flexible one with heatproof fibre shielding) and cranked again for about 20 seconds, a number of times in quick succession, noting, not even a drip...
I blew down the return pipe to make sure it wasnt blocked , it was free and no blockage.
So, there was apparently no blockage at the turbo either, tried again loosening the sender, no change .
I figured if nothing was bleeding there may be a blockage somewhere, but how!?.
I ran out of ideas and actually took it to main dealer (first time in 15 years) i took it because at that stage i could not prove that the sender was not faulty and the oil pressure was faulty with the tools i had , although it looked very likely oil pressure itself as i had earthed out the gauge sender wire
and the light came on the dash so wiring looked ok.
They tried getting an oil pressure tester on the housing but could not reach it. So i suggested an oil and filter change to purge all the air the correct way (if there was any) and some inspection of the oil feed hole from the filter on the housing,.. maybe to squirt some oil UP the filter housing hole to try and fill up the sender oil way , anything, its all easier when the car is 6 feet above you on a lift.
I got a call today saying the oil pressure was back, excellent!, BUT... it remains a mystery what caused it to block, the technician said they put an airline up the oil filter housing hole and pulled the trigger, they said there was a kind popping noise and when trigger released and moved away oil came flowing back out of the filter housing hole.. they checked the oil but there was no residue or lumps in the oil that spilled out.
So,.. wether or not something was blocking the way and has been fired deeper into the pipe between oil filter and sump strainer (oil pick up)
, i may not ever find out , this is frustrating, but for now oil pressure has returned to full so i am pretty happy about that.
I will question the tech when i go to pick it up about exactly what he heard.
ideas i have:
1. when adding an aftermarket oil pressure gauge perhaps some of the liquid thread sealent i used to attach the senders to the TEEwent hard and found its way into the oil system (small chance)
2. a small piece of brass found its way in there ?somehow backflowing from the broken tee i find hard it to believe as the branch that holds the pressure sender is about 2" long x 5/16 bore, i dont think it flowed towards pressure, it should always go away from it. but, i may have pushed it deep by using a small screwdriver. putting it into the flow of the main line to the filter
3. something else.
as you can tell im frustrated by this :LOL2:
but the issue is resolved for now.
Any other ideas?
i brought an aftermarket oil pressure gauge and installed it on a TEE from the oil filter housing so i could also plumb in the original sender.
When i installed the TEE i did not tighten the 1/8npt thread enough or didnt use any liquid thread sealer, whatever it was and the TEE and it leaked a few drips enough to see on the garage floor after 50 miles road testing.
I decided to remove the TEE and A/M gauge and in doing so accidentally sheared the Hollow thread of the TEE by applying torque perpendicular to the thread instead of radially. So, it sheared, if you worked on this sender you would know how difficult it is for access to swing tools, mistakes happen easily.
the thread i sheared had a 3/16 hole , with a wall of abou 0.060"
One piece of thread was left in the oil filter housing casting, nicely flush so i could not get a grip on it, the other piece was of course in my hand.
Wether or not a small piece of brass found its way into my oil system i can not confirm at this stage.
i was lucky (very) to be able to back out the hollow broken TEE piece from the housing by using a suitable 1/4" drive screwdriver bit and a small
Bit Ratchet , a sharp torx bit grabbed it and backed it out. I didnt have any screw extractors that would have worked also.
After removing the broken piece (shaped like a tyre) i very carefully put a small screwdriver up the oil pressure switch hole with some tissue wrapped around it, made some circles on the bore to try and catch any possible small bits of broken off brass , but i did not find any.
after removing the screwdriver i checked it still had all the tissue.
put in the new sender and cranked the engine, i saw the red oil light on the dash and thought perhaps an airlock where the sender feed hole points downwards a little and bled off a little oil when i removed it. I thought the pressure would build back up after a minute of driving down the street.
It didnt, and by the time i got to the end of the street, my turbo was stalling if i tried put my foot on the gas , so, with the garage less than 300feet, and i decided to turn back and creep up to the garage.
The sound i recorded will be added later (turbo stalling is almost identical to this noise HERE (http://s837.photobucket.com/user/mintycloth/media/IMG_6140_zps496kkvde.mp4.html))
i removed the air pipe from turbo to inlet manifold to find that when the noise came the air flow all but stopped, hence, it was the turbo stalling. All starting to make sense why the van cut out half way down the road when i was reversing . (no air to inlet when it stalled!)
So, why no oil pressure? All i did was change the oil pressure sender back to original.
i loosened off the sender until it was floppy in the thread, disconnected glow plug power, tried cranking without starting to bleed the sender. nothing!.
i tightened that back up and disconnected the turbo return oil pipe (flexible one with heatproof fibre shielding) and cranked again for about 20 seconds, a number of times in quick succession, noting, not even a drip...
I blew down the return pipe to make sure it wasnt blocked , it was free and no blockage.
So, there was apparently no blockage at the turbo either, tried again loosening the sender, no change .
I figured if nothing was bleeding there may be a blockage somewhere, but how!?.
I ran out of ideas and actually took it to main dealer (first time in 15 years) i took it because at that stage i could not prove that the sender was not faulty and the oil pressure was faulty with the tools i had , although it looked very likely oil pressure itself as i had earthed out the gauge sender wire
and the light came on the dash so wiring looked ok.
They tried getting an oil pressure tester on the housing but could not reach it. So i suggested an oil and filter change to purge all the air the correct way (if there was any) and some inspection of the oil feed hole from the filter on the housing,.. maybe to squirt some oil UP the filter housing hole to try and fill up the sender oil way , anything, its all easier when the car is 6 feet above you on a lift.
I got a call today saying the oil pressure was back, excellent!, BUT... it remains a mystery what caused it to block, the technician said they put an airline up the oil filter housing hole and pulled the trigger, they said there was a kind popping noise and when trigger released and moved away oil came flowing back out of the filter housing hole.. they checked the oil but there was no residue or lumps in the oil that spilled out.
So,.. wether or not something was blocking the way and has been fired deeper into the pipe between oil filter and sump strainer (oil pick up)
, i may not ever find out , this is frustrating, but for now oil pressure has returned to full so i am pretty happy about that.
I will question the tech when i go to pick it up about exactly what he heard.
ideas i have:
1. when adding an aftermarket oil pressure gauge perhaps some of the liquid thread sealent i used to attach the senders to the TEEwent hard and found its way into the oil system (small chance)
2. a small piece of brass found its way in there ?somehow backflowing from the broken tee i find hard it to believe as the branch that holds the pressure sender is about 2" long x 5/16 bore, i dont think it flowed towards pressure, it should always go away from it. but, i may have pushed it deep by using a small screwdriver. putting it into the flow of the main line to the filter
3. something else.
as you can tell im frustrated by this :LOL2:
but the issue is resolved for now.
Any other ideas?