| Author | Message | ||
     Lost_in_ohio |
On the way into work this morning the oil pressure light blessed me with letting it's presence known. I pulled over checked the level which was ok. No apparent leaks. restarted the bike and it was not on. Then a few minutes later it flicked on and off randomly the rest of the way in. I was hoping someone at home or working at a dealership could do me a favor and look and see where the sending unit is and what color the wires are. I would like to go out at lunch and check it. I believe at this point it is just electrical but I need to make sure before I start it for the trip home. thx in advance. | ||
| Bombardier |
Check your oil pressure before you go for a ride on it. May well be the oil pump gear has gone south and is only giving you oil pressure every now and then. There are posts on this site about it in the Knowledge Vault. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Gonna run out at lunch in the company truck and pick up a gage. does anyone know what the tread size is???? and where exactly it is located? | ||
| Jos51700 |
Here it is. It uses the same tapered-thread as most oil pressure sending units (I know my 318 Dodge Dart uses the same sensor). There's only one wire, Green IIRC. I'm betting there's an oiling issue. May just be air in the lines or some such, but this sounds much more dire. I can't remember if removing the wire makes the light come on or not. That's what I'm hoping for, becasue the wire end just pushes on, and the excess wire wraps around the sender. It might just be a sender going bad, since you didn't mention any valvetrain noise.  | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
no extra valve train noise at all. Thats why I went ahead and road it in. Keeping an eye on the light. anyone know the wrench size for the sending unit? So what should the pressure be at idle???? Anyone know the specs? (Message edited by lost_in_ohio on April 07, 2008) | ||
| Akbuell |
In general, the oil pressure switch is just a spring-loaded ground. When the oil pressure is low, the spring helps complete a path to ground, and the oil pressure light comes on. As oil pressure overcomes the spring pressure, the ground is broken, and the light goes out. Again, in general, the wire to the pressure switch is "hot" i.e. it has 12V running through it anytime the ign is on. Therefore, if it has rubbed through anywhere near a ground, the light will come on. You will, of course, want to check the oil pressure with a gauge, but I suspect you have (given the intermittent on/off light) a chaffed area in the insulation, allowing the wire to ground where it shouldn't. | ||
| Sokota |
oil pressure at idle , at normal operating temp is 6 - 8 psi. At 2500 rpm 10 - 12 psi. This info is from 05 City Cross factory manual. Hope its just the sender unit. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
that is a big help thx | ||
| Akbuell |
Addendum: My '08 service manual gives 10-16PSI at idle (1050-1150 RPM) and 20-28PSI at 3k RPM. The'08 has a different oil pump, ect, so the actual numbers are liable to be different than the '07 and earlier models. Hope this helps. Pls let us know what you find. | ||
| Ccryder |
Jerry: Easiest would be just to grab another pressure switch, especially if you didn't notice any noise. I had one on an S2 that freaked me out after a rebuild. I thought Oh NO! $2k down the drain!!!! It was a bad sensor, the ball got stuck (I hate that when it happens) sometimes. BTW what year and how many miles? Neil S. | ||
| Punkid8888 |
I am not sure, but the wire going to the low oil pressure switch is not positive. Its the ground side of the bulb, when the switch closes (from lack of pressure) it completes the path to ground activating the light. Regardless, if that wire is chafing the chassis then it will complete the circuit to the light. Also look for some metal shavings inside the pressure switch, it could be causing the short to ground as well. good luck, I am betting its nothing more then a rubbed wire or bad switch | ||
| Jos51700 |
There's a special socket that fits the sender, but the fit isn't that tight (tapered threads, don't get nutty with the torque), usually a crescent wrench works great. The sender is 8-sided if memory serves. | ||
| Hogs |
VEry Common , for the stock oil pressure switch to fail.. I have repalced 4 so far on bikes just for your info...! | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
it is an 06 with 9k on it. Thx for all the replies. I am gonna check the pressure with a manual gage before anything else. then go get a sender. I have 7 weeks left on the warranty. so I am not to worried. | ||
| Jos51700 |
If you're on warranty, let the dealer handle it. If it did lose pressure, you want a (dealer) record of it. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Just got home. The good news is cold idle the pressure was 12 to 15 and hot was 8 solid. reving pegged the 35 lb gage so it is some sort of an electrical gremlin. The odd thing was the light was out the entire ride home, hmmmm, Getting dark so I will have to investigate the wire issue tomorrow evening. There was the tiniest bit of corrosion on the sending unit post which I cleaned off with some contact cleaner and I am considering a touch of conductive grease to help slow corrosion. I will continue to update what I do and find. A side note to anyone in ohio I now have the testing gage and sensor socket so you are welcome to borrow it anytime. Thx for the info guys | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
What fun......Pulled the bike into the garage for the night oil pressure light was on......Well hopefully the stealership has a pressure sensing unit in stock. I am just gonna replace the dang thing. hmmm, the other thing I did just before putting it away was wire tie the wire loom back in place. maybe that could be it. I will cut oil wire loose before tomorrows commute. see what that does. (Message edited by lost_in_ohio on April 07, 2008) | ||
| Akbuell |
Since you have (thank goodness) adequate oil pressure, a quick check of the switch: Disconnect the wire from the switch. Hook up a DVOM in the resistance setting to the switch. W/the engine off, you should have a path to ground, w/low (ish) resistance. Start the motor, and the resistance should go to infinite, i.e. an open circuit. If it does, try rapping on the side of the switch (engine still idling) with a small wrench or whatever, and see if the ohms reading changes. If it does, the switch is bad. If not, look for a chaffed wire. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
It never came on during the ride to work today. Oh well the dealership has one in stock for 14 bucks. I will pick it up and try that first. Just came back in after looking for a damaged wire.....Nothing real apparent. | ||
| Roadkingtrax |
Perhaps this picked up a chip like in a jet engine? Im sure it is a cheap part...if a new one only costs 14 dollars. Good Luck and report back when you solve the issue for the benefit of us all. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Well today no oil light with new sending unit. Good news. I am not gonna pronounce it fixed for a week or so with no oil light. Weather looks decent enough here to ride tomorrow as well. |
