GRIFFITH 500HC OIL PRESSURE GAUGE

[MATHEW]

HI ALL
HAVE JUST BOUGHT A 94 GRIFFITH 500HC AND AM WONDERING IF THE OIL PRESSURE GAUGE SHOULD READ 90 OR ABOVE ALL THE TIME. AM I CORRECT IN THINKING THAT THIS TELLS ME THAT THE COMRESSION IN THE ENGINE IS OKAY.

[MikeG]

Mathew,

No, if you mean psi then it is not correct. It could be that the oil pressure transducer has failed. These generally fail to a closed circuit hence the full scale reading on your guage all of the time, IMHO. Get it checked over and if necessary replaced as soon as possible. Untill you do you wont know what the true oil pressure is.

Mike

[MATHEW]

quote:
Mathew,

No, if you mean psi then it is not correct. It could be that the oil pressure transducer has failed. These generally fail to a closed circuit hence the full scale reading on your guage all of the time, IMHO. Get it checked over and if necessary replaced as soon as possible. Untill you do you wont know what the true oil pressure is.

Mike

[500 GRF]

mine shows between 30 and 35?? What is "normal"?

[dan]

quote:
mine shows between 30 and 35?? What is "normal"?

Thats pretty normal

[rev-erend]

I think as new owners you will find the following link useful :
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Peter_Beech/TVR/Index.htm

[500 GRF]

Just as well! By the way would a low oil level have an effect on the psi? I checked teh oil yesterday and it was pretty low (so topped up) but the psi has't really changed at all. I thought you might be able to rely on this to let you know when you need more oil?

[Greenv8s]

quote:
I thought you might be able to rely on this to let you know when you need more oil?

If the oil level is low, the pressure drops off quicker as the engine gets hot (because the oil spends more of its time in the engine warming up and less time in the sump cooling down). But you should not rely on this to check the oil level is OK, you should have a rough idea how much oil it normally uses and check the level on the dipstick at least every thousand miles or so if not sooner.

Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

This does not mean the oil pressure reading tells you the oil level,

[500 GRF]

Thanks Peter and Rev. I guess I'm just not used to the high oil usage. I've had a look through the book summary and I think I'll be back there before long - it seems pretty useful.

[apache]

do a search on oil topics on this site, you can drop your oil consumption by 75% depending on what you use

[rev-erend]

you may be interested to know that mobil 1 - is available in a 20/50
grade. Which is great for these old
style engines. The thicker the oil the less you use of it.

[apache]

20/50 sounds a bit too heavy, I use 10/40 and it doesn't use any at all. Before it would need a litre every 300/500 miles on Mobil 1.....utter pants

[tvr_nut]

quote:
20/50 sounds a bit too heavy, I use 10/40 and it doesn't use any at all. Before it would need a litre every 300/500 miles on Mobil 1.....utter pants

Apache,
Is this a synthetic oil, or a mineral one? I am currently using Mobil 1 0W/40 (and for Griff 500 owners, using is the right word!).

[apache]

synthetic, what mileage is on yours ? your rings might be glazed if it's got lots