XE Oil pressure

[markmcgivern]

HELP!

just got my newly built xe on the road, after returning from the mot the oil light came on:cry: i switched the engine off straight away, it sounds fine so i will check the relief valve/spring whatever it is and see if dirt has got in, can it be something else? its a brand new pump from qed

[markmcgivern]

ive taken the bolt out for the relief spring and it came out fine, was under tension and looked ok, was a bit tricky to get back in under tension, is this right?
Im going to take off the sump next and check the pick up pipe, any thoughts or comments will be greatly appreciated

[mowgli]

aren't you supposed to take the ball out too?

[Iain]

Yes there's the valve on the end of the spring, assume you removed this too?

Got a pressure gauge? Wondering if you can rule out an electrical fault on the light first!

[markmcgivern]

i decided to take the oil pump off, just finished inspecting it:cry:, the piston/valve in the pump is severely scored, along with the chamber at the top, it wont slide up and down, i had to tap it out :cry: its pretty obvious that a bit of dirt has got in and caused the damage, im thinking now that i will buy a new pump and strip and clean the engine down to prevent another pump getting killed
any comments or thoughts as to what i should do?

The head has just been built and i built the bottom end myself, new bearings etc, i didnt clean out the breather pipe when i built it, guessing i should of now as this might be where it came from

[Will F]

The pick up pipe/gauze should pick up any foreign bodies though, so it could be pump failure?

[philip]

did you have rocker cover blasted and powder coated? and not cleaned properly? as thats a more common problem. need to check crank and bearings are ok....big ends may be ****ed.

btw do you live opposite the chippy in st martins...blue nova under the sheet?

[MK999]

Gauze is too big to pick up something like a bit of sand from bead blasting for example.

When you say newly built was it a complete rebuild from the ground up? As the above is quite plausible if the block/head weren't cleaned thoroughly after blasting.

[BRoadGhost]

Exact same thing happened to mine after reusing 1000 mile old oil. Fine particles in the oil are enough to make the valve stick in the pump resulting in no pressure.

Not that I have experience of the conversion, but some run a Z20LET pump [with different internals ~ probably not prone to the problem]. I on the other hand bought & fitted an SBD Nylon relief valve & have never looked back.

There's also a third option (I've also not tried) which is to have the O.E valve turned down a fraction so it's freer in the bore.

TBH if you're running such a good & valuable engine and using it in anger you might want to keep a closer eye on it with a pressure gauge.

If you do go for the nylon item it comes with all new bits & shims to get the pressure perfect (mines using 1 shim supplied).