Cossie-Lee

Hi, Just wondering what the standard gauge oil pressure gauge should read when car is at idle on a big turbo escort, was out for a wee run tonight and when i stopped at lights the gauge would drop down to just above the red, though not in the red, i came home straight away and checked the oil level, which was fine, right on the top mark, i had the oil and filter changed about 2 months ago but have done less than 100mile in that time. The oil is Mobil1.

Ohh and another question, when i was checking the oil i could hear a slight hiss coming from the header tank cap, i unscrewed it slightly and could hear lots of air noise from the hoses, i let it de-pressurise then unscrewed the cap i noticed the water level was very high, does this sound like an air lock??? As it happens, i had to remove the swirl pot the other dayas i was fitting my new cambelt cover, when i put everything back together i started the engine with the header cap off, i noticed that water was pumping into the header tank from the top hose, the one from the top of the swirl pot??? is this normal?? or have i simply put to much water in it??

Many thanks, Lee

RWD_cossie_wil

iTrader: (9)

Mobil one is rubbish, goes really thin when its warm. You want to be running Silkolene pro 15w50.

Rolls

iTrader: (2)

My oil presure sits at slightly above the bottom of the white section of the gauge when the car is at idle, and the oil temp is roughly 100 deg C - reads roughly 1.5 ish Bar (or the jap equiv) I think (from memory) - shoots stright up to 4 bar once being driven though!

ECOS95

Look here for pressures when hot & cold:
http://www.grahamgoode.com/cosworth/frtips.htm

Regards the hiss from the header tank, have you checked its not cracked or the cap is broken. Sounds like its loosing pressure as the cap enables the water system to run hot with out boiling the water by keeping it above normal atmospheric pressure, caren't remember by how much though. The water level does go up when the engine is hot. Mine sits about 10mm above the max when hot & on the max when cold.

hope it helps.

Cossie-Lee

Thanks for the replys guys As far as using mobil1, thats what AVA put in it when they serviced it and going by the sticker that was on the front panel, PJ Motorsport used that also when they rebuilt the engine. I will keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

As for the hissing from the cap, i will check the tank and cap for cracks and i will also empty some water out, the tank doesnt have a min or max mark so its hard to tell where the level should sit, i defo think i put to much water in it though.

cossiemanden

Oil pressure is ok for a std oilpump, but not on a high presure oil pump tho, it looses pressure cause the oil gets to thin so it cant uphold the "normal" idle pressure, this happens when the engine is hot as in just after you have canned it or a hot summerday.
This counts for the hissing in the tank also, as long as the water doesent come out ot the lid itself, your ok
water level on stainless tanks should be; when cold, just under the top big waterhose outlet, and yes, when you have a swirlpot the water comes out of the top small oputlet all the time, this is wery normal

Dave Henshall

mobil 1 lives on using its past quality to still sell it today. unfortunatly it is no longer anywhere near as good. silkolene pro S 15W50 is the only way.