Hehe, you must not be too used to older engines. I grew up on a farm and we had Dodge pickups and other larger dump trucks and I would get worried when the oil pressure was reading about 0 at idle when warm, but Dad just said that's the way those old engines worked. And they seemed to continue to run (though after a while they did need work it seemed. And of course there was that one time in the tractor with the Cat engine that I thought seemed like the oil pressure was reading low, but Dad said, ahh it's probably just malfunctioning. Well... That's when I learned what engines are like when they die... (: It's a big old articulated tractor I forget what I was pulling through the field, but it seemed like it was losing power, so what did I do? I gave it more fuel! Still seemed to be having a problem and making more noise though... Then it stopped. Permanently. Oops, apparently the coolant had gotten into the oil and the gauge wasn't lying... Ahh well. That was in my younger teenage days and still learning mechanics. Nowadays I try to at least keep the oil pressure above 0. (:
Levi On 4/23/06, Zoltan Finks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Wow. Interesting to know that about the Ford in that case. > > And as for the insights on the gauge - thanks. Finally I know what's up > with > that. > > So basically, we just know how the gauge should read, and if doesn't, then > there's a problem. > > I can swallow that when I admit to myself that I really don't truly know > the > implications of each gradation on my nice AutoMeter that tells me the > pressure in my 440 V8. All I know is that I get a really good feeling when > I > see the pressure up around 70psi at cold idle. It makes me think that I > have > a really fresh, tight engine (which happens to be true). And when I'm > idling > in traffic on a hot day, and the pressure drops to 45 or even into the > 30's, > I feel anxiety. But those are just general impressions. > > All I do know is that the engine needs adequate pressure to deliver a good > enough flow of oil to all the parts to sufficiently lube them for what > they're being asked to do. > > Brian > 83 240D > 68 Dodge Coronet 500 > > > On 4/23/06, Tom Hargrave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Jim's correct - what matters is hot oil pressure at idle or a pressure > > drop > > at running speed & both are delivered by Mercedes oil pressure gauge. > Even > > the American gauges that read actual pressure at running speeds deliver > > useless information at those speeds. > > > > I would correct one of Don's statements - I'd say that anything below > 1.2 > > bar at hot idle shows an issue with the engine. He's 100% correct about > > the > > pegged gauge at road speeds. > > > > I've got a better one for you. A friend of mine purchased a new Ford 3/4 > > ton > > diesel truck a few years back. He noticed that the oil pressure gauge > > always > > read mid level regardless of engine speed and being an Engineer, he knew > > better. He took it to Ford for diagnosis and found out in the process > that > > the gauge was connected to an "idiot light" sensor and when the sensor > > turned on, the gauge swung to mid range. In other words, the gauge was > > nothing more than a fancy idiot light! Needless to say, Don was not a > > happy > > camper! He's still driving the truck & he has a real oil pressure gauge > > mounted under the dash but he'll probably not purchase another one. Ford > > saved $6.00 and lost a loyal customer in the process. > > > > > > Thanks, > > Tom Hargrave > > 256-656-1924 > > www.kegkits.com > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > On Behalf Of Jim Cathey > > Sent: Sunday, April 23, 2006 12:25 AM > > To: Mercedes Discussion List > > Subject: Re: [MBZ] Idiot Needle > > > > > Why does the oil pressure gauge simply peg at 3 almost all the time? > > > In doing so, it is less a gauge, and more an idiot light. Why didn't > > > Mercedes redesign the gauge so that it provided precise feedback as to > > > the pressure? > > > > It's an interesting compromise of gauge and idiot light. Anything above > > 3 is more than enough, so the expanded scale lets you see more of the > > 'bad' > > area. I think anything less than 0.5 or 0.7 at hot idle is the danger > > zone. > > And if it's not at 3 on the road you have a problem. > > > > -- Jim > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.striplin.net > > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For > > used > > parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.striplin.net > > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.striplin.net > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net >
