RE: [alfa] One thing after another--Spider oil pressure zero

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Driving my 1978 Spider yesterday I noticed that the
> oil pressure gauge was at 0. Not really thinking,
> sitting at at idle, I said to myself "Hmm, that''s
> odd, it usually takes more driving for it to warm up
> that much." Then it struck me that even when fully
> warmed up the pressure never goes ALL the way down at
> idle. As I started up again from a red light, I saw
> that the gauge was not responding. I don't know how
> long it had been out, but I drove only about 15 miles
> yesterday and one mile today before thinking I
> probably shouldn't be driving it at all until I find
> out what's going on.

If the engine hasn't blown up by now, you don't have an oil pressure problem
- you have a gauge/sender/wiring problem.

> The car feels normal. It drives as it always does. I
> know there is plenty of oil in it. I am not aware of
> any new, sudden oil leak, and, as I say, there is
> plenty of oil in it. There are no odd smells. The
> temperature is normal.
>
> My question: I am guessing that I've just lost my
> gauge as the fuel pressue warning light is not coming
> on. Does that make sense? Or are the gauge and the
> light linked so that they would always fail together?
> Is there any easy way to tell whether I actually have
> no oil pressure? Wouldn't there be other symptoms if I
> really had no pressure? Would the car even be
> driveable? (see what I mean about ignorance--I love
> the car, I just don't understand it). The closest
> place that knows how to work on this car is 18 miles
> away.

I'm not sure where the fuel pressure warning light fits into this?  Do you
mean that it's not lighting up for an instant when you start the car?

That might indicate a wiring problem to the gauge cluster, most likely a
ground.  But as Benjamin suggested, the most likely place for a problem is
where the wire connected to the oil pressure sender.

HTH,

bs
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