A bouncing gauge is usually one of two things.
1) you have something floating around in your oil galleries that partially
blocks the gallery until a certain pressure is reached where the blockage
is breached. (IE damaged head gasket, solid crud chunk
in one of the galleries , etc etc -- ha kinda' like a human blood clot)
2) The oil pump is dying or is starving for oil. The oil pick up could be
sucking air
or the pump impellers are giving up tolerances as the engine warms up and
can't maintain pressure. You could have so much old sludge in you oil pan
that the pick up is very clogged and can't supply a 'steady' supply to the pump.
etc etc etc YMMV
.... just a couple of things to check...
Paul Tegler wizardz@toad.net http://www.teglerizer.com
OBie - '73 BGT - daily driver
http://www.teglerizer.com/mgstuff/ob_description.htm
Punkin' - '78 Spitfire - corner ripping screamer
http://www.teglerizer.com/triumphstuff/spit78.htm
Lil' Greenee - '73 RWA Midget - lady killer
http://www.teglerizer.com/midgetstuff/index.html
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Attias <cattias@cats.ucsc.edu>
To: MG Listserver <mgs@autox.team.net>
Date: Thursday, March 09, 2000 11:14 AM
Subject: Re: Oil Pressure Relief Valve
Word on the street is that Gary R Hacker said:
> I plan on replacing the oil pressure relief valve on my 75 B soon. The
> oil pressure gauge has been bouncing and acting strange lately. I have
> eliminated various oil leaks and cannot think of any other reason the
> gauge would flutter at different rpms. Any other ideas or any things to
> look out for or tips that would be handy in replacing the valve?
Replacing the piston and spring won't necessarily cure the bouncing
gauge, at least not at idle. I replaced mine a while back, and the
bounce is still there. I have had a rebuilt engine--new
everything--same thing. I think it's just the way it works.
Chris Attias
'64 MGB
'84 Alfa Romeo GTV-6
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