Thanks. The reason for concern was the change in behavior. I have had
this car for a long time and this is recent. Of course, this gauge
behaving differently would not be the only thing that has gone wrong (or
changed) over time!
Ken
Russell Neely wrote:
Thoughts? I think it sounds perfectly normal for an Alfa spider. From
idle, you should see the gauge drop slightly when you shut off the engine.
That means it is showing a bit of oil pressure.
Running down the road with the engine hot, you should have at least 1/3
of a gauge of oil pressure. 1/2 a gauge would be better, but does not always
happen.
I did notice that my 91 carried slightly better oil pressure on the road
with synthetic oil. I guess it does not get as thin with heat.
If you are worried, check the gauge. Unplug the wire. It should be on
the side of the block high on the passenger side. But it could be down by the
motor mount.
Anyway, with the wire unhooked the gauge should read zero. Touch it to
the block or any ground and it should show a full gauge.
If you are still worried, buy a new oil pressure sending unit. It will
probably behave exactly the same.
Ciao,
Russ Neely
--- On Thu, 10/1/09, Ken Tubman <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Ken Tubman <[email protected]> Subject: [alfa] 77 spider oil
pressure
To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, October 1, 2009, 9:41 PM
When I start my '77 spider everything is fine and the oil pressure
reading on the gauge is normal: a bit more than half way up when driving,
about 1/4 of the way up at idle. After driving for a while the pressure
readings go down. After about 20-30 minutes the pressure reads
noticeably lower. It actually starts to read around zero at idle, going
up when the revs go up. The engine still runs and feels fine. Any
thoughts?
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