Selene - Nev's NB SE

speed · Postby **speed** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 6:52 pm

Nevyn72 wrote:Wow, 1000 posts since joining less than a year ago, I do carry on a bit don't I........

So to celebrate I've decided to officially name my SE 'Selene'.
I've been calling her that for a while now anyway......

Why Selene?

Kate Beckinsale in leather.... What else would you like to climb into for a fun ride!

Finally up to date with this thread!!!

The write ups are legendary!
One question: When is the bigger turbo and upgraded ecu arriving? Haha

Different kind of power but I look forward to cruising with you once I fit the SC to mine

I'm actually driving her as much as I can these days, which is still limited to weekends but much better than i was back when I met you.

Still yet to think of a name but currently I refer to her as ripples...

Look forward to reading your updates.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 3:49 pm

So I had a bit of an oil pressure issue yesterday.

I was driving home from my folks place when I glanced down and saw 95 psi on the oil pressure gauge...... YIKES! :shock:

Not a good thing when you're over 120km from home.

Of course I immediately pulled over and while recovering from a minor heart attack started looking at a few things.
I noticed before shutting down the engine that the indicated pressure had dropped to ~60-65 psi at idle.
I popped the bonnet and everything appeared ok, there was plenty of oil, no sign of any leaks or kinks in the hoses for the oil filter relocation kit.

I had some small delusions that shutting the engine down might magically solve the issue but no luck.

I drove a little further but saw that under acceleration the pressure was actually going off the gauge (100+ psi) so pulled over again for some more thinking and tinkering.

Next thing I considered after shutting down the engine and looking forlornly at the engine again (yep it's still there, nope, there's no neon sign pointing out what's wrong), was to turn the ignition on without starting the engine. Hmmmmm.......
So the warning light I wired up to the factory oil pressure switch is lit, so less then 7 psi, but the speedhut gauge is showing an indicated 35 psi..... without the engine running.....

I think I can see where the problem is! Off it goes again and I unplug the speedhut sender unit and try the ignition agian, yep that's it, now reads 0 psi.

So some quick mental arithmetic lets me see that if I subtract 35 psi from the indicated reading it actually shows around about the right number! :mrgreen:

Still not entirely convinced I drive the rest of the way home, very gingerly, watching every gauge closely for any signs of problems. Apart from the indicated high oil pressure everything runs perfectly...... Phew.

Today I did an oil change and replaced the oil filter (just fell due anyway, good timing that) to be sure they weren't contributing.
While doing this I pulled the oil pressure sender unit and tested it in open air, still indicating 35 psi...... Bingo!
So it appears to be a dodgy sender unit that caused all these extra grey hairs, at least it's an easy fix.

Has anyone else out there had a sender fail in the same way?
Is my logic sound or have I missed something else and I'm about to blow up my engine?

Will the sender likely be a generic unit or will I have to get speedhut to send one out?..... then again warranty, hmmmmm.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 4:59 pm

I'm having the same heart attack but at oil temp. My guage reads 120+ (on the track) but my single warning light that goes off at 120° is off, further the water temp is a stable 94° . I have found the same issue with water temp, the Innovate reads 9° hotter than the Haltech one. I'm in the process of installing both a oil temp/pressure sensors to the Haltech, these will be used to check the Innovate oil temp/pressure ones. Once I know the difference I can adjust the innovate to match.

Your backup on a low pressure light independent of anything else is a great idea, however I have not seen a product for too high oil pressure.

I would say have it returned/replaced. However check to see if the sensor is grounded correctley before taking any other decisions.

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 6:10 pm

I feel your pain guys regarding gauges and their readings, and whether or not they're accurate.

I calibrated my air and water temperature sensors myself for the Adaptronic ECU and was annoyed that they differed from the PLX sensor readouts which I initially+foolishly assumed were accurate so persisted by doing multiple calibrations.

Over "winter" here in Brisbane, I validated my calibrations vs the PLX sensor values throughout the day by checking the reported values when the car hadn't been running for 24 hours so that the water and oil temperatures SHOULD be the same as the ambient temperature. Obviously this range wasn't very large, 12* through to 26*, but my calibrations matched the ambient temperature whereas the PLX sensors were off by several degrees AND they didn't always match each other!

ie. It's not a bad idea to start with some easy sanity checks on your sensors if you suspect you have issues:

* When your car hasn't been started for 12 hours or more, the oil and water temperatures should match the ambient temperature.
* A non-zero oil pressure reading with the engine OFF is a big giveaway that your oil pressure sensor is stuffed.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 6:19 pm

Simon, like you I insisted that the Innovate were correct but in the end they were proven wrong! They only real way to calibrate temp sensors are with oil baths or send them away. But again it could also be an earth issue, both sensors you are checking should share the same earth.

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 7:32 pm

Thanks for the replies guys, it's not an earth issue as the sender is internally earthed through the gauge wiring that shares an earth with the other speedhut gauges which are reading correctly. :wink:

I've sent an email to speedhut's tech support line with the symptoms and will hopefully get a reply sometime after they wake up over there...... :roll:

gslender · Postby **gslender** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 7:37 pm

Lokiel, not sure I'd agree that the oil/water should match ambient air. It takes a significant amount of energy to raise water by 1 degree, but air temp can go up/down fairly easily compared to the water/oil. So if they don't match, that might actually be correct. Oil doesn't absorb heat as well as water, so it also can differ and it would be possible to see 3-5 degrees difference depending on where you take the measurements from.

G

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:04 pm

I don't particularly care what the ambient, oil or coolant temperature is, I just want my oil pressure gauge to read less than 35 psi when the engine is off!! :roll:

rascal · Postby **rascal** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 1:39 pm

Magpie wrote:Simon, like you I insisted that the Innovate were correct but in the end they were proven wrong! They only real way to calibrate temp sensors are with oil baths or send them away.

Hmm, my newly fitted Innovate oil pressure/temp gauge reads 5 psi with engine off as well..
Seems an all too common occurrence... :evil:

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 2:23 pm

MTX-D: Oil Pressure & Temperature?

Same as what I use, however never had an issue with the oil pressure part of the gauge. Both of my MTX-D's have temp issues.

I'll post some info (either here, in my build thread or a new thread) when I get the oil temp/pressure installed to the PS1000 I can display them on the IQ3 and side by side with the Innovate MTX-D's. I'm lucky in that I can then adjust the data logging of the gauges (voltage/deg) but the Innovate MTX-D's display cannot be calibrated.

rascal · Postby **rascal** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:27 pm

Magpie wrote:MTX-D: Oil Pressure & Temperature?

Same as what I use, however never had an issue with the oil pressure part of the gauge. Both of my MTX-D's have temp issues.

yep MTX-D. I chose the innovate so as to avoid the cheaper ones reading incorrectly. :roll:

Yet to prove the temp side of things. It sits in the green (defaults) just cruising around, but soon as I run it to redline a few times times on the road it heads to the orange zone. Have to rtfm to find out what these values are defaulted to to see if an issue waiting to rear its head.

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Wed Nov 12, 2014 9:32 am

Well after being in contact with Speedhut and doing few tests for them they're sending out a new sender unit today, hopefully this sorts it out.

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Wed Nov 12, 2014 11:31 am

Well, it's good they're sending out a replacement, but it makes you wonder about their fail rate.

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:37 pm

I found Speedhut very good with sorting out issues when my boost gauge inverter blew (even though I think it was my fault not isolating the unused contacts)
Hopefully the new unit sorts it out.

I thought you could calibrate the innovate gauges? Or is it just the MTX-L unit? (ie, at what temp it changes from green to orange etc)