Oil pressure warning.

[bbig119]

I've been seeing this message frequently and I've been told its nothing to worry about but I thought I'd post to see what you guys think.

the OBC throws an oil pressure warning generally at idle and with increasing frequency as the car gets hot. I've got a '94 540 converted to manual.

Is this something I should be concerned about or do I just deal with it?

[DaveVoorhis]

Your oil pump bolts are falling out. See http://www.strictlybmw.com/newslette.../v8oilpump.htm

[joshua43214]

I can not imagine ever telling someone to not worry about this. Even if there is nothing wrong with your oil pressure and yu have a bug in the wiring, you will be driving a car that constantly cries wolf and you will ignore a real low oil pressure warning. Its like driving with your brake lights on all the time, you may as well not have a pressure sensor in the car at all.

If you do have low oil pressure, then you have a real problem that must be fixed if you want to keep driving your car. Most likely it is the oil pump coming loose, or a bad sensor.

[bbig119]

Ok, so I'm going to have to remove the oil pan to address this. I've seen a number of post about this common issue, but no specific procedures on how. Anyone know of a post of writeup detailing this job?

Second, since it sounds like its a pretty big job, are there any other preventative maintinence items I should look to perform while I'm going to hoist the engine? Engine mounts looked good over the weekend when I did valve cover gaskets.

[Kalevera]

It's not a hard job -- only the lower pan gets removed, not the upper. I do them regularly. Get a new gasket (metal/rubber deal), oil, and OEM filter kit. There are about 25 M6 bolts that hold the pan in place; if the car doesn't have self leveling, you don't need anything more than a 10 mm socket (and maybe a 10 mm wrench for the bolt under the bracket that holds the level sender harness connector).

best, whit

[bbig119]

It's not a hard job -- only the lower pan gets removed, not the upper. I do them regularly. Get a new gasket (metal/rubber deal), oil, and OEM filter kit. There are about 25 M6 bolts that hold the pan in place; if the car doesn't have self leveling, you don't need anything more than a 10 mm socket (and maybe a 10 mm wrench for the bolt under the bracket that holds the level sender harness connector).

best, whit

What if it has self leveling?

[BillionPa]

dont forget the red locktite!

might as well get a new oil level sensor o-ring while you are at it.

[Kalevera]

Loctite is virtually worthless in that environment. Any oil saturation will prevent it from creating a bond, and the substance can float around in the engine, which leads to spun bearings and things like this:




HHHhhmm...I wonder why that one stopped running...

[632 Regal]

obviously a nikasil failure... brake cleaner spray in the bolt hole with compressed air should make a good fit for loctite.

Loctite is virtually worthless in that environment. Any oil saturation will prevent it from creating a bond, and the substance can float around in the engine, which leads to spun bearings and things like this:




HHHhhmm...I wonder why that one stopped running...

[MTechnik540i]

obviously a nikasil failure... brake cleaner spray in the bolt hole with compressed air should make a good fit for loctite.

What's general concensus on using the Loctite? Definitely don't want to risk letting this float around.