• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

Oil Pressure Sensor

kiwi dave

kiwi dave

GT Reference
Joined
Oct 28, 2008
Messages
2,230
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
O.K. These always give out occassionally, but on my Breva 1100 here in the USA, I've gone through three replacements and looking at a fourth in 36,000 miles.

After replacing the second one, I decided that the batch available in the USA was shoddy, so I brought a new one over from Kiwiland. Hell, it's only been in there for a few weeks, and it's playing up!

When the motor is cold, no problems, but after a few miles turn the key off and back on, and there is the service triangle. Wait about an hour or so, and try again, no problems until the next time turning the key on when warm.

Anyone who has replaced these things on a CARC bike will appreciate they are not the easiest things to get at for diagnostic (basic, not the readout) testing. Everytime I've replaced the switch it has cured the problem (so I thought), but this is getting ridiculous. The ones I've removed have tested faulty (i.e. open circuit no pressure), but the switch currently in place appears to be very slow to close its contacts when warm.

Have to confess I'm getting good at replacing them, but can anyone come up with a reason why so often?
 
I am trying to figure out from your description of the sensor if its N.O or N.C. meaning when it activated does it open or close the contacts??? Sound like a wiring short to me....hmmm...

Dan
 
Wistrick said:
I am trying to figure out from your description of the sensor if its N.O or N.C. meaning when it activated does it open or close the contacts??? Sound like a wiring short to me....hmmm...

Dan
Click to expand...

It is normally closed, then opens when pressurized.
 
Have you checked the pressure manually with a gauge?
 
The fact that it behaves only to the temperature of the engine, means to me that there is no short or intermittent.

And no, I haven't connected a oil pressure gauge anywhere (I have no idea where I would connect this to, anyway). I'm convinced it is the sensor, I would not keep riding (or would have been stopped long ago) if it was something more serious. The monitoring system on the bike will soon let you know with the oil can graphic if the sensor is closed when it should be open.

I'm still blaming the sensor, I just don't understand why me?
 
Let me quote myself from couple of months ago:

My replacement parts haven't arrived yet, but I decided to take an early start and removed the sensor to take a more careful look. I noticed that connector on the sensor was rather loose, and started to think if this could be the reason for the problem. I remember that the connector wasn't tight first time I changed the sensor, but I believed in collective wisdom and replaced the sensor without thinking twice.
So, the sensor is a simple switch, it is normally closed, which means that it is shorted when no input is applied. The switch is actuated by oil pressure through a hole on it's bottom. When the pressure is present, the switch will be in the open state. When ignition is turned on, the bike goes through self check procedure. It expects the oil pressure sensor to be shorted to the ground. If connection to the switch is bad, it will not be shorted, and SERVICE error will be generated by ECU. Bad connection could be intermittent, with the error coming up once in a while- and this is what I had. Also, it may work for a while, before the new sensor's connector will become a little dirty. I connected the sensor to a ohmmeter and pushed the switch through the oil entry hole on the bottom. I did it many times, and the switch always worked. I crimped the connector on the wire a little tighter, and i hope it will solve this issue for good. I will install the new sensor, just in case, but if anyone encounters the same issue, which seems to be common, I recommend starting with wiggling the connector wire and see if it helps even if only for a short while.
 
I would spray some contact cleaner in the new switch and operate it several times...I also would probably crimp on a new spade connector with an outer covering or put a little heat shrink on the one that is there... Oh and a little di electric grease @ the connection point wouldn't hurt anything either...JMTC...

dan
 
Well, swapped out the sensor yet again, and as expected the problem was fixed.

So I looked a bit closer at the sensor that was removed. The multimeter showed that the contacts were closed, and because the sensor was cold, this was no surprise. Then by forcing a pin up the oil hole, I was able to open the contacts, but when I removed the pin, the contacts stayed open. Aha, the fault was able to be recreated. I could feel a little roughness through the pin, perhaps the contacts were catching on something. After a few prods, the switch then started behaving normally, and I couldn't fault it again. It got tossed into the oven and baked hard, but still behaved.

No, I wouldn't install it on another motor, but I am going to research an alternative supply should this happen again, even if I have to make up an adaptor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top