Steve P Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 I have a small metal holder i made fixed under the dash next to the steering column on my Vitesse. I replaced the ignition,oil pressure and high beam lamps with 10mm High output LED`s.(Red,Blue and Green) Mainly because i converted to an electronic speedo and tacho. You can`t miss those when lit up,high beam one is too bright actually. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 40 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said: upgrade to one of these maybe !!! Used to have one of those, in green, for emergency medical response when doing rally work. Does it work? Do other motorists yield to you, give you space? Does it heck! Any more than full Blues'nTwos do, most of the time. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herald948 Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 Just a thought: Whether you wire an air horn or an amber Lucas Fog Ranger lamp to the pressure switch, the fact remains that said warning is not going to occur until that pressure drop is down to about 7-10 lbs/sq. in. based on the specs of an original sender. At that point, does it matter, or is the damage (potentially) already done? If I were to go to all this trouble, I think I'd want to try to find a sender that would alert you at a somewhat higher level, say <20 lbs./sq. in? 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 What about one of these adjustable pressure switches with a range 14.5psi to 145psi? Priced 3.79 and youd have to set it with a tyre pump before installation.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 1 hour ago, JohnD said: Used to have one of those, in green, for emergency medical response when doing rally work. Does it work? Do other motorists yield to you, give you space? Does it heck! Any more than full Blues'nTwos do, most of the time. J. Yeah it's amazing how blind some of them can be. When you do get past, a glare usually results in a blank expression. "What'd I do?" I had an orange revolving one of those, ran on D cell batteries and had a big suction cup, so at a mates house warming, after a few drinks, we decided the music needed lighting too. Got it from the car boot, stuck it to his newly plastered ceiling, and after a few minutes it dropped to the floor with a huge piece of plaster attached. AND it shattered into bits too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Truman Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 Ref suction flashing light working in the water supply operations area I had one of those, Having an exec company car with all the radio aerials (3) my son just after passing his test took a friend and girl friends to a drive in movie around 40klm away he rang me on mb to tell me Dad if you put black tights over the orange flashing light it looks just like a police cars blue flashing light! My immediate response if your in a public area and your’ve done that YOUR gone mate, also tell the girl to put her tights back on, end of discussion. Moral don’t give your son your car with work tools in it! Peter T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daverclasper Posted February 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 2 hours ago, Herald948 said: Just a thought: Whether you wire an air horn or an amber Lucas Fog Ranger lamp to the pressure switch, the fact remains that said warning is not going to occur until that pressure drop is down to about 7-10 lbs/sq. in. based on the specs of an original sender. At that point, does it matter, or is the damage (potentially) already done? If I were to go to all this trouble, I think I'd want to try to find a sender that would alert you at a somewhat higher level, say <20 lbs./sq. in? 🤔 Wondered that myself?. And I guess "there she blows", will be more likely at higher RPM and equals more damage, but, I guess it , could do more good, than harm to fit one. I guess the light is fitted, to show you may be very low on oil (they used to drink it, on some cars, I understand?). Out of interest. The switch and bulb appear not to be directly connected to the fuse box on my diagram, though I think are linked to the ignition circuit/fuse , via the other white wires, to no 2 position on ign switch. So, can I connect the buzzer to the part of fuse bock, that takes the white wires?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 DC, That deoends entirely on the trigger pressure for your chosen sensor trigers at. You can even get adjustable ones: https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=2943 J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 cor that sensor is a bit more expensive than my ebay one! And yes Dave connect onto the white wires but as I say you should then have an inline fuse to protect the new wiring and buzzer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 brilliant stuff but do we have any idea of the % engines failed due to low oil pressure over the years not wishing to arrest the twiddling or party pooper but me thinks all this is a pretty useless must have then im on some good pills Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 Years back, my then daily driver (my first Vitesse) started illuminating the oil light when nearing idle. I changed the oil. No difference. I dropped the sump and replaced the big end shells. No difference. Then I replaced the switch. I'm with Pete on this particular "must have". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herald948 Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 Re: Engine damage. At age 17 or so, in my first Herald, I managed to ignore things long enough that, while driving along, the engine suddenly got very sluggish. I did know enough to shut it down, and I walked the thankfully short distance to the nearest gas station. Long story short: took four quarts (US) of oil to bring the level back up to full. For its last year or so, the Mk3 Spitfire I had used oil at a rate of something like 30 mi./qt! There were times when I had no choice but to motor on with the warning light scowling at me, but that little 1296 never gave me one moment of grief! A few years later, my GT6+ light started to remain on at all times. Replacing the switch fixed the problem. Fast forward to about 10 years ago (different Herald). Engine always seemed fine, but it got to the point where the oil warning light was staying on at higher and higher revs. Once I discovered the pressure switch was LEAKING SLOWLY, I replaced it, and all was fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Truman Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 not directly related to pressure switch, but my Mk2 Vitesse always holds over 60psi running pressure & > 20 at idle, early 70's taking the wife to Middleton St George Airport for an early morning flight to review several European holiday destinations, the oil when running dropped to 40psi with the oil light just blinking at idle! I reasoned I could get to the plane OK then investigate, as there was no oil trail/leak I reckoned it had to be the blow off valve, so I unbolted it checked, it was all OK so put it back, Whallha normal oil pressure returned, why/what caused the blip I'll never know its now 49 years on and I've never had a re-occurence and I've never removed the engine only the head around 1973 for a sticking valve, hit that with a hammer on the valve collet end and its never re-occured! I think I gave it a good shot of Redex and smoked the ICI petrol station at Stokesley out! Later that year we took the Vitesse over to Europe for 2 weeks to write reviews on the hotels. Did the blow off valve not seat properly, has anyone else had a similar issue, not that I'm worried after 49 years. Peter T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 On 08/02/2020 at 19:44, Pete Lewis said: or you could connect in a low brake fluid warning to improve the blood pressure ha! Ooooo! Bearing in mind that dual brake line Triumphs DO have a warning light, where’s my soldering iron?!!! 😳 Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 is the moral of this do the easy cheap first Ha ! yes doug , dont use scotch locks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daverclasper Posted March 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2020 On 08/02/2020 at 19:18, johny said: Ive just noticed that on my car the supply to the oil light doesnt come through the fuse but directly from the ignition switch (white wires) and you'd better stick to this. To do it properly you should connect to this supply but use an inline fuse before wiring to the buzzer.... Well, I've fitted it anyway (as already bought it). Just added the live to a spare prong on the white wire side of the fuse block (Lucas org 2 fuse type). Do I need an inline fuse (it pulls about 5 amps, according to amp meter), as I assume this will be fused now. Also sleeved the wire and used those rubber/plastic shroud thingies over the female spade connections at each end of live wire. Quite loud and high pitched by the way, about £2, inc delivery from China. Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted March 8, 2020 Report Share Posted March 8, 2020 Just now, daverclasper said: Quite loud and high pitched by the way, about £2, inc delivery from China. Cheers, Dave Does it sound anything like this? WOO-Han! WOO-Han! WOO-Han! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daverclasper Posted March 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2020 Well. It doesn't sound like my wife, who is Chinese 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted March 19, 2020 Report Share Posted March 19, 2020 Hi, The Oil Pressure Switch is only good for checking idle pressure, so one set a gnat below the minimum due to Temp/RPM would be the best. Not ideal. Attention-grabbing at minimum pressure vs Temp/RPM would be much more useful. Surprised if such a system does not exist in modern cars. Plan on doing the same to mine. Maybe with some RPM limiting? Cheers, Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted March 20, 2020 Report Share Posted March 20, 2020 10 hours ago, SpitFire6 said: Surprised if such a system does not exist in modern cars. The systems I work on have a facility for imposing a "limp home" mode if the oil pressure drops. However, they're for motorsport applications where rebuilding the engine costs more than most modern cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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