8 replies to this topic

[Spitz]

I recently installed a 1275. It ran very well in the car I had it in last year, good oil pressure.
I put the engine in another car recently, only thing I did to it while out was new clutch and oil seal behind the clutch.
Started up good with very good oil pressure for a few days.
Today while trying to sort out an unrelated problem, I noticed the pressure was very low. At 3000rpm pressure is only 25lb or so.
I got it back in the garage, shut it off...checked oil...no leaks and level good. I hooked up another guage and got same low results.


Any ideas....am I pulling this motor out again?
Thanks for any input.

[Ethel]

You could look at the oil pressure relief valve. The oil feed pipe to the filter housing wasn't damaged in the engine transplanting either?

[Spitz]

~~~~~Please delete this text before posting the topic~~~~~~
Please give your topic a title that quickly describes your problem. Just putting 'Help my Mini doesn't work' is useless to anyone trying to help.
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Any non-standard parts that might be involved with the problem?

I recently installed a 1275. It ran very well in the car I had it in last year, good oil pressure.
I put the engine in another car recently, only thing I did to it while out was new clutch and oil seal behind the clutch.
Started up good with very good oil pressure for a few days.
Today while trying to sort out an unrelated problem, I noticed the pressure was very low. At 3000rpm pressure is only 25lb or so.
I got it back in the garage, shut it off...checked oil...no leaks and level good. I hooked up another guage and got same low results.


Any ideas....am I pulling this motor out again?
Thanks for any input.

Ethel....
I havn't messed with the valve at all, and the pipe was clear of everything during install.
I was actually worried about how high the pressure was for the first couple of days (up around 70lb on startup and would take a while to simmer down to 50 at idle
Also...oil is 20/50 but still quite cold here.

[dklawson]

I don't think Ethel was implying that you had done anything to the relief valve. It's not uncommon for a tiny piece of trash or swarf in the oil to make the relief valve stick open or closed. In your case, it may be stuck open. It's an easy thing to check and would certainly be where I would start.

[Spitz]

I'll pull the valve out later today. ...will look for scoring etc.
What size is the bore? Can one replace the conical cylinder with a ball bearing if badly scored?
Thanks

[dklawson]

Spitz, I'm sorry... I didn't recognize it was you. This is the same Spits from the MM message board isn't it?

Yes, you can use the ball bearing conversion. The common thing to do is use a CV joint ball bearing pressed in place by the Cooper-S relief spring. However, you still should plan on shortening the spring a coil at a time until you get the pressure dialed in where you want it. I believe you'll find the full length spring too strong when used full length.

[bigmotherwhale]

i was about to say that, the cooper s spring and cv joint ball bearing gives much more constant pressure throughout the rev range, i highly recomend it, my oil pressure seems to sit at 50 55 psi regardless of hot cold etc

[Spitz]

Yes...tis me mr. lawson

I seem to get good, to the point, information on this forum as oppossed to the mm one. Barely any technical threads are dealt with politely and correctly over there.

Back to the ball....
I will pull a spring out of a parts engine and a CV ball (it's not going to get stuck in there is it??)
Any idea what the length of the spring needs to be to use the ball?
Thanks

[dklawson]

From memory, I believe 3 coils are cut off a Cooper-S relief spring when the ball is used. However, consider that only a starting point. More can be removed if necessary but beyond 3 coils, cut them off 1/2 coil at a time. Be sure to check the pressure with the engine oil "warm" before cutting additional coils off the spring.