43 replies to this topic

[Mrstars11]

Yes it helps vastly,

And I have located my red and orange lights on my speedometer. When i turn the key the orange one comes on.
Then start the engine. Still orange.

The red one does nothing. Just stays off.

So, I shall be looking into those issues listed above.
:)

[Yoda]

Red is for exciter circuit for alternator so probably a blown bulb as I said earlier. The orange is oil pressure warning lamp and if this is staying on you need to find out why asap or you won't need to worry about your battery for much longer.

Edited by Yoda, 26 June 2014 - 07:09 PM.

[Mrstars11]

Oh man. It's all going to ****.

I do have an oil leak ive noticed. It's leaking from the sump. Only a little bit, but I've already booked it into the garage as soon I could get it in.

Not until 7th July though.

Oil level is not too bad. I think?

[alicetheauto]

You need to check the oil level asap too. Run the car for a minute or so, then turn off. Remove dip stick, wipe clean then dip again. Confirm the level is between the 2 marks on the dipstick. If not, TOP UP ASAP.

[Mrstars11]

My dipstick has 3 lines on it, just checked its on the second line. In the middle. Well maybe just a shade under.

What oil do i put in it. Probably a stupid question. But I have no idea. Haynes says a few different things....is there an optimal choice?

If that light is on the dash. The orange one, and i top my oil up regularly so it's not low. Am I still ok to drive the car? Its in the specialist mini garage on the 7th July, for a full check over and service.
To sort the massive multitude of ever growing problems..

[Badboytunes]

If the orange lamp stays illuminated, you could have a buggered engine. The lamp should extinguish when the oil pressure builds up a few seconds after starting. an oil pressure gauge is a handy way of knowing what pressure you have.

 

With regards to the oil level, I check from cold, always have done since my apprenticeship. Once an engine has been run, it takes a bit of time for all ofthe oil to go back into the sump.

[Mrstars11]

Ok, I'll pay more attention to this orange light
Get some propper tests done on it.

I'll go and get some oil for the car this weekend.
Am I right thinking its 20-50 oil? I'm sure i read that somewhere.

[Kieranlee999]

Ok, I'll pay more attention to this orange light
Get some propper tests done on it.

I'll go and get some oil for the car this weekend.
Am I right thinking its 20-50 oil? I'm sure i read that somewhere.

thats the oil i have in it :) and for the oil pressure light check that it hasn't been earthed anywhere if it has been earthed anywhere other than on the engine block then the light wont go off. it should go into the front of the engine on the left hand side roughly along the line of the spark plugs it should be a white wire with a brown stripe on it 

[Mrstars11]

should i be sourcing any particular brand of oil or anything?

 

or is it fine to just grab any so long as its 20w/50

[Kieranlee999]

20/50 mineral is what i have

[blackbelt1990]

I just use the halfords stuff in the green tin in all mine.

[Mrstars11]

Got myself some oil today. Topped up the engine with it. Went with halfords classic 20w50 oil.

I did double check the orange light. And it stayed on the whole way there. And back. About 10 mins round trip.
And from what I can see there is an earth cable connected but a lot of the cables are wrapped in electrical tape. So its hard to trace them to see im looking in the right place.

What I think ill do is garage it for the week till its in the mechanics and get everything looked at properly.

[Ethel]

I think you'd know about driving for 10 mins with no oil pressure, so it may just be a dodgy pressure switch or its wire shorting out.

 

Regarding the battery there are 2 figures to look at. One is the amp/hour rating, as already mentioned, that's not so important as your alternator should be up to meeting the highest demand with all your electrics in use. If it isn't you'd eventually end up with a flat/dead battery anyway. Car batteries aren't designed  for continuous discharging & recharging, the original alternator will run everything with some to spare. You should only need to upgrade if you add lots of extra lighting or enough ICE kit to make your ears bleed.

 

The other figure  is more important: CCA, standing for "cold cranking amps" is a measure of how much oomph is available to turn the starter on a cold morning. Diesel engines are higher compression than petrol ones so need more. You won't really know if your battery is up to the job until the temperature drops, it should be if it's up to original spec.

 

The oil warning light wire is brown with white stripes disconnect from the pressure switch (above the starter motor) and see if the light goes out.

[Mrstars11]

Right ok I'll try this disconnecting the wire thing, when you say id know after a 10 minute drive does that mean if oil pressure was actually wrong the engine would be bad within that time. because im pretty sure the orange lights been on for a while now. Like ive probably done about 45 miles with it on.
I thought it was the ignition light, like one that came on when power was on.