• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!

    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

second verse same as the first [almost]

JPSmit

Moderator
Staff member
Country flag
Offline
well, we had her running this PM - with an extension on the tailpipe to keep the fire dept away. The H20 gauge works fine but now the oil gauge isn't. It was before, I did tighten it up well when I reinstalled the gauge but nothing.

thoughts?
 
Might have an air block. Bleed it at the guage.
 
Collapsed rubber hose on the oil line. I have seen it before.
If you remove both ends, see if you can blow thru the line, if not, the rubber hose is shot.
 
no rubber there - all metal - I'm thinking air
 
Min did that once and it was a piece of teflon tape from the threads that had flapped over the tube. Doh!
 
Air in line shouldn't make any difference.....pressure is pressure. Probably blocked.

w
 
Sorry if I missed this:
Have you added a mechanical oil pressure gauge? (the standard one in a 1500 is electric)

I have a spare gauge here (~Like This~) and if I'm unsure of oil pressure, I just screw it directly into the block to get a reading.
 
Nial, it's mechanical - metal tube - screws on back. There is a wire that attaches at the junction by the engine but no corresponding wire to the gauge.
 
well, tonight I got her running - Actually starting is fine, keeping her running is still a bit of an issue but I put a new coil on and that might help. I have the air cleaner 3/4 blocked off so we'll see how that goes. The plugs look a better colour - still black but it's coming. I sprayed starter fluid around the vacuum leak areas and nothing changed sound or idle wise which means - I suspect - that the vacuum at least is OK.

Anyway, in the course of all this I pulled the glass off the top of the oil gauge and it sprang to life. All this comes to tonight's question. While I try to figure out why the glass is touching the needle, does reassembly go

paper gasket
glass
chrome trim

or

glass
paper gasket
chrome trim?

thanks all
 
Hmmm?

I would sort of think:

paper gasket
glass
chrome trim

If nothing else, that'll give you the greatest spacing so the needle doesn't hit the glass.

By the way, I don't think any US 1500 cars had a mechanical gauge. I've only seen electric (mine's been swapped for an aftermarket mechanical unit).
But your's is Canadian, so maybe that's different.
 
I thought only the last year of the 1500 had the 'lectric temp gauges. But MG being what it is, there was probably a bit of crossover in the parts bin. But Nigel's a '76, and his mechanical gauge was original.

Mine had a little rubber o-ring between the glass and bezel<span style="color: #FF0000">*</span>. It had gotten hard and crumbled when I took the gauge apart. Re-assembled without it, using just the gasket, and still fit together fine. Maybe if you try taking your o-ring out and fitting the bezel without it, it'll give you a little more space between the glass and the dial?

(<span style="color: #FF0000">*</span>Not the o-ring on the outside of the gauge; the one actually inside the bezel itself.)
 
well all tonight is my big garage night - Grey's Anatomy + Private Practice = 2 uninterrupted hours. Got the oil gauge reinstalled - checked at every step and she is reinstalled and working perfectly. Lost one thumbscrew but had a spare so hurray. She's starting consistently and idling strongly. Found the third diode and disconnected the white/red wire that I suspected was causing the starter to not disengage when the brake failure switch was hooked up - I was right, works perfectly. Installed a battery cut off switch - it works.

Now though the brake failure switch is shining - not sure why - I'm hoping it is because the emergency brake is not hooked up but I'm not sure - thoughts. Anyway, as usual thanks to all.
 
Back
Top