Mechanical Problems & Technical Chat - Need to do an oil pressure check
asechrist
02-28-2009, 05:48 AM
I would like to try to perform an oil pressure check on my '95 Civic DX, as the engine makes a ticky sound (especially when warming up - but still smewhat even after). I checked the valve clearances and they were all within specification. A little while back, I purchased an oil pressure tester from Harbor Freight, but I would like it if someone here could tell me what the oil pressure should be at idle for my car. I'm not keen on trusting the numbers provided by the piece from HF. If you know of a place for me to find a description of the procedure, I'd appreciate that too, as it's not included in my Haynes. Thanks a lot,
Andy
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii320/RonJ_HCF/picture_2048.jpg
asechrist
03-16-2009, 03:00 PM
Thanks Ron. I haven't had a chance to deal with this yet, but I do have one question before I get to it. My car does not have a tach mounted, so I will hve to attach one, as the instructions direct. I'm sure this is probably simple, but how do I go about attaching a tach on my car for this test? Thanks again,
Andy
danomatic93
03-16-2009, 08:09 PM
Make sure that the oil pressure testing unit's threads are 1/8" BSPT. Otherwise you could mess up your threads.
asechrist
03-22-2009, 03:53 PM
My car is a Japanese built version. Is the 18" BSPT used in those?
danomatic93
03-22-2009, 04:43 PM
yes, BSPT (British Standard Pipe Thread) is metric pipe thread. NPT (national pipe thread) is American "standard" pipe thread.
asechrist
03-24-2009, 04:38 PM
Thank you Danomatic. I will make sure that I have the correct hookup for this test. Before I do procede, I would still like to get some help with how to proceed in hooking up a tachometer to my car. Does anyone know how I should go about this? Thanks again guys,
Andy
danomatic93
03-24-2009, 05:53 PM
Either get a cluster with a Tach (it'll plug in without any modification AND WORK!), which I'm sell one on eBay right now, or you can buy an aftermarket Tach and use the Blue wire which connects to the cluster (pin D5). That wire is the signal wire for the tachometer from the distributor. Also, if you can't find oil pressure tester with BSPT I have adapters to got from BSPT to NPT.
Good luck!