M52 2.8 Low oil pressure.

[Nomad]

Good Day all.

I am having a bad time with my 2.8. When driving for +- 20min, the oil pressure light starts to flicker erratically. Stop, turn off car, start back up and is normal again for +- 20min.

I did an oil and filter change as it was due. I found some sludge in the oil filter housing and cleaned that up. So after the oil change, back on the road and after 20min same thing. She has 273 000km on the clock.

I installed an oil pressure guage and measured the oil pressure when hot.

Idle: 0,5 bar
4000rpm: 2,75 bar

Questions:
Could it be the oil pump?
Could it be a relieve valve that is stuck open?

Any advice please. I am pulling the sump tonight to have a look.

Also, can one get an aftermarket oil pump and from where?

PS, I did search

Thanks in advance,
Jean

 

[freerider]

You say that you found some sludge in the oil filter, what oil are you using and did you run a flush through the engine before the oil change?

 

[Hellas]

For thatmileage, I'd go for a flush too.

 

[Nomad]

Thanks for the replies. I did do an oil system flush before putting new oil in.
I used castrol for the previous change, but running Shell Helix now again.

Cheers,

Jean

PS, batteling with the damn sump...seems like there is a bolt on the bellhousing side that I am not seeing or the sump is just really a bitch to take off.

 

[freerider]

Looks like there are quite a few bolts holding that baby on

 

[Nomad]

Thanks for the diagram, got one from RealOEM.com Seems like I am shorting one bolt.

 

[freerider]

Thats where the bentley manuals are awesome, they even tell you where to look for hidden bolts

 

[Nomad]

Does anyone have a bentley manual in e-form?

I managed to get the sump off after allot of swearing and cuts. This is not your run of the mill BMW. It's a Land Rover with the 2.8i motor factory fitted. On a scary note, I found some metal in the sump:cursin:....so something somewhere is not happy. Removed the Main bearings and big ends, no damage at all. In fact, the still look brand new. Stripped out the oil pump, hardly any play after I cleaned it out. The releave valve was sticky so holding thumbs that was the cause of the low oil pressure. So now on to the head to see if I can find the cause of the metal fragments in the bottom of the sump.

Any advice???

Cheers,

Jean

 

[freerider]

Had the motor lost power at all, or was it just the oil pressure that was low?

whats the mileage on the motor?

 

[Nomad]

Had the motor lost power at all, or was it just the oil pressure that was low?

whats the mileage on the motor?

Hi Freerider

No power loss, no bearing noises or other frightning catastrophic engine failure sounds, just the low oil pressure.

Motor is on +- 273 000km.

Cheers,

Jean

 

[freerider]

oil pump maybe on its way out? that is rather high kms.

The bits of metal that you found arent maybe bits of oil pump impeller?

 

[Nomad]

"Stripped out the oil pump, hardly any play after I cleaned it out."
In short, no, there are no metal parts missing from the oil pump
If you know what the oil pump impeller looks like, had there been a catastrophic failure in the oil pump, the least of my problems would have been the metal fragments that I found. At least I would have known where it comes from.

 

[freerider]

hell, I wish I could be of assistance, hopefully you will find the source of the problem when you pull the valve cover.

 

[Nomad]

Thanks.