What would be the downsides of chasing to thicker oil, or the other options ( I assume cost mainly on the other two )
EML warnings & Warm Idle Low Oil pressure.....MAF? VANOS?
- Thread starter NabsNabsNabs
- Start date
Going to a thicker oil is probably the easiest and cheapest option to try.
This link may help you decide on a different oil grade. https://www.penriteoil.com.au/knowledge-centre/Viscosity/237/what-is-an-sae-viscosity/180
This link may help you decide on a different oil grade. https://www.penriteoil.com.au/knowledge-centre/Viscosity/237/what-is-an-sae-viscosity/180
So been a little busy of late but had the weekend to continue tinkering with the Z.
So the red oil lamp is definitely coming on a lot sooner than it was prior to replacing with the new oil pressure switch (BMW OEM).
It used to come on at idle at c.90 degrees ( the central temperature notch ). It would turn off at engine speeds over 750/800rpm.
It now comes on at the mid-low temperature notch (must be about 60 degrees - I can't remember the scale ). At 90 degrees the red light only turns off at about 1,000+ rpm.
A bit baffled why it now appears worse?
could it be the original sensor was understating the pressure loss? Could I have damaged something else in the process (did I need to tighten the sensor further ), could the new sensor be faulty?
So the red oil lamp is definitely coming on a lot sooner than it was prior to replacing with the new oil pressure switch (BMW OEM).
It used to come on at idle at c.90 degrees ( the central temperature notch ). It would turn off at engine speeds over 750/800rpm.
It now comes on at the mid-low temperature notch (must be about 60 degrees - I can't remember the scale ). At 90 degrees the red light only turns off at about 1,000+ rpm.
A bit baffled why it now appears worse?
could it be the original sensor was understating the pressure loss? Could I have damaged something else in the process (did I need to tighten the sensor further ), could the new sensor be faulty?
Update:
So I dropped the car off at my local garage mid week, to do some diagnostics on the red oil light......collecting it later today, but the guy said Oil pressure test was ok both cold and warm idle. I told them not to (as it was done 2 months ago) but he also changed the oil (10W40) and filter which I'm a bit miffed about as would have done myself and tested a different grade at the same time if pressure was an issue.
He suspected an electrical fault is causing this and mentioned when you turn the steering wheel full lock the light also appears ( I have never had this so will test in arrival......don't know if this is a new issue)
Has anyone heard of this as a possible reason?in my mind, the light flicker is correlated to revs above a certain rpm, with the min rpm increasing as the temp increases. I must say I'm a little skeptical, the way he spoke sounded like he was blagging and was uncertain when I challenged and probed.....
Would be good to get some ammo ahead of collection if I need to dispute it.
So I dropped the car off at my local garage mid week, to do some diagnostics on the red oil light......collecting it later today, but the guy said Oil pressure test was ok both cold and warm idle. I told them not to (as it was done 2 months ago) but he also changed the oil (10W40) and filter which I'm a bit miffed about as would have done myself and tested a different grade at the same time if pressure was an issue.
He suspected an electrical fault is causing this and mentioned when you turn the steering wheel full lock the light also appears ( I have never had this so will test in arrival......don't know if this is a new issue)
Has anyone heard of this as a possible reason?in my mind, the light flicker is correlated to revs above a certain rpm, with the min rpm increasing as the temp increases. I must say I'm a little skeptical, the way he spoke sounded like he was blagging and was uncertain when I challenged and probed.....
Would be good to get some ammo ahead of collection if I need to dispute it.
I wish it was that simple turned out alot more serious than that. I actually did have this problem when my Z3 was a 2.2, it was a dry soldered joint in my binicle.
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So when I viewed the car at the garage the steering wheel did indeed trigger the red oil light when on complete lock. You hear the power steering pump buzz a little at each end as it hits resistance, and the red oil pressure light will then flicker in time with this. Any ideas?
However the main issue still persists, but somehow the garage has made the engine sound like utter crap with a new rattle/knock at all revs which is now my main concern.
I have no idea what they have done, but despite them saying it was like that, I know my car and especially I know the sound as the roof is down. I refused to pick up the car until they rectified whatever they b******* up.
I'm hoping it's just a wrong oil filter or wrong oil and hasn't caused further permanent damage.
However the main issue still persists, but somehow the garage has made the engine sound like utter crap with a new rattle/knock at all revs which is now my main concern.
I have no idea what they have done, but despite them saying it was like that, I know my car and especially I know the sound as the roof is down. I refused to pick up the car until they rectified whatever they b******* up.
I'm hoping it's just a wrong oil filter or wrong oil and hasn't caused further permanent damage.
I think you probably need to look to Lee’s advice on the cluster if other roads are exhausted. He knows what he’s doing and wouldn’t have jumped straight to that. Several of us have had clusters repaired by autotronics for £150 ish. Though normal fault is losing all the gauges so perhaps a little easier to diagnose.
Not sure what to say on the engine knock. The M54 engine is pretty bullet proof unless you do something very stupid to it. Perhaps they have bust a sensor or caused a vacuum leak from probing around. Suggest you ask them to put diagnostics on it. With you present and make notes to bring back here.
Not sure what to say on the engine knock. The M54 engine is pretty bullet proof unless you do something very stupid to it. Perhaps they have bust a sensor or caused a vacuum leak from probing around. Suggest you ask them to put diagnostics on it. With you present and make notes to bring back here.
Wasn't sure what the binicle was - is this in the cluster? And related to Steering lock triggering red oil light, or the red light in general at warm idle?
Binicle=cluster. Comes out with 2 upside down screws under the top of the pod behind steering wheel. 3 wiring connections to disengage. Push release pin in. Swing arm. Don’t force.
Lee is saying he had the same oil light problem as you and it was a cluster fault requiring the cluster to be repaired.
I would look at repair of cluster. Swapping clusters successfully is a bit of a dark art.
@Lee what was the more serious issue, the suspense leaves me in dread..... 
If the cluster is the cause of the warm idle issue more generally, such as when I'm in neutral at the lights or in traffic, then for the piece of mind I'm not killing the engine by normal driving then that would motivate me to fix the cluster.
@mrscalex The thing is, if the cluster issue causes the oil pressure lamp to come on when steering is at full lock, it sounds like a bit of a messy job for a gain I wont notice. I guess my acrobatic parking manoeuvres are generally at cold idle so it never appears.
If the cluster is the cause of the warm idle issue more generally, such as when I'm in neutral at the lights or in traffic, then for the piece of mind I'm not killing the engine by normal driving then that would motivate me to fix the cluster.
@Lee , I'm presuming the previous issue mentioned was related to this link?
http://zroadster.org/threads/z3-oil-pressure-advice.25128/#post-420545
Not sure we have the same thing. If I read correctly, that seemed a random flicker, potentially triggered by bumps. Here, mine seems to be triggered by Warm Oil and low revs or full lock steering
http://zroadster.org/threads/z3-oil-pressure-advice.25128/#post-420545
Not sure we have the same thing. If I read correctly, that seemed a random flicker, potentially triggered by bumps. Here, mine seems to be triggered by Warm Oil and low revs or full lock steering
That’s my two pennies worth on repairing the cluster. As you’re doing now, the right thing is to compare notes with Lee before sending it for repair. I can’t answer that bit for sure.@Lee what was the more serious issue, the suspense leaves me in dread.....
@mrscalex The thing is, if the cluster issue causes the oil pressure lamp to come on when steering is at full lock, it sounds like a bit of a messy job for a gain I wont notice. I guess my acrobatic parking manoeuvres are generally at cold idle so it never appears.
If the cluster is the cause of the warm idle issue more generally, such as when I'm in neutral at the lights or in traffic, then for the piece of mind I'm not killing the engine by normal driving then that would motivate me to fix the cluster.
The steering on full lock "issue" is a red herring. All that is happening is that when the steering gets to full lock it opens the relief valve, which in turn lowers the engine revs (back to original problem?). Try increasing the idle speed then go to full lock and see if the light comes on then.
Tony.
Tony.
I'm struggling for context when this light flickers, It's sounding like your rev's are dropping below the set idle, I would check this plugging it in and reading the live data, I bet your rev's drop further when you turn the steering as this applys more load to the engine. The oil your running seems a little thick to me, did you say you've given the engine a flush, fresh oils and filter, the M54 lumps are prone to getting gummed up if the service intervals are long.
@Lee the context is the light is coming on at warm idle which the cluster dial is telling me ~650-750rpm.
The light will then go off at about ~900-1,000 rpm if I touch the throttle (again from the cluster).
It hasn't had a flush, but the garage did put new oil and filter. I suspect the latter two have not been done properly or enough which is causing the knocks.
I'll see if they can check the revs via diagnostics, as it's still with them. Could be a shout as I was having a sticky rev counter at one point. I think someone else had suggested idle might be too low.
The light will then go off at about ~900-1,000 rpm if I touch the throttle (again from the cluster).
It hasn't had a flush, but the garage did put new oil and filter. I suspect the latter two have not been done properly or enough which is causing the knocks.
I'll see if they can check the revs via diagnostics, as it's still with them. Could be a shout as I was having a sticky rev counter at one point. I think someone else had suggested idle might be too low.
I’ve never had an engine knock myself. But only today I was reading something that suggested a small misfire on an M54 can sound like knocking. In that particular case it was a leaking rocker gasket that had spoilt a plug. I’d be more inclined to believe the garage had introduced a misfire than damaged the engine from an oil change.
I also thought that could be a possibility too.
I've never had known what a knock sounds like either, but it sounds like what the description of a knock is. A few months back I did have a misfire warning code, but when resetting something else it disappeared and never came back. The engine however never made the rhythmic rattly/clunk sound that I'm hearing now.
I'm giving them a call first thing to see if they have any update or ideas and maybe share some of these ideas.
I had a knock in a M54, thought it was rod knock, turned out to be a loose spark plug. Tightened the plug and no more problems.
So after hitting my lowest point of being a Zed owner on Saturday, distraught with the noises the engine was making and fearing a) New engine or b) New car ( the garage boss even suggested, if it was his car he would sell it ), I went and collected the car, and I can say with much euphoria that both the original problem and new noisy engine fixed!! The low pressure light at warm idle has gone completely! ( other than the normal start up Cluster test )
Basically all the garage had done over the week was a) change the oil to 10W40, replace the Oil filter and b) between my last visit and now also replace the Oil Filter housing Cap.
It turns out that the Oil filter housing cap was broken/missing. There is a inner 'Stem' with some needle/valve on the end which connects to the bottom of the oil filter housing itself. No idea if it was the garage who inadvertently lost this when replacing the old filter, that along with the oil change has seemed to fix all problems.
The garage did say that the oil they had drained looked terrible, although I have receipts and stamps from the previous owner in Darlington that this was changed on March 25th.....
I would be speculating as I'm not sure who to believe, but I would guess the original oil probably wasn't changed in March ( or not properly drained ), which was causing my low pressure generally.
My mechanics went and changed it anyway, rectifying that problem but I suspect they broke the stem of the filter housing in the process ( I have read stories that these can often get stuck in Non OEM filters ) which then caused the terrible engine noises, and undoing the fix to the oil pressure issue in the first place......
Anyway, I would be guessing, but I am more than happy my most worrying issue is now fixed!!!
Hopefully this stays fixed and can be of some use to someone in future!
Basically all the garage had done over the week was a) change the oil to 10W40, replace the Oil filter and b) between my last visit and now also replace the Oil Filter housing Cap.
It turns out that the Oil filter housing cap was broken/missing. There is a inner 'Stem' with some needle/valve on the end which connects to the bottom of the oil filter housing itself. No idea if it was the garage who inadvertently lost this when replacing the old filter, that along with the oil change has seemed to fix all problems.
The garage did say that the oil they had drained looked terrible, although I have receipts and stamps from the previous owner in Darlington that this was changed on March 25th.....
I would be speculating as I'm not sure who to believe, but I would guess the original oil probably wasn't changed in March ( or not properly drained ), which was causing my low pressure generally.
My mechanics went and changed it anyway, rectifying that problem but I suspect they broke the stem of the filter housing in the process ( I have read stories that these can often get stuck in Non OEM filters ) which then caused the terrible engine noises, and undoing the fix to the oil pressure issue in the first place......
Anyway, I would be guessing, but I am more than happy my most worrying issue is now fixed!!!
Hopefully this stays fixed and can be of some use to someone in future!