Oil Light Stays On

[Lucky Phil]

1 hour ago, Nihontochicken said:

Okay, I had the similar idea yesterday to try to pressurize the oil light switch, and so today I jury rigged a tire hand pump to the fitting with duct tape (what else?) and hose clamps. 

With the ignition on and the oil pressure fitting out, no lit low OP light.  With an electrical lead from the OP lead to ground, the light comes on, so the circuitry outside of the OP switch appears to be working okay. 

There was some leakage with the test set up, so no constant pressure reading was possible, but I think I could get up to a transient maybe 20 psi.  Whatever, with the ignition on and the switch connected, the OP light went out when I pushed on the hand pump at about 10 psi or thereabouts.  So the switch appears to be working, and the malady lurks somewhere else.

I was hoping to avoid removing the inside oil sump shell, but that looks to be the next move after I remove the oil filter to check for a missing or double gasket.  First I need to devise some way of keeping the scooter upright after removing the side stand.  Sigh.

There's a difference between a bench test at room temp and no vibration and a switch operating in a 100 degC vibrating environment. Buy a new switch anyway and check the filter and the oil pump pickup screen and the adaptor plate orings which do go hard after a while. Also have a look at the big ends to see if there is metal squeezing out the sides. If you still have no joy then it's likely you'll need to remove the front cover for a look at the pump and drive.

Ciao

[Weegie]

If I'm reading that right, then it would appear the switch is working.

The circuit is simple, so forgive me spelling it out.

Pos supply from fuse box to bulb, then bulb to switch, then switch to ground (inside the switch).

No pressure, OP switch is closed and path to ground established, circuit made and bulb lights, <5-10psi.

Pressure, OP switch opens breaks the circuit, no path to ground, bulb goes out, >10psi

The switch has to have a pos supply to it and that path to ground for the bulb to light.

You don't have a paddock stand, that's going to make life harder, but why can't you drop the sump on the sidestand?

Does the stand get in the way of dropping the sump, as I don't own a V11 I'm unfamiliar with the specifics?

With the sump off you should be able to check the filter for double gasketing, then remove the internals that live inside the spacer (4 cap screws to remove).

With the internal assembly removed you can check the gasket condition of the sump spacer ensuring no oil way holes are blocked, as I recall the gasket can be installed 180 degrees out, or it could be torn or damaged.

With the internals on the bench remove and test (or take it to a garage) to test the relief valve.

 

 

[Kiwi_Roy]

I got a call from a friend with a VII Sport a couple of weeks back, he has owned the bike since new and done all the regular maintenance. He said the oil light came on for no reason at idle, could I come and have a look.

He had the sump off when I got there, we couldn't see anything so concluded it must be a failed pressure switch and decided to put it back together. He would change the filter while it was apart. We took the hose clamp off the filter and screwed it off with a struggle.

To our surprise it came off complete with a second rubber gasket all chewed up, It must have been working fine for months then finally given out while sitting waiting for parts.

We concluded that the engine was fine and thanked his lucky stars.

[po18guy]

4 hours ago, Kiwi_Roy said:

I got a call from a friend with a VII Sport a couple of weeks back, he has owned the bike since new and done all the regular maintenance. He said the oil light came on for no reason at idle, could I come and have a look.

He had the sump off when I got there, we couldn't see anything so concluded it must be a failed pressure switch and decided to put it back together. He would change the filter while it was apart. We took the hose clamp off the filter and screwed it off with a struggle.

To our surprise it came off complete with a second rubber gasket all chewed up, It must have been working fine for months then finally given out while sitting waiting for parts.

We concluded that the engine was fine and thanked his lucky stars.

That same situation caused quite a few fires in Honda CRVs and Elements. The old gasket would stick to the block, unnoticed by the technician. Then, double-gasketed, the seal would eventually blow out, spray the exhaust manifold 6" away and then poof! Was even a class action lawsuit over the design.