Ninian Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Hi, Does anyone know what pressure this sensor operates at. An oil pressure message appears on the dash every day that I start the van then it doesn't appear again for the rest of the day. I was thinking that if I could fit a more sensitive sensor then the ECU would receive the signal half a second or a second sooner and may resolve the problem. I have been with the Fiat professional garage and they say that this is normal but I think there may be something wrong with the parameters in the software. Also does anyone know where this sensor is on the van. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Are you sure it's oil pressure, or the oil level signal? Check the handbook. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/OIL-Warning-message/46696/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninian Posted September 10, 2018 Author Share Posted September 10, 2018 Hi, It's definitely Oil Pressure as the message states. " Insufficient Engine Oil Pressure stop and turn off Engine." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 How long has this been happening or is it a very recent occurrence? And what grade of oil are you using and when was it (and the filter) last changed? Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninian Posted September 10, 2018 Author Share Posted September 10, 2018 Hi, This is an on-going fault that has been happening since the van had just a couple of hundred miles on the clock. The Fiat Dealer has been unable to resolve it and has now washed his hands of the matter. Fiat themselves according to the dealer say there is no fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Re regarding the location of the oil pressure sensor, I appreciate that my PVC has a different engine (2.8 JTD), but on examining the underside recently for another matter, I noticed a sensor attached where the turbo oil feed pipe connects to the cylinder block. Checking Fiat documentation has confirmed that it is the oil pressure sensor. Given the lubrication requirements of the turbo, the location seems very logical.I therefore suggest that if more precise info is not available, it could be worth checking round the turbo oil feed pipe. I would be worried by Ninian's original problem, for the following reason. I have a vague memory of a court case many years ago (By many I am thinking ten to fifteen years. It could be more or less.) The case was brought because a new car with a history of problems (a lemon), suffered a catastrophic engine failure, which I think on independant investigation, was found to be due to gasket material blocking engine oilways. The disaffected owner wanted to reject the vehicle, but was judged to have kept it too long. Unfortunately I cannot remember my source, but it may have been an article in Which? magazine drawing attention to the legal ruling against rejection, after only a few weeks of ownership? However since the engine on Ninian's engine has not failed, could the alarm be due to either a faulty sensor, or a blockage at the sensor inlet? The other possibility, to which Ninian alludes, is that the ECU is not allowing sufficent time for oil pressure to build up. I do hope that I have not caused undue alarm by my statements above. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 The logical thing to do would be to get the Fiat Professional agent to replace the oil-pressure switch. If that fails to stop the warning appearing, then the phenomenon can be investigated further. Assuming that this is software-related and can be ‘fixed’ by replacing the standard switch with a non-standard one is just asking for trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Have you raised this directly with Fiat or only through your dealer? If the latter then call Fiat Camper Assist (?) and raise your concern directly with them and ask for resolution. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninian Posted September 10, 2018 Author Share Posted September 10, 2018 Hi, This fault has been reported to Fiat Customer Care and it has had a few job cards raised against it, but the Fiat Professional Dealer has been unable to resolve the matter and I feel because they didn’t sell the van they don’t have any interest in repairing it. Unfortunately I only have one Fiat Professional Dealer in N Ireland so I don’t have any alternative to go to which isn’t ideal. I thought that fitting a more sensitive switch may resolve the problem but it was only a thought. I’m just at a loss at what to do next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 The oil-pressure warning message appearing every time your motorhome’s engine is started clearly cannot be considered ‘normal’ - otherwise the warning would appear when the motor of every Ducato with the same specification as yours was started. But as the message has been appearing for four years and apparently no other peculiar symptoms have evidenced, it might well be considered irritating but harmless. When the message began to appear back in 2014 you should really have pushed Fiat to deal with the phenomenon while the vehicle was under warranty. Four years on, with the only convenient Fiat Professional agent telling you (essentially) not to worry, your options seem to be to tolerate the situation, or have the present oil-pressure switch replaced at your own expense and hope that does some good. I’d try the latter as it shouldn’t be all that expensive to do. You might try asking about this on the Fiat Forum https://www.fiatforum.com/ If you want to know where the pressure-switch is, you’ll need to identify the capacity of your motorhome’s engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninian Posted September 11, 2018 Author Share Posted September 11, 2018 Hi, This problem has been evident since early 2015 and Fiat were involved FOC fitted a replacement pressure switch, then a new oil pump and finally a new cluster but none of these have resolved the problem. It’s just that the Fiat Professional Dealer is now ignoring the problem. My van is a 2.3 / 150 bhp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Maybe totally erroneous thought but should / does the oil filter have / should have a non return valve ? I seem to recall some engines of my youth failing because look alike oil filters where used and the oil dropped to the sump rather than being held in the galleries. This led to premature wear of the crank bearings. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve928 Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Personally if I were in your situation I would want to know the actual oil pressure immediately after starting the engine, during normal running and on tickover, both hot and cold. I would investigate whether a mechanical oil pressure gauge could be tee'd in between the block (or wherever the current sender is) and the sender unit. It wouldn't have to be neat installation and the capillary and gauge could reside temporarily under the bonnet. Armed with some actual data you could then ask Fiat (or Iveco) for minimum oil pressure specifications for your engine and determine if you have a problem and a case going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 I notice that Ninian’s problem was discussed previously https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Oil-pressure/40230/ Not sure there is anything to add really, unless the approach Steve suggests is taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninian Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 Hi, UPDATE. I had the van in an Independent garage yesterday having the handbrake adjusted and had asked them to test the pressure at the Oil Pressure Switch. As the Oil Pressure message only appears on initial start up I had left the van overnight with them in order for them to start it first. The garage found that there is a 3 second Delay at the switch and then the pressure appears thus cancelling the message. When this is an on-going fault from NEW I can't understand why my local Fiat Professional Garage couldn't diagnose the same problem and solve it while the van was within warranty. After they went to the trouble of fitting a NEW oil pump and obviously that didn't fix it either surely they would have function tested the pressure at the switch to see if the problem had been cured. So much for FIAT PROFESSIONAL. I have written to FIAT customercare for there response and copied the e-mail to the Fiat garage as yet I've had no feedback but I will keep you informed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 If your van was fitted with an oil pressure gauge you would see a slight delay between starting the van and the oil pressure building up. Taking a positive view as this does not happen on ours, by the time an oil pressure light would come on on a modern engine when driving the damage would have been done. At least with yours you know the oil light works as in going out when the pressure is reached and will probably come on earlier should the oil pressure drop giving you an earlier warning, against the vans where this does not happen. We have a 2019 2.3 150 and get a range of problem warning messages such as the oil pressure warning light has failed, low oil level when the oil is at the full mark neither of which has been resolved. I appreciate this does not fix your problem,just a different way of looking at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 weldted - 2021-06-25 1:12 PM................................low oil level when the oil is at the full mark ............................. Just on this Ted, is your van parked on a slope, by any chance? Following a service I had trouble with the generic failure warning light (triangle enclosing exclamation mark, bottom left of dash) occasionally illuminating after cold starting the van at home, but seldom elsewhere. It transpired that the garage had slightly over-filled the sump and that the oil level sensor is mounted adjacent to its rear (as in direction of travel) wall of the sump. In this position, when the van is parked facing uphill the sensor "sees" a higher than actual oil level, and when parked facing downhill a lower than actual level. The ECU seems to have an interface with the hill holder system, in that when standing on a sufficient slope to activate hill holder the signal to the dashboard oil level indication is supressed to eliminate misleading oil level indications. Our drive is just under the critical gradient, so hill holder does not function on the drive, meaning that the oil level readings are not supressed. So, with a slightly over filled sump and the eccentrically mounted sensor over reading the oil level, what got fed to the ECU was an out of spec signal it could not interpret and so illuminated the generic failure light. It took Fiat technical and the garage a while to bottom this, and the fault was finally fixed by a software update. Just made me wonder if your low oil level warning might have a similar origin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 Hi Brian, no our lights come on at different times with no common thread. Driving to our cottage in France via the tunnel is 750 miles, the oil pressure light not working will sometimes come on two or three times. Stopping and starting the engine may clear it but not always, the low oil level light will come on at random, no link re speed gradient or temp. Vey unnerving. Add this to the overcab bed having to be blocked up so it doesn’t fall down again when travelling, cupboard doors falling off, trim panels coming loose. Tv bracket complete with tv coming away. Not impressed with this Burstner or the Fiat side of it. Still haven’t had any problems in the last six months, but then sat in our garage sorn’d I shouldn’t have. Almost dread taking it out again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 Ah well, it was a long shot. Apologies to OP for going off topic. Best of luck with Fiat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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