Oil pressure switch (1 Viewer)

[Feltwell]

They say things come in 3's, I'm hoping that's true. Minor niggles but 1 week into our 3 week European trip and the fridge stopped working on gas (now sorted after a bit of disassembly & cleaning), one of the windows has delaminated - interior sheet of double glazed unit completely separated from outer sheet (gaffer tape fix until we get home, then either DIY glue or send off to EECO), and lastly the oil pressure warning light started coming on yesterday.

I'm not too panicked - oil level fine, no leaks, runs fine, and the light only comes on when the engine is idling and disappears as soon as the throttle is touched - so I suspect the pressure switch may be dodgy, a few tales online of this.

New one ordered online for the princely sum of £5. Anyone else had this problem, where is the pressure switch on the 2.8 JTD?

On a site at the moment, will leave crawling under the van until I get home, I guess logically it's likely to be near the oil pump & filter. Do you have to drop the oil first to change them?

 

[scotjimland]

the fact that the light goes out when you blip the throttle suggests to me the oil is too thin.. or needs changing..

what oil grade are you using.. and when was it last changed ?

it should 10-40 semi synthetic for the 2.8JTD

 

[Feltwell]

Oil should be ok. Last changed in Jan, about 5000 miles ago. Not sure on grade, I was lazy and gave the van to Dave Newell to service whilst he was doing the Hab service, but I should sincerely hope he knows which oil to use, he sees enough Ducato's!

The oil would have been hot and thin yesterday - fairly warm day, long run, lots of hills on the autobahn and we were cruising at a steady 70, so the van was working fairly hard. Nothing it hasn't done before though. The oil light did initially come on whilst cruising at speed - very flickery though, only just coming on - but as soon as I'd stopped to check oil level & for leaks etc, it went to only coming on at idle, and even then it was flickering a bit. Started van today wih a cold engine and it went straight out.

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[scotjimland]

Dave knows what he is doing... so may just be as you suspect...

having the same engine, am interested to know what the outcome is

 

[Feltwell]

All fixed. When I finally found the switch, more on that below, it was very oily including inside the electrical connecter - clearly it was leaking inside, which would also explain why the light was only coming on near idling speed, i.e. when the engine's oil pressure is naturally at it's lowest point it was loosing enough pressure to just trigger. A switch is only a few pounds online.

Finding the switch is a challenge, and the access is poor, good old Fiat! So for anyone googling "Where is the oil pressure switch on a 2.8JTD Ducato" (because I found nothing except for someone saying you have to remove the starter motor - which is wrong!)

• Put front wheels up on ramps, van in gear and wheels chocked, the usual safety measures
• Starting from the front bumper, crawl under the engine on your back, go right to the very back, with your head towards the nearside (UK) wheel
• Now shine a torch up the back of the engine, looking forward and to your right - spot the back of the alternator - the oil pressure switch is just to the left of it. The wire that leads to it joins the loom with the large red alternator wire.
• If you still can't see it, follow the exhaust pipe from the silencer back to the turbo. The oil pressure switch is just to the right of the turbo - it's actually fitted to one of the oil feed pipes for the turbo, it sits on the back of a banjo bolt where the oil feed pipe enters the crankcase.
• The lead to the switch just clips off, there's the usual little plastic clip to ease out to release it.
• You don't need to drain the engine oil, it's well above the sump level.
• You'll need 2 x 22mm ring spanners - one to hold the banjo bolt, and one to unscrew the switch. You might be lucky and get away with one, I tried undoing the switch and typically it was the banjo beneath it that loosened instead. So I ended up putting one spanner on that, jammed against the crankcase to stop it turning, and then one to undo the switch.
• Access is tight - you'll only get one hand in there

Hope that helps someone eventually!