oil pressure

Energy One

firedog19

Active Member
I have a 2004 ridgeback and have noticed when the engine is hot and I make a hard stop the oil light will come on for a coulpe of seconds then go out. Does anyone else have this experence? Is it because the oil tank is mounted low andthe oil is sloshing back and forth?
 

Nukeranger

Nukeranger
Supporting Member
My oil pressure goes from approximately 30 psi when cold to about 5 psi when hot and at idle RPM. When riding down the road with hot (approximately 200 degree oil), it shows around 20 psi. My idle is set low but the oil light does not come on. Last year I had the idle too low and the Oil light would come on and the Tach would flash due to low RPM. The Tach still flashes at idle once in a while but I already know it is low. But since the oil light does not come on due to low oil pressure, I leave it alone. It is more obvious in the summer.

If I were you, I would install an oil pressure gauge to see what it is really doing. Otherwise, if your tach shows low rpm at idle by flashing just raise the idle a little and see if it clears up. It could be your oil pressure switch is off just a tad but from your description, it appears to be working right.
 

firedog19

Active Member
Thanks for the response. My idle speed is ok the only time they will flash at idle is when it is cold. At temp its at 1200 rpm. I will look into a pressure guage?
 

Nukeranger

Nukeranger
Supporting Member
Search the forum for one and make sure you get one that doesn't leak the glycol out when under extreme temperatures because the rubber seal plug melts or just wrap it with self sealing tape to keep it protected. Once the glycol leaks out, the gauge will bounce all over the place.
 

07bigdog

07BIGDOG
I have a 2004 ridgeback and have noticed when the engine is hot and I make a hard stop the oil light will come on for a coulpe of seconds then go out. Does anyone else have this experence? Is it because the oil tank is mounted low andthe oil is sloshing back and forth?
My light comes on all the time when really hot. The light trips when under 4 psi. Give it a little bit of throttle and the light will go out. I've got a gauge and the pressure shows real low.
 

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
check your tappet screen might need to be cleaned as well.

FYI my 04 Rigid will do the same. Funny I notice that when the oil/filter is real fresh <1,000 miles it never comes on. Something which I have been considering is the flow rates of the filters, according to some information I have read the K&P Reusable Filter has the highest flow rate out of the standard S&S and K&N options. decisions...decisions....
 

Nukeranger

Nukeranger
Supporting Member
Eric,

You have a good point. I had forgotten that I installed a K&P filter last year and haven't seen a low oil pressure light since. I could be wrong though because I believe the oil filter is the return from the crank case to the oil tank and the oil pressure is the pressure to the motor prior to draining back to the sump to be scavenged, sent through the oil filter and back to the tank.

Huw
 

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
Here is an interesting product ERT Products. They have different strength oil pressure springs to try and dial in on the correct oil pressure. I know some guys will weld a tiny bearing on the top of their spring to increase pressure.

Anybody run this product? FYI their Oil Pressure Gauge looks NICE comes with a nice tappet adapter.

SUPERPUMP-KITS - Oil pressure relief springs - E.R.T. Products, Inc.

Harley-Davidson Oil Pressure Specs 1940 to 1999 Engines
Cold engine start-up: around 44 psi.
Warm engine at 55 mph and up: 30 to 36 psi.
Warm engine At idle: at least 10 psi.
Keep in mind that the outside temperature will effect oil pressure
In hot weather - thinner oil, less pressure - use a stronger spring
In cooler weather - thicker oil, more pressure - use a weaker spring
 

07bigdog

07BIGDOG
I've got the ERT installed. As the weather gets hottter i will change the spring and i can turn in the top adapter to also increase spring tension. When it is real hot out and driving in the city my light still trips on even with this ERT system. I'm also running Lucas straight 50 oil and my engine is 124".
 

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
I've got the ERT installed. As the weather gets hottter i will change the spring and i can turn in the top adapter to also increase spring tension. When it is real hot out and driving in the city my light still trips on even with this ERT system. I'm also running Lucas straight 50 oil and my engine is 124".
Way up in the North your having that much issues regarding oil pressure when its hot?
 

bruce

Active Member
my oil pressure light was coming on, it ended up being corrision around the bottom of the light ring. inside the speedo housing top, there is your ring of light for oil pressure tac. etc, if yours is like mine, it had corrision biuld up. I replace and no more problem and then also installed a gauge too. now if I am unsure of pressure I can look at gauage.
 

07bigdog

07BIGDOG
I never had a problem with the oil light until i got to around 2700 miles. I had just changed oil and after that the light started tripping on. Changed the oil sending unit, installed an oil cooler and went to straight 50 oil and installed the ERT system and lite still trips when i drive around the city and it is hot out.
 

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
I never had a problem with the oil light until i got to around 2700 miles. I had just changed oil and after that the light started tripping on. Changed the oil sending unit, installed an oil cooler and went to straight 50 oil and installed the ERT system and lite still trips when i drive around the city and it is hot out.
whats your oil pressure at when cruising per your gauge? What about at idle? Seems odd that running 50 with an oil cooler in Canada is still giving you an oil light. Something seems off....
 

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
Well the poster above me just spammed up..

However, he brought forth a post that I just wanted to add one last bit of info regarding the low oil coming to a stop on the 04. It has do to with the suction line for the oil is in the back of the tank and coming to a stop it pushed it all in the front. The spring in the oil pump is not strong enough to scavenge enough oil when that happens. I put in a heavier duty spring which helped scavenge the oil better at stops, but I was running 50-60 PSI down the highway which is way too high. Went back to the stock spring and just deal with the low oil light at stops it's only for a second or two won't hurt the engine.

If you keep the oil at a high enough level to prevent it the bike just pukes it right back out and you end up with a huge fucking mess, I tried everything. Not sure why they would make the suction line on the back of the oil tank :confused: I was thinking about possibly re-routing the lines to pull from the front of the tank and the use the return to dump it back. I just have to doublecheck to make sure the current return dumps into the bottom and not the top of the tank.
 

Sven

Well-Known Member
This is more like a V-8 with 6 cylinders missing. That said; the ratio is 10lbs. @ every 1,000 rpm. If you rev out the bike to 6,000rpm, you might see 60psi. Car wise, it goes something like that.
 
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