Oil pressure check

[nr.]

Hello - first post, so please be gentle! I'm recommissioning a Dart that's been off the road for the past decade or so, and hit the first milestone today when it fired up for the first time. I put 2.5l of Motul 10W-40 in there to start with, as that seems to be the accepted wisdom. However, the oil pressure light stayed on. I'm 99% sure that this will be down to the sensor, rather than actual low pressure - but is there an easy way to test this? Is there a gallery or something I can access to see if there is pressure?


Thanks all,

[nr.]

Errr, having looked at the wiring diagram, is there actually an oil pressure sensor anywhere? I can find the temperature and level sensors. But no pressure sensor. I suspect I may have answered my own question there - the red light is level, despite the owners manual saying it's pressure?

[EVguru]

There is no oil pressure sensor.

The Dart would originally have had a special sump plug with level sender. You could replace the banjo for the lower oil cooler pipe with one that incorporates a sensor.

[nr.]

There is no oil pressure sensor.

Cool, thanks for confirming that. I'll fix the problem with a bit of duct tape over the warning light in that case!

Thanks,

[SupermotoDave]

Have you started it and then put it in gear?

[nr.]

Have you started it and then put it in gear?

Not put it in gear yet while running. I've moved it up and down into first and second just wheeling it around the garage. They both appear to engage OK, so that's a small victory!

Although I'm now curious why you asked... are there any things I need to worry about? (Other than clutch drag sending me through the garage door at a rate of knots).

Ta,

[EVguru]

There's an oil indicator lamp check circuit. It's on whilst in neutral.

[SupermotoDave]

And as Paul implies it’s off when in gear, so no need for the gaffa tape as that might hide it if it does come on, which you would probably want to know if you were riding .

[harrymuffin]

The early bikes all had an oil pressure switch on the bottom transmission case, usefull to remove and check the state of the plain bearings by connecting up a oil pressure guage, should be 80psi when cold and around 55-60psi when hot at 2500 -3000rpm. I have a permanent oil guage fitted as all plain bearing engines should and used to have.

[morini_tom]

Hi nr,

Not sure how I missed your posts as normally I'm pretty keen on watching the dart threads. So apologies for being late to the party!..

Anyway, glad to hear you're making progress with the dart.

As already mentioned, the dart has no pressure switch, just a level sender on the sump plug (although most darts no longer have this as they are fragile)

The oil light on the dash is linked to the level sender and as mentioned already, comes on when in neutral as a warning bulb 'tell tale'.

Frankly, morinis don't use much oil unless something is seriously up, especially the nikasil barrelled ones like the darts, so the oil level sender is a bit pointless, and you still have a dipstick (although as you'll know you have to take off the right side fairing to get to it.)

The temperature gauge is plumbed in to the oil strainer cover which is a useful add-on but even with all that fairing darts don't really run hot, and even on my 501 engined dart I've never had any concerns about overheating in UK climate.

I find on my dart when its cold it takes a few minutes for the oil level light to not intermittently flicker. I suspect this is due to the relatively thick oil I use and the fact that when on its sidestand more oil will be over the left side.

On my 501 because I was worried about oil pressure I added a pressure sensor banjo to one of the oil cooler lines, and wired that in place of the (frankly a bit pointless) side stand warning light, so I have pressure, level and temperature warning on mine. Not that (thankfully) I've ever needed any of them.

[Pfeil_400]

Dear Morini Club team ,
I registered here today and am delighted to be part of the club. I am Matthias (model year 1969) from Leonberg in Germany and have owned two small Moto Morini Corsarino for a while now - they are a lot of fun. My latest addition is a Moto Morini Dart 400, from a Morini collector from northern Germany (Armin Prinke), who sadly passed away last year. As I would like to exchange ideas with others about the technology of the motorcycle, I searched and found the club. I already have my first question about the Dart: As already mentioned several times in this chat, I also fell for the oil level warning light, as I also thought it was the oil pressure. I was shocked when the light didn't turn off the first time I started the engine. I like EVguru's idea of installing an oil pressure switch in the oil cooler line. Does anyone from the forum have a recommendation for a suitable adapter? Or do you know which threads the oil cooler connections have? That would be super helpful.
Many thanks in advance and best regards from Leonberg
Matthias

[morini_tom]

Welcome to Morini Dart ownership!

On my dart I fitted a pressure switch and it was very straightforward.

Peugeot 205 MK2 1.4 1987-1998 FAE Oil Pressure Switch #1215 is an almost straight fit in place of the original lower oil cooler line banjo.

The Peugeot pressure switch has a smaller diameter bore so I drilled it out to match the dart original so as not to restrict oil flow. It is also ever so slightly longer so I used two sealing washers instead of one to space it.

Other than that, it’s a straight swap in, and even clears the bodywork (it will stick out of the lower air scoop slightly).

You will need to create an electrical contact to go to the instrument cluster. You could just use the oil level warning light wire instead of the oil level warning. On mine I decided to use the sidestand warning light so I removed and modified the wiring to the sidestand switch.

[Pfeil_400]

WOW! Tom, thank you very much! How you found this out ? That looks perfekt. I`ll use the oil-level-indicator light for the oil pressure, like assumed before.
My next task is to repair the fairing parts that have broken several times. I have already ordered the sticker set for this and then the Dart should be really beautiful again. So far, it has been Armin's everyday bike and therefore already has 42Tkm on the clock.
Thanks again!
Warm regards from Germany
Matthias

[morini_tom]

A lot of measurements and a few wrongly purchased parts but I found the right one eventually!!!

If you use the oil level light then keep in mind that the neutral warning light tees in so that when in neutral the oil pressure light will come on as well (bulb check). This is useful (to check the bulb) but does mean that you can’t confirm if you have oil pressure in neutral which is not ideal. My advice would be to remove the connection between the two (just running a new wire is the easiest way as the join is in the main wiring loom) so that you can check for oil pressure even when in neutral. Bulb check of course is easy when the engine is not running!

Hope that makes sense but the Dart wiring diagram (in the back of the owners handbook) should make it clear

[Pfeil_400]

Very good! Thank you!
Yes, indeed. I'm going to lay a completely new positive wire from terminal 15 to the red oil light and the oil pressure switch switches ground on and off when the oil pressure is present, then the light goes out.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find the FAE sensor for sale anywhere, for the Peugeot 205 II I am shown this switch from Vernet, which should be identical in construction.
Warm regards
Matthias