Added oil pressure indicator?

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JR'SFJR

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Has anyone added an oil pressure gauge or light to an FJR? I have, like alot of you, added a volt indicator. I love my FJR, but don't understand why it doesn't come with a voltage and oil pressure indicator. They are simple, inexpensive electrical circuits. My BMW's have both. All other vehicles have both. Is this a jap bike thing, where they never leak oil and/or have oil pump failures?

I know of a couple of BMW oil pump failures over the years and the light helped from trashing the engine. I talked to a guy the other day that had a 2002 HD oil pump failure. He heard it clatter and shut it down. I wear ear plugs and probably would not have.

The manual shows a place to install a test oil pressure gauge on the lower right side of the engine(after removing a plug), half behind the a coolant hose. An electrical sending unit could be installed there with a wire running up to a red light indicator. Any thoughts? Waste of time?

 
Haven't heard of any failures on the FJR to date. Maybe Yamaha feels comfortable enough with there design that they don't feel it's worth the expense of the instrument....and they would also be accounting for the large number of folks that purchased the Y.E.S. in that cost-benefit equation.

Sounds like a fun farkle though. Let us know how it goes.

 
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Skoot can testify to the oil pumps longevity-he put over a hunnert thou on one. Now, a technical terrain gauge, THAT he could use. :p

 
Oil pump and oil pressure failures in any engine are almost none existent these days. Even if the engine did loose oil pressure it is probably due to something that has already damaged the engine before the oil pump locked up or the oil left the pan, etc....

On the other hand, one of the most troublesome items on any engine is an oil pressure sender or oil pressure switch. They are notoriously inaccurate and failure prone. As with any mechanical device there is movement and wear inside the senders and switches and they eventually fail. They can also rupture and leak. In the automotive world the first thing to do when the "oil pressure fails" or a leak occurs is to replace the switch or sending unit for the oil pressure gauge.

So....the oil pressure senders and switches in many cases have just been eliminated. Over the long haul the fleet average failure for any reason is less whether it just be for engine failures or "false failures" due to a failed sending unit or switch. And, there is less cost, less mass and less complexity.

There are also less complaints and less customer problems. People, in general, have absolutely no idea what the oil pressure should be or how it should act and they are constantly in for service for no reason....i.e....the oil pressure is lower in the summer than the winter....WHY??? This understanding of oil pressure really is a huge problem, to the point that most oil pressure warning lights are set to a VERY low value (like 3 or 4 PSI) so that only a complete loss of oil pressure will turn on the light and oil pressure gauges are "dumbed down" so that they sit at a fixed value with a large dead zone around the "correct" value regardless of what the oil pressure is really doing. There are even some oil pressure gauges on cars that have no sending unit for oil pressure in the engine. The gauge is just a "simulation" of what the oil pressure would be at that RPM to keep the driver amused.

Since the gauge reading means very little and the lights are all but useless eliminating them entirely is the next logical step since that reduces cost and complexity and the chance of a leak and the engine will act the same regardless if something happens.

 
I use oil pressure in my car to tell me when it's truly warm. When cold, oil pressure is high. The coolant temp will be up to normal way before the oil pressure comes down to normal. That was especially important on my previous car, which was turbocharged.

 
There are even some oil pressure gauges on cars that have no sending unit for oil pressure in the engine. The gauge is just a "simulation" of what the oil pressure would be at that RPM to keep the driver amused.
Ford has used a "light with a needle" for some years now.

 
Oil pump and oil pressure failures in any engine are almost none existent these days. Even if the engine did loose oil pressure it is probably due to something that has already damaged the engine before the oil pump locked up or the oil left the pan, etc....
On the other hand, one of the most troublesome items on any engine is an oil pressure sender or oil pressure switch. They are notoriously inaccurate and failure prone. As with any mechanical device there is movement and wear inside the senders and switches and they eventually fail. They can also rupture and leak. In the automotive world the first thing to do when the "oil pressure fails" or a leak occurs is to replace the switch or sending unit for the oil pressure gauge.

So....the oil pressure senders and switches in many cases have just been eliminated. Over the long haul the fleet average failure for any reason is less whether it just be for engine failures or "false failures" due to a failed sending unit or switch. And, there is less cost, less mass and less complexity.

There are also less complaints and less customer problems. People, in general, have absolutely no idea what the oil pressure should be or how it should act and they are constantly in for service for no reason....i.e....the oil pressure is lower in the summer than the winter....WHY??? This understanding of oil pressure really is a huge problem, to the point that most oil pressure warning lights are set to a VERY low value (like 3 or 4 PSI) so that only a complete loss of oil pressure will turn on the light and oil pressure gauges are "dumbed down" so that they sit at a fixed value with a large dead zone around the "correct" value regardless of what the oil pressure is really doing. There are even some oil pressure gauges on cars that have no sending unit for oil pressure in the engine. The gauge is just a "simulation" of what the oil pressure would be at that RPM to keep the driver amused.

Since the gauge reading means very little and the lights are all but useless eliminating them entirely is the next logical step since that reduces cost and complexity and the chance of a leak and the engine will act the same regardless if something happens.
As usual, Jestal, your expertise is always welcome. Thank you for posting.

 
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