Lancia Beta Forum

I would appreciate your thoughts re the oil pressure and marking on the dipstick. When I mentioned to Richard Thorne that I was hoping to take the Beta to the Lancia track day in May, he cautioned me regarding the oil pressure warning light, that if it should come on whilst on the track (not idling, presumably) that I should slow down to save the engine. The warning light does come on when I am at traffic lights but goes out when I move off. Also the dipstick is not marked like the one in the handbook, it is a tube which is partially flattened near the end, so is the top end of the flat the full mark? Lastly the engine is a little leaky regarding oil, are they by nature like this or should I be doing some investigation.

Many thanks to you all in advance


Alan

You should be doing some investigation and stopping any oil leaks.

The standard sump is not baffled, so on track or on fast twisting roads oil surge is a problem.


Stopping the oil leaks should be a priority.

Can you attach a photo of your oil dipstick?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like the standard stick with the vacuum reader pipe? If so the top of the flatted area is 'full'.

Also beware modern and lighter oil grades.

When I first ran my long-dormant engine with new oil(10-40), I had the' oil pressure light at idle' issue too. You really need ( Guy Croft confirms this in his book) an oil with 50 as the high temp( second) number. I use a classic 20- 50 now - problem sorted.  15-50 is harder to get, but is what my 1977 handbook quotes. You can buy a basic 20-50 for Wilko and other places for about a tenner to test the theory- cheaper than a re-build!

It wont sort the oil starvation issue though!

Good luck!

Mark

I would refresh the oil pressure sensors  they are bound to be old and possibly out of spec at least then you will know if the readings are right. Oil light coming on at idle would concern me a bit I think it is not normal even with modern oils

Reading this made me re-read the owner's manual for my 81. For what it's worth, it specifically mentions that the light coming on when warm and idling is "normal".

On the other hand, it makes no mention of how the oil level gauge works, though I've heard several people refer to it. Is there a button that should do this? Or does this not apply to US-spec 2.0 FI models?

On most post facelift cars (and this included my 2000ie) the oil level guage is in the bottom right hand corner under oil temperature. You press the button under the guage to get a reading. On my ie I think it used to under read a bit, but on my 1300 it seems to be spot on.

It works by vacuum activated by the button via the pipe to the top of the dipstick. I'm guessing the pipe has been removed from your car?

I think this really only applies when an Italian has thrashed it around the Alps to within an inch of its life!

The bottom right isn't a gauge, it's the seat belt warning light. Top right is hazard warning light. Oil pressure is middle top, engine temp is lower middle. Owner's manual says right button is rheostat for switch lighting, middle button is trip odometer reset, left button is rheostat for gauge lighting and system check.

Am I missing something, or is 81 and later different?

I think that might be a US spec thing. It's certainly a gauge in my pre F/L and road test pics of later Euro cars show it as a gauge too.

Sadly the two Road & Track tests I can find don't show the instruments.

For reference, my instrument panel:

(http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu183/abgwin/Lancia/CB380923-7CDB-4487-88DA-82B9DB13AED6.jpg)

Here's the European spec dash as described by Stuart and myself, plus the pipe arrangement from the hollow dipstick. It was exactly the same on my '83 ie. Obviously omitted from US spec cars. My pre facelift 1300 has the hazard warning in the same place as yours, but the heated rear window light where you have a seatbelt warning. Different instrument faces too, as you have your 'green zone' for revs (economy?) and your '55' mph reminder, very Ralph Nader!