Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
If it's an old car, I'd guess it was something mechanical, like a switch
with a diaphragm, or a float, or something. I'm surprised you didn't
ask in uk.rec.cars.maintenance - I'm sure I've seen you in there before,
and it's not completely dead.

Sadly not something as simple as a float. As I said, I dunno just how it
works.

Reason I'm asking here is perhaps a fluid sensor from something like an
oil tank for central heating? Or whatever?


Well, I didn't really think a float would do the job in those conditions
(having had them puncture themselves in old carbs), but it was just an
example of something mechanical that some optimist designer might have
dreamed up in the past. I'd guess something that relied on negative
pressure produced by suction to keep the contacts in a certain position.
The missus once had a Capri, and I'm sure it had such a thing.

I did have an old Bentley with a float inside the sump. Just like in the
fuel tank. Press a button next to the fuel gauge and it read oil level.
Worked pretty well too.

My everyday car has an oil level system too - and no dipstick. But again,
more than I need for the old car. Just want the original idea of a low
level warning. Not just for me, but to do an article for the club mag. If
I can find a reasonably easy to fit substitute.

The sensor on the outside is simply a sealed brass tube which fits
horizontally in the sump via a threaded boss - I assume at the minimum
oil level. With two wires going into it. BL manual no help as to how it
actually works. The electronics (located behind the instruments) is badged
Plektron.


Our first car (an ancient Avenger) didn't have a working fuel gauge -
you had to shove a pipe into the filler and see by the wetness where the
petrol had come up to. When I finally got round to fixing it, it
transpired that whoever had put the seats in had crushed the wire
between the seat frame and the floor. It was so obvious, we wondered if
they'd done it just for the hell of it.