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I have an oil light coming on in a sunstar


quantico

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The 18 HP sunstar that I purchased used three years ago now has the oil light come on as soon as the oil gets hot... the oil is freshly changed 30 weight with a new kohler filter... I used to get a light once in a while when it was at idle when hot... but now I have a light on at any rpm.. I shut off the engine and know that the level is good. I may try a new sender unit or try to measure the actual presure. Where do I get a deal on a test oil pressure guage ??? I ran 10 w 30 oil in the engine for two years until I learned to use only 30 weight ??? Any chance that I don't need to open up the engine after the pressure test that looks bad ???
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Causes of oil light on, Low oil pressure this could be caused by low oil level, bad oil pump or worn bearings. It could also be a bad oil pressure sending unit. you can check this by installing a known good sending unit. Best way is to install a pressure gauge in its place to check oil pressure. This will tell you the pressure if it is good or marginal indicating bad bearings You can buy an oil pressure gauge at a reasonable price at any good parts store.
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quote:
Originally posted by UCD
Best way is to install a pressure gauge in its place to check oil pressure. This will tell you the pressure if it is good or marginal indicating bad bearings.
What is considered good or marginal oil pressure for the magnum engines? Dan
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  • 4 weeks later...
I have a new oil sender coming to give that a try... will also change oil and filter to be sure that there is nothing interesting like fuel in the oil or anything going on...
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I would rather be luckly than skilled any day, and since skilled requires way more brain activity ..... most days I choose from lucky or not. I got lucky and the oil light went out when I replaced the sender switch.. I want to buy a guage at some point, but this makes me happy for today. I also put a new connector on the wire as the old was was getting pretty corroded. I also found some bad battery contacts on another sunstar and now have 4/ 6 tractors running instead of 2/ 6 . That feels much better. Thanks for the info along the way. The sender is 1 1/16 inch , but requires a thin wall deep socket to really get a decent hold of it. Is there a custom socket made for that ... or is it always a find what works in the toolbox project ????
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Yes there is a special socket for oil sending units. I have one from when I worked as an engineering technician. Mac, Snap On, Matco and other pro tool manufacturers make them. The tool really makes the job easy, I just changed the sending on my AC 620 (it was leaking) and it was less than a 5 minute job. Took longer to get the sheet metal off than to change the unit.
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Sounds like another nice tool to have. The area around the sender to the output shaft and cover plate was very very tight. I am glad that I only needed to pull the lower metal piece that is a trim piece, and not pull the engine to get the sheet metal air vent off. Thanks for the info, I will stop the next time I see a mac or snap-on guy in my area.
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