Hi all
I have a problem with my HJ Statesman 308. It's currently undergoing a body restoration of sort. The motor, original, has 290,000km on it. History is unknown (I purchased it from a deceased estate), but runs well with good compression.
Some 4 months ago I drove it into the shed after sandblasting the whole car, to do some work and prepare for getting it painted. Running well with no problems at the time. I had all front fenders and nose-cone off since it for rust repairs. Whilst the front end was off, I did various things whilst I had easy access to the motor - some mechanical, but largely cosmetic.
One of the things I did was to change the oil and oil filter probably three months ago. Today, before my friends and I bolted all the front fenders / nose cone etc. back on, I took the opportunity to change the oil-pressure light switch with a brand new one - no real reason other than access was easy, and I didn't know how old the one in there was.
Late in the day we restarted the car for the first time in 4 months. Started first go, no issue. We ran it for several minutes, were discussing the automatic choke function and water level. Stuck my head in the cabin to check the temp-gauge was working and noticed the oil-light was on. Shut it off, checked oil level (still full). Restarted it, notice that the motor was getting increasingly "clacky".
I inspected the new oil-pressure light switch - zero leaks. I pulled the new oil filter back off, and apart from some oil around the seal, the inside of the filter was bone-dry. I filled the filter with oil (waited for it to fully soak in and kept topping in up), and refitted it. Started the motor one more time and gave it a moderate rev - no joy, oil light still on and noisy motor.
Reluctant to run it anymore and cause damage (hope like hell none has occurred so far), I shut it off and retired for the day to think about it.
I have no doubt that the switch is not faulty, but that there is in fact NO oil pressure. (Dry filter, increasingly noise motor). The car was fine before I pulled it into the shed 4 months ago, changed the oil and filter 3 months ago, and the oil-pressure send switch today. No other changes have been made.
Questions:
1. Is it possible to have a priming problem with the 308? Is it a known problem?
2. Can it be primed? If so, how?
3. Any other ideas?
4. As an aside, does the oil-pump push oil into the centre of the oil filter then return is through the multiple radial holes, or the other way around?
Thanks in advance.
Matt
Edited by user 8 years ago
| Reason: Not specified