Land Rover Club V.I.
Rover Tech - Modifications - Oil Pressure Gauge
Oil Pressure Gauge
The 2003 Discovery gets a bad rep for two big flaws. Lack of CDL (click to read more) and for the dreaded risk for Oil Pump failures....
Luckily I am out of the range of the affected vehicles identified by LRNA according to the Land Rover Technical Alert below. However some vehicles out of the range and even some 2004 Discovery models have been identified.
Luckily I am out of the range of the affected vehicles identified by LRNA according to the Land Rover Technical Alert below. However some vehicles out of the range and even some 2004 Discovery models have been identified.
Even though engine replacement is the only fix, a new oil pump may give another xxk miles of life to your Discovery.
From Rave Manual...the light on the dash will illuminate when the psi is between 3.5-6.0
Oil pressure gauge kit that includes the sender unit (Purchased locally but also found on Ebay)
Pod to mount the gauge
Mount where desired. I ran wires behind left A pillar. Like
There you can view the wires neatly routed. Orange (to oil pressure sender), the red (to power), the black (to ground) and the yellow (to power for the lights of the gauge.
Install wires as desired.
Testing, testing,.. It's not plugged to the oil sender so it's reading MAX!
from left to right: oil pressure sender (from my oil gauge), T fitting with custom threading for oil pressure switch, 5 inch long stainless steel line, and oil pressure switch port adapter.
To tap the T fitting, you need a M12 x 1.5 Tap drill.
The adapter that installs into the oil pressure port is m12 x 1.5 thread on one side but the threading on the side which the hose connects to is unknown.
The T fitting is 1/8 NPT thread on all sides except for the port that got tapped out to M12 x 1.5 The hose is a stainless steel/teflon line 5inch long. one end of that hose installs into the 1/8 NPT threading of the T fitting. the other end receives the oil pressure sender for the gauge.
The adapter that installs into the oil pressure port is m12 x 1.5 thread on one side but the threading on the side which the hose connects to is unknown.
The T fitting is 1/8 NPT thread on all sides except for the port that got tapped out to M12 x 1.5 The hose is a stainless steel/teflon line 5inch long. one end of that hose installs into the 1/8 NPT threading of the T fitting. the other end receives the oil pressure sender for the gauge.
Hardware assembled
Adapter installed into oil pressure switch port
Hardware installed and plugged in
Once I found the ideal location to securely mount this I made the custom bracket
Zip ties or bolts can be used to secure bracket to existing coolant pipe wire harness anchor points.
The black wire visible that is connected to the end of the sending unit is run back to the gauge.
Installed, working, and no leaks. The scangauge mounted on my steering column can tell me everything else I need (water temp). Oil pressure at idle should be 10psi minimum. In the picture It's reading 13psi at idle. I will use the oil gauge to monitor the consistency of the oil psi during all operating conditions and hopefully this will give me a signal of the oil pump going weak before it totally quits. The base of the pod is secured with double sided tape.
Update October 2009
I have recently suggested to a couple enthusiasts of putting a oil pressure kit together using a different setup. One forum member is going that route and I will post "her" method soon.