[Stingray82]

...or maybe high oil pressure problem. I don't know, because mine doesn't have an oil pressure readout or guage. I just have an idiot light so that when my MC rattles to a halt, I will know it ran out of oil pressure just on time to know why it isn't moving anymore. Did I miss out on ticking an option box in order to get this basic necessity? Am I just an American V8 driving dinosaur that is looking for a guage that doesn't need to exist any more? Please inform me so that I won't have to wallow in oil pressure ignorance any longer.

 

[jeremybingham]

We've not had oil pressure gauges on cars for years. Austin metro, Citroen axgt , Volvo 480, Mazda 323f Toyota mr2 mk2 , mini r56 vs golf r32 mk4 . Not a single one has ever had an oil pressure gauge. Have to go back to my granddad 1960's rover p6 for one in a European car . Sorry stingray but......

 

[johnan]

The latest Mini Specific Scangauge 2, which plugs into the OBD2 port, gives readings of oil pressure and oil temperature, should you wish to know them, along with the usual things like charging voltage and coolant temperature.

I am used to cars with gauges and like to know what is going on but these days it is probably not required. However I like to keep an eye on my Scangauge, it is useful to know for example, when the engine is fully warmed up.

It has to be a Mini specific Scangauge 2, though, the normal universal one does not tap into the extra functions that the Mini ecu can provide.

 

[Stingray82]

The next most recent vehicles in my experience are my 2007 Dodge Ram Hemi and my 2002 Mustang GT. Both with big stinky, gas sucking V8 engines and both have an oil pressure gauge. Maybe it's an American thing.

 

[profiteroles]

The on board electronics monitors all this and provides a display if something is wrong. Having a permanent gauge readout (to glance at periodically) cluttering the dash is a bit like having an "everything's OK alarm" no?

 

[Stingray82]

Good point profiteroles. I guess I am just having teething pains adapting to a truly modern car. It's not like there's anything I can adjust if I notice the oil pressure getting low.

I remember looking at a Lada Niva in 1992 and being bewildered by the presence of a hole in the bumper for inserting a crank handle to hand start the car. It just proves that cars designed for different markets include the features that appeal to that market's sensibilities.

Ps. Before any of you panic, I gave the Niva a pass and purchased a 92 Suzuki Sidekick instead. No crank handle facility but the original starter lived for 280,000 km so it seems a crank wasn't needed.

 

[profiteroles]

If you're an engineer it is probably frustrating to rely on a computer to make these assessments, but the F56 doesn't even have a dipstick to check oil level - that's done by the electronics too!


In aviation there has long been the issue of information overload, which has been resolved in recent times through the concept of the glass cockpit. I think cars are headed that way too.

 

[JJH]

If you're an engineer it is probably frustrating to rely on a computer to make these assessments, but the F56 doesn't even have a dipstick to check oil level - that's done by the electronics too!


In aviation there has long been the issue of information overload, which has been resolved in recent times through the concept of the glass cockpit. I think cars are headed that way too.

I keep reading on here that the new engines for F56/F55 models do not have dipsticks... but my F56 Cooper D model does have one (plus electronics)... is it just the petrol engines??

 

[jeremybingham]

Interesting. My Cooper petrol doesn't have one!

 

[Stingray82]

My brother used to manage a dept at Boeing in Tacoma, Wa where a bunch of engineers sit in a room full of big screens monitoring massive amounts of real time SCADA and telemetry data for all the under warrantee Boeing aircraft in the air at the time. The stuff they looked at was information too detailed and complex to bother the pilots with. I guess the computer in my Mini is the same thing. Forget I even asked.