Yellow Oil Light
 

Had the yellow oil light pop up upon shut down of the engine yesterday.

Id just done a run of over 150 miles over some of scotlands best roads through the Grampian Mountains so plenty of elevation changes etc etc.

Has not happened since.

Just the up's and downs of the hills or low on oil???
Car historically doesnt use oil that much so was a little surprised as I had it changed only 1500miles ago.

Just a top up required??

Did you take an instantaneous reading?

What was your last long term reading? Was there no indication the level was dropping? Was it filled up to max at the last oil change? I would put in 0.2l, drive it for a short distance to see if the problem (yellow light) reoccurs. I need to check the hand book, but I believe you can drive for a short distance before needing to top up so no damage should result. Instantaneous reading will then give you an idea if you are low or high

If in doubt, remove airbox and check dip stick. Takes 5 mins. Whilst your there clean out the intake trumpets. No 5 and 6 will be filthy. :thumbs:

or the oil level sensor itself crapping out as they do on all crappy BMW sensors ....

Spot on :thumbs: :thumbs:

Think your right Shane, i'll pop the airbox tomorrow and check with the stick just to be sure :smokin:

God knows why none of you have not fitted oil catch cans yet??
Get rid of that breather hose polluting your throttle bodies, ICV, air rail, trumpets and inside the airbox!

Filthy is an understatement Shane :bigcry: they were utterly cacked :bigcry:
All nice and clean now though.


Anyone done the above on the CSL?
Looking at the state of the inside of the airbox it would be something worth considering i think.

mmmm we are listening ...

Did it need topping up Paul,or was it ok on the dip stick.

Not really Brett, was just below the max line, gave it a splash though anyway and after a run its seems to be fine :smokin:

Nice one.;)

Regarding your trumpets (ooooerrrr) had you ever removed the airbox before? I cleaned mine last year and then this year when I went in to clean it out again, it wasn't too bad. But I suppose, 4K in a year doesn't really warrant that much regular cleaning for myself.

First time I done it though, around 30K miles when I fitted the ITG Filter, they were black as fook. The guys in the shed fitting the lights thought I was a crazy man with the hoover in the airbox sucking out the dust, dirt and sand. God know where that all come from, but you just never know.

Glad you got sorted with your oil though, might be a sensor on its way out. I was quoted £100 to fit one by the dealers but I doubt it'd be that much if you had it done together with an Oil Service? Warranty though? Hmmm

No never removed it Baz, only time its been open was while in the garage for its insp II so probably only had a dicht with a cloth.

While i have it apart over the winter i think i'll do the regular M3 dip stick conversion as Tom mentioned.

Here you go this is mine, not only keeps intake clean, but stops blow by gasses mixing with your intake mixture, which decreases the octane rating of the mixture.


http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/t...019_155342.jpg

Hi,

Quote- '' but stops blow by gasses mixing with your intake mixture, which decreases the octane rating of the mixture.''


How ?


Regards,


The Gorilla.

Is the s54 engine known to suffer from increased crankcase pressure from 'leaky' piston rings then?

Oh and.....


does it not come with a catch tank then as standard???

No Jim,
Its just the same sort of set up as any other regular motor, it feeds from that breather on the cam cover over to the airbox where the vapour then gets recycle'd through the intake.

The BIG question though.....is a catch tank a worthwhile addition????

Notice you also have a dipstick tucked away in there, is that just the regular e46 M3 mod that Tom has mentioned?? :smokin:

How what?

How does it stop gases going into the intake, well the hose no longer goes into the intake thats how.

Hot gases that come out of the crankcase breather no longer feed back into the intake and mix with cold fresh air. Simples

No but all engines breathe. This stops that breathing re entering your clean intake air and gumming up your trumpets,throttle bodies,air rail etc etc. Also any oil that is in that breather won t be going in your airbox etc.

S54 does not/should not breathe much oil if any. Have had mine installed for a year and have not empied it once, in fact the sight tube on the side of the catch can shows no oil, but looking in from the top there is some in there.

Hi,

How does the re-routing of a breather
pipe alter the ''Octane'' rating of the fuel mix ?

I fitted a small Oil Catch Tank on my E30 M3 a number
of years ago, [S54, CSL Engine] but the ''Octane''
rating of the fuel mix has never altered.

Its never had anything in it hence why I did not waste
the money repeating, for the CSL.


Regards,

The Gorilla.

I think its more of a case of ensuring that the oil vapour cannot re-enter the engine, whereas as it's plumbed as standard there is a chance that it could....

The Vapour that comes out of the crankcase breather goes straight into the intake. This vapour then mixes with the fresh air coming in through the Airbox/Filter.

This air/mix is then taken into the throttle bodies and mixed with the fuel in the combustion chamber.

Hence this cylinder mixture now not only contains fuel and air(as it should), but oil vapour from the engine and possibly some oil.

Its this vapour and oil particles which decreases the octane rating of that cylinder at that particular instant.

Tell you what, turn your engine on leave it idling.

Remove the breather hose at the end that fits into the airbox, see how much dirty vapour is coming out at idle. If you like take a smell!

Its hot gas and full of hydrocarbons. Not what you really want going back into your intake.

As your RPM increases the volume of vapour increase...

Hi,

The 'volume' of Oil particles returned
to the Plenum which are then subsequently
''re-used'' would not make any difference to
the Octane of the Fuel entering the
engine whatsoever.

Oil Vapours do not have the ability to
alter the Octane /Mix of any given Fuel.

''An octane number is a measure of gasoline's ability to resist pre-ignition, also known as "knocking" or "pinging".
Octane is a rating, similar to a ratio of measurement, not a substance chemical or product you can add to gas. Determining octane measurements involves a complex methodology.''

Above extracted from a Paper on Fuel Sampling and Testing.

Oil vapours, if there was enough of it,
might alter Air Density, but on the
total Volume entering into a S54 which
if I remember correctly is something around
475 gpm, then the small volume being
re-cycled would be so slight as it would not make
any difference in the real world.

Regards,

The Gorilla.

Gorilla was being a bit of a pedant, but we know he means well. ;)

But it keeps your trumpets cleaner you numpty:hahaha:.

I agree it will make fuck all performance difference, but if it makes people think it helps the engine run better, then let them do it.

Its all relative to personal appiness, :beer:

Edited to add, I reckon if you add oil to fuel it might raise the "octane" slightly

:hahaha::hahaha:

Hi,

Quote-''Gorilla was being a bit of a pedant, but we know he means well.

Lawsy- The above made the old Primate chuckle.

For sure they can buy their Thomas Fandangle parts to keep
their 'Trumpets' clean, but its when the laws of ''''Phisics''''
are re-written its gets a bit rich, or in this case lean.

Regards,

The Gorilla.

Whatever, that's why all race engines feed their dirty breather air back into the intake.........! The only reason road cars have it is for emission requirements. You can also throw away your secondary air pump for that matter!

It does not change the octane rating of the fuel entering the engine, once a given cylinder is filled with Fuel/air/oil vapour mix this is where the knock characteristics of the mixture are changed by the oil vapour. Oil fumes induce knock so effectively reduces the octane of the mixture going into the engine.

Call it octane, call it whatever you like but the mixture is no longer pure air/fuel with the added oil vapour.

Oil vapours increase detonation, so your engine will run less timing. Hence less power! Its a known fact that oil degrades fuel quality when mixed.

Mr Gorilla you are not right all the time, in fact I don't suppose you have found the extra fuelling tables in the CSL map files for when sport mode is on have you?

Probably because there isn't one!

I don't see why you are arguing to be fair.

Oil catch cans are a proven technology for engines, why I am bothering to explain what is already known throughout the industry is beyond me!

And Lawsy if you don't think that removing oil vapour and carbon from your intake helps your engine run better and cleaner then why bother cleaning the trumpets at all??

On a personal note I don't really appreciate your tone.

If you want to teach someone to suck eggs mate, go do it to someone else!

I am well aware of what an octane rating is and yes it is just a number.

Your figure of 475gpm is at what RPM by the way? This figure changes with engine load, as does the amount of vapour that the engine breathes(blow-by).
And if this so called oil vapour/ particles/ oil is not entering our engines in great volumes then how does the plenum/ ICV/ Air rail/ trumpets get so dirty?? Because in the "real world" as you put it, it seems most people on here suffer from extremely dirty/oil coated/ carbon deposited trumpets, throttle butterflies, etc etc....

I agree it's not great, and I know it's all emissions bollocks.

I know what the vapours etc will do that's why I said gorilla was being a little pedantic.

But and it's a big but, do you think your car is faster because you have fitted an oil catch tank?

Hi,

Cantfind1- as you do not like the tone I will
keep this very short and simple for you.

Oil Catch Tank is so that Race Cars do not
deposit oil on to the Race Track. Period.

The clue is in its title.

It does not make any Car faster or perform better
no matter how you want to 'spin it'.

As you seem so far up yourself then I wish you
and your Catch Tank many happy miles
together.

Regards,

The Gorilla.

Up myself.....That's funny coming from you! How about contributing to the site and becoming a member.......wait, or are you are too good for that?

Faster is a whole other question! Who knows, but what I do know is that I no longer have crap entering my intake and fouling it up. A clean engine always works more efficiently than one covered in carbon deposits.

If I ever meet you than you can have a drive and decide for yourself.:thumbs:

No cos its heavier Lawsy !:hahaha:

I think we can excuse people from not noticing that they have been relegated from Bold blue to not so bold, tbh I had missed it myself until a few days ago.
I hate it when we have obviously knowledable people on here, who then sadly fall out over a certain issue.:banghead:
Being a bit fick, I cant comment regards the more technical apsects of this discussion, but I can see the merit of an oil catch can, should anyone choose to fit one, thank you both for your continued contributions, it is appreciated really !... Im off to blow my own trumpets now ! .. bet mine are well gunked up, If i sprayed Sambuca into the intake along with a lighted match, would it burn it off?? :smt102

Hi,

Cantfind1- your basing your views on your
own experince.

I will say yet again that I have yet to see any
oil deposits in the small catch tank fitted to my E30 M3
, S54 Engine, over 4 years ago.

The Carbon Plenum on my CSL is dry, no
oil deposits. no vapours etc.

Therefore maybe your car has worn Valve
stem seals or guides and in experincing oil
blow by, your Airbox is in your words, ''Coated
in Carbon and Oil deposits''.

Mine is not.

As regards your other churlish nonsense I will just
put that down to the time of the month.

Regards,

The Gorilla.