If you’ve been around British cars long enough, you’ve had oil leak leak on your right knee while you’re driving. A spotted right knee is a badge of honor.
Our cars have mechanical oil pressure gauges, and that means that oil is pumped from the engine directly to your dashboard, and hence, this line is one possibility for pants leaks. Lots of the Sprites we see in our shop have plumbing issues with their oil pressure gauge lines. It all needs to be right or your engine can bleed out.
Start with the proper fitting in the block. Then attach the correct right angle union to receive a rubber high pressure line. This rubber piece is vital so you have a shock absorber in the line. Then comes the correct copper line that goes to the gauge. Make sure to run the copper line through the correct hole in the firewall as shown. Best to have it in a rubber grommet so it can’t chafe on the metal firewall (they can chafe and leak here too!). The correct grommet places the line in a shared hole with the temperature probe tube.
That line connects to the oil pressure gauge, which brings us to the source of our leaks. That union has to be tight. A new line might look like it won’t go over the nipple on the back of the gauge but in reality you tighten the fitting nut to pull the two components together and they will seat perfectly (see video that shows the two parts after the nut has been tightened and then removed).
Get it right and your pants will thank you!
If you need any or all of the components mentioned in this post, click the photos below for more information, or click here for our full catalog!
