I bought a new sender and had it on my todo list for the next oil change, assuming that removing the sender would require the engine to be free of oil.   However, my mechanic stopped by recently and told me that it can be changed at any time, and even changed it for me quickly.

I assumed that would be the end of it, however the light continued to come on randomly, and even sometimes came on at idle.  Coming on at idle made me think that maybe there could be more to this, so I decided that I wouldn’t drive the car until I tested the oil pressure properly.

Of course, Citroen didn’t use a common sized oil pressure sender, so none of the adaptors in my mechanical oil pressure gauge would work.    I still had the gauge from the saga with my 300SE a few years ago.

I looked online for adaptors.  They were not expensive, but most of them seemed to come from the UK with shipping higher than the actual adaptor.   I eventually found a local one.   The sender unit is a male M10x1.5 thread.   I found one that provided two ports, one a more standard size and the other for the original sender.  I purchased it.

When it arrived it looked pretty good, but there was a problem.  There isn’t a lot of clearance to get this larger adaptor in, and while I could get the adaptor in, I couldn’t then get the fitting for the mechanical gauge in.   I tried a few times, both from the top and the bottom.  Since the gauge was out of the car, I couldn’t start it, so I used a jack to lift the car to try from the bottom.  In my ineptitude I managed to let the car fall off it and put a scratch on the side.  Luckily its not that visible from the side and mostly hit the bottom.

That left a sour taste in my mouth, so I decided to just order one of the smaller adaptors from the UK.   It took a few weeks to arrive.  It was much smaller and doesn’t have provision for the current sender.  That wasn’t an issue for me as this is a troubleshooting step and not a permanent install.

After all the time wasted with the old adaptor, I had the new one installed quickly.   Its smaller size making it much easier.   I soon had the gauge installed as well.   Starting the car, I had good news.   about 4.5 bar of oil pressure, or 65psi.   It would rev to about 70psi.

I let the car warm up a bit and the pressure stayed good.  A I then took it for a drive around the industrial estate where I keep my cars. I was never able to get the pressure to lower even at 4,000rpm.   I then let the car idle for a while until the electric fan came on and the oil was good and hot.   The lowest pressure I saw was about 2.5 bar or 35psi at idle. I consulted the workshop manual, and the specification for the oil pressure is that it must be at least 3.8 bar (54psi) at 3,000rpm with the oil at 60 degrees. (assuming 20/50 oil, which I use).

At this point I was pretty confident I didn’t have an oil pressure problem. I took the car for a drive again with a warmer engine and hot oil pressure was still good.   I also noticed something else that really sealed the deal.   At one point, the oil pressure light came on when revving the engine.   This should not be possible as the sender is not plugged in.

Its possible that this is related to the circuit board in the instrument cluster.  I know mine already has an issue as I had to bridge the connection for the illumination.    It may also be to do with excessive voltage at high RPM.   I’ll put a voltage gauge on the car at the same time so I can check.

This test, has given me much more peace of mind that there is nothing actually wrong with my car.   Citroen DS engines are very tough.

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I created a list of items I wanted to address, with the first being the critical one.

• Occasional coolant leak after long drives
• Fix a transmission leak
• Windscreen washer not working
• Oil pressure gauge odd readings
• Slight noise from alternator
• Poor A/C performance
• Fit battery monitor

My 560SEL has 342,000km on the clock, but I use it quite a lot so it is in good mechanical shape.   Any older car can have an issue, but sorting that list out would give me confidence for the trip.  I also packed some spares with me, such as radiator hoses, fuses, the old alternator and the like.

Poor A/C Performance, Alternator & Transmission leak

I started with the A/C performance, largely because I hadn’t noticed the coolant leak at that time.   Late last year, the freon leaked out of the system, so it felt like a good opportunity to not only address that issue, but fit the same uprated condenser I have on my 560SEC.   I started this upgrade at roughly the same time as I upgraded the condenser on my 450SLC.

As with before, I got the kit from Klima Design works, and my mechanic fitted it for me.   There wasn’t any real issue fitting the kit, but the leak was found to me my compressor.   The compressor had been replaced by the previous owner about 10-12 years prior.   Based on the leaky compressor, we didn’t re-gas the system and I sourced a new compressor to be fitted on my next visit.

The transmission leak turned out to be the secondary transmission pump.   The seals were replaced, as well as the transmission cooler hoses.   At the time my mechanic noted it looked like the radiator had been leaking coolant.

I had heard some noise from the alternator, so had him replace it with a Bosch rebuilt unit.   After my experience last time, I figured the swap meant I would also have the old one as a spare before it failed.

A few months later I had the compressor changed and now had working A/C again.   It didn’t seem as cold as the 560SEC is, but it is a good improvement on what I had before.

Coolant Leak

I was only able to see the coolant leak after a long drive, and after that I would have a small puddle of coolant under the car.    The puddle was always under the middle of the car, but I could not see any evidence of leaks from the coolant hoses.

To try and narrow it down to see if it was the radiator or something else, I ran the car while up on the hoist.  I couldn’t get it to leak coolant and I checked carefully around the radiator and heater hoses.   I changed the oil pressure sender unit while the car was up in the air.

After leaving the car overnight, I had a small pool of coolant on the floor underneath where the starter was.  At least the oil pressure gauge was working correctly.

Since the leak was not conclusive, I took the car back to my mechanic so he could pressure test it.   Turns out the radiator would leak from the seams when under pressure.  I guess the coolant was running down the undershield, or being blown back onto the engine before leaking onto the ground.   A new Radiator fixed the problem.

Windscreen washer and battery monitor

Having a working windscreen washer is quite useful for country driving.  The first and most obvious test was that I had fluid in the tank, which I did.  I was also able to test the headlight washers, which did spray when the headlights were switched on.    The pumps from my parts car were really crusty.  I simply swapped the headlight and windcreen pumps over.  I now have a working windscreen washer at the expense of the headlight washer.   The headlight washer is really for snowy environments.

I also fitted a BM2 battery monitor, which I use for most of my cars.  Since Mercedes-Benz didn’t provide a voltage gauge, the battery monitor allows my phone to act as a voltage gauge.

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