raverx3m

iTrader: (1)

i was reading about how the newer digital oil level sensor works and some of them have built in oil temp and oil condition sensor

which measures metal content of oil (metal particles) im assuming by measuring the resistance of clean oil vs oil full of metal flakes from failing bearing or oil pump.

if the flakes are not visible anyone tried to use a voltmeter to do that?

raverx3m

iTrader: (1)

they are called oil condition sensors.

i think mercedes uses the 3 in one oil sensor( oil level, temp and metal content) but they send a digital signal output so i dont know if they can be retrofitted to work with anything else... but i think it would be very nice and would save alot of race engines from failing from worn out oil pump or low oil level

Black93Lude

A quick search on google yeilded only one viable result, and it was for medium duty diesel applications in europe.

They say it works by pumping an AC voltage inbetween 2 pipes inside the sensor and then measuring the potential (I assume EM potential) at a different point inside the sensor. The levels of EM flux from the metal content in the oil, coupled with other information, is what gives you the condition quality.

I call BS because the primary contaminant in oil is gasoline, and in the case of diesel, water, also. The filter is designed to filter out particulate non-dissolvable contaminants; while the presence of metal in your oil is a sign of a much larger problem. Most oil condition systems use start counts and driving style algorithims to determine the approximate life of the oil.

Not to mention that if this technology is only avaliable for diesel applications (which use steel heads and blocks and most everything else) then the use in an aluminum application would be pointless becuase the EM flux density would be too small to measure if it were trying to measure aluminum.

If you find any other information, let me know. I'm curious to see how they do it.

If you're concerned with metal in the oil, use a magnetic drain plug. It'll only work on ferrous metals though.

raverx3m

iTrader: (1)

whatever metal bearings are made of lol copper im guessing

non magnetic. i have tranny and oil pan magnets.didnt save it.

but it was mostly my bad luck with this motor.

alltogether. bad valve guide job. possibly defective valve seals, leaking cam seals and not having an oil pressure gauge for only 2 days after rebuild for about 200 miles.

thats when i searched for a sensor that would detect presence of any kind of metal in oil and found.

if i remember correctly from tech sheet.. mercedes one is made by bosch and it is for a regular gasoline engine and i belive it should detect the overall condition of oil be it gasoline water or other contaminants by sensing the viscosity

but i dont know how metal particles would affect viscosity.

im guessing like you said its a reference point from brand new oil to completely broken down maybe thats why they call for specific brand and type of oil in those cars because thats what the sensor was calibrated for...
another version was the metal sensing one.

but second time i searched i couldnt find it again

slowcivic2k

Metal would be caught by most oil filters, and would never be detected by any sensor. Metal would invariably end up somewhere, even with a new old change as erosion is an on-going process, I have personally never heard of it, but it sounds pretty dumb to put it bluntly.

Diesel engines use electrodes to determine water content in the fuel, so this idea is used, just not in engine oil. I would suppose that with a very accurate calibration a sensor could determine the oil breakdown, there are just too many variables to account for. I can say newer Fords do look at oil temperature, engine load, and other sensors to determine how many miles to remove from the next oil service. None of these look at the composition of the oil though.

raverx3m

iTrader: (1)

is there a bypass then?
how did i get metal shavings in my vtec solenoid when oil pump went out?

Black93Lude

Something in your engine is getting chewed up. Perhaps the oil pump.

What are you trying to bypass?

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say in that other post (#4). As with any moving metal parts, it's not the metal in the oil that causes the failure. What causes the failure is what's causing the metal in the oil. To say that metal in the fluid caused the failure is to confuse causation and correlation.

You say you have less than 200 miles on the motor? Not having an oil press 'gauge' won't cause this issue. I assume that your oil press switch (which is hooked up to the light) was intact and working properly. Honestly, if you put 200 miles on the motor and then the oil pump failed then chances are that something during the rebuild process caused the failure, if i'm understanding correctly.

raverx3m

iTrader: (1)

oil loss caused wear on oil pump and in turn metal shavings caused all bearing surfaces to get scuffed...i already know what caused the damage and whre it started

i want an early warning not the oem oil pressure switch that tells me that my engine is already toast. that is useless...