Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > oil light on rev counter

[Paul748bp]

i notice under hard acceleration on 1st 2nd and 3rd the little red light flicks on i been told that this aint a oil level indicator but a oil pressure light i have to correct amount of oil in my 748 is it normal for it to come on or is something up im using Castrol GP4 oil

[Glyn]

its often the sender unit that is faulty
pull out the wires have a look down the hole , if theres oil in there it's on it's way out

Originally Posted by Paul748bp

i notice under hard acceleration on 1st 2nd and 3rd the little red light flicks on i been told that this aint a oil level indicator but a oil pressure light i have to correct amount of oil in my 748 is it normal for it to come on or is something up im using Castrol GP4 oil

its also the classic early signs of an oil pressure switch failing, its down by your right foot, about 15 quid for a replacement if i remember rightly ...

[Paul748bp]

Originally Posted by Glyn

its often the sender unit that is faulty
pull out the wires have a look down the hole , if theres oil in there it's on it's way out

hole ?????

what hole is that ?

[Glyn]

the hole in the top of the sender unit that the wires plugs in to
it's next to where you put the oil in.

[CipiVTS]

Hi, on my 2000 748 i had the same problem in 1st,2nd and 3rd at ~7000 rpm, red light flickering. Measured the oil pressure and everything was ok. Changed the oil switch and still did the same.

I removed the oil and its colour was brown-caffe-latte. Practically i had water in the oil because of a cracked head on the vertical cylinder.

Hope you don't have the same problem... try by changing the oil switch

[moto748]

Paul>
I do believe Glyn and Dibble are talking about the same thing.

[Paul748bp]

Originally Posted by CipiVTS

Hi, on my 2000 748 i had the same problem in 1st,2nd and 3rd at ~7000 rpm, red light flickering. Measured the oil pressure and everything was ok. Changed the oil switch and still did the same.

I removed the oil and its colour was brown-caffe-latte. Practically i had water in the oil because of a cracked head on the vertical cylinder.

Hope you don't have the same problem... try by changing the oil switch

if the head is craked wont i lose power ???? the other day i had 170 on the clock lol yes i no thats not guna be true but it looked great the bike seems powerfull threw past exsperience when ur head is damaged power is lost but i have the problem of water getting pressurised i really hope my cylinders arnt cracked but if they are how much will it cost to repair ????????? eeeeeeeeeek

[Jools]

Don't worry about the complex stuff like cracked cylinder heads until you've checked out the simple stuff first...

Are you SURE that the oil level is OK? You say the light flickers on under hard acceleration, that might be because the oil level is marginal and the pressure might be dropping if the oil surges away from the pump pickup...just a thought.

Could also mean that you need an oil change, when was the oil last changed? Oil does break down under the pressure, heat of the engine and becomes thinner with age so the lack of pressure could be down to oil that's past it's best.

If anything is broken t's far more likely to be the oil pressure switch (which will only cost about £30 to swap over) than a cracked cylinder head.

Mind you, I wouldn't want to be doing an indicated 170 with any doubts at all about the oil pressure...not without one hand on the clutch anyway.

[Glyn]

swap the switch
change the oil
if that don't work, get it checked over