Dam Oil Pressure Gauge line!! Anyone know lots about them?

Yeah so I've got this HKS oil pressure gauge right? And it's got the little copper cable that runs between the engine and the gauge on the dashboard... well the damn thing broke the other day and spilt oil all over the place and basically now my engine is a little bit fucked to put it mildly...

Funny thing was, this was the first time I'd taken the car for a decent drive (more than a km or 2) after getting it back from being fixed after an accident (reasonably major front end prang, not my fault but still). I'd driven it to the shops about 3 times and that's it, no problems, but then I drive out to Bethells and boom, wasted engine...

My problem is that the insurance company is now denying that the breakage had ANYTHING to do with the accident, and saying that these things break all the time and it's probably just a coincidence... yeah right, good one!

So how do I prove to them that this doesn't just happen by accident. There's no way it's just coincidence, it was the FIRST TIME I'd driven the car after getting it back from the mechanics. I suspect either the crash fractured the tube and it took a decent drive to leak enough oil to cause a problem, OR that the repair shop has inadvertently broken it themselves.

I'd love to know if there are any people out there who work on these things regularly and have ever experienced spontaneous breakages of the line? They said it could be "work hardened" if it had been moving back & forth, but wouldn't that mean it would have happened gradually? The damn thing was basically severed when I looked at it! I want to know the failure rate of these things (if any), and considering that this one was less than 5 years old, how likely it is that it failed of its own accord.

Any help would be appreciated, even if it's just a number for an expert on the subject... Thanks

Something sounds dodgey, I can see from the Insurance companies point of view its an aftermarket part etc etc Who installed it?

Did you notice the oil pressure dropping on the gauge or it not working? Did you see anything that could have possibly cut it in the engine bay because of where it is?

Otherwise the panel beaters probably did something, but good luck proving that, panel beaters have a tendency to cut things to get them out of the way then neglect to remember they cut them later then deny all knowledge

For some actual info on HKS products you can call Mark Scully at Beyond Performance www.beyond2.co.nz last time I checked he was selling a lot of HKS gear and also Soichi Tate at ST Hi-tec also sells a lot of HKS, Believe both these guys are official NZ distributers or becomming them.

Yeah, there's nothing that says my insurance won't cover aftermarket parts, it should just bring the car back to original condition regardless. The company was aware I had aftermarket gauges.

I didn't notice the pressure drop until the car broke down but I wasn't necessarily scrutinising it closely because I had no idea about the problem.

I got the feeling the panelbeaters may have done it, of course they deny it, but the managed to completely muff a pretty long list of other things on the car as well!

I'd like to know my legal position here though - surely there should be some warranty following reasonably major work on a car, that it won't break down again (within a few days in this case), and some assumption made that it was the result of the work or accident if it is within a given timeframe... I mean if it happened JUST AS I was driving out the panelbeaters driveway they couldn't even deny it, but since it happened about 3 or 4 days later... even though I would have done all of 20km until the day it happened... hmm.

Yeah there wasn't anything shapr in the engine bay or anything obvious that could've done it either.

I will try Mark Scully, it would be good to have an expert vouch that it is very unlikely that it would happen just by "coincidence". I've also got hold of a dude in the city who specialises in gauges, has been installing them for 30 years, and said it's unlikely that it was old enough to break of its own accord...

HKS is high quality stuff, I swear by it so nah no coincedence.

Im no law expert (have only done a level 1 commerical law paper) but basically id stick the consumer gaurantees act to the panel beaters, if you can get an independant panel beater to have a look that might help. There are some shocking panel beaters out there (i know have had plenty of experience with real rough bastards) Good luck, there are some lawyers on biggie, might help if you ask in the Lounge

i'd hassle the fuck out of the insurance company. it should be their job to do all the running around for you. lawyer up if you need to, but start by ringing the pricks everyday etc.

Good advice

Yeah I've hassled them no end. I've demanded to speak to the supervisor, and then the supervisors supervisor... but they all say the same thing... They've had advice from their assessors and from Toyota (because my car is an Altezza) which says it was probably just wearing out. But as if Toyota are even qualified to say that about a part that they don't make and probably don't often deal with.

I know you can go the insurance ombudsman and make a complaint about the company but I think it's really a matter of being able to find some expert who can say definitively that it was almost certainly a result of the accident or work done thereafter.

I hadn't actually thought of asking another panelbeater, I might try that no that you mention it - maybe if I can find a competitor to the one I used he'll be happy to vouch that they are idiots (which I have drawn the conclusion they are).

Question Blade: When you install an HKS gauge does the cable come included with it, or does the installer generally use a 3rd party cable? I assumed it was all included, but the mechanic insinuated that the cable may have been a cheap one (since HKS if obviously a good brand).

If I can establish the fact that HKS is top quality stuff beyond reasonable doubt it will help my argument.

Everything should have come with the guage, when you fork out for HKS your paying for a top brand and top quality.

I'll ask an engineer mate of mine today about copper tube wearing and see what he says, will let ya know.

Well maybe next time you might wanna look into an electronic oil pressure guage connected to a sensor, alot more expensive but I've opted for this option due to this possibly happening. just a thought.
My 'Greddy' electronic oil pressure one only cost about $450 retail, not sure what you payed for yours though. but was seeing it as only $100 more than the 'mechanical' ones.

The electronic guages are the way to go, but $450 for a fricken guage? mucho $$$

i have a factory oil pressure gauge, and i want to hook up an aftermarket oil temp gauge. is this easy?

the thing with copper is that it work hardens and will break. we play around with alot of American Cars and always fit electrical gauges and never mecnhanical gauges for this reason, they either supply copper piping or plastic line, in my oponion they both suck.

Now the hard bit is the insurance company, they will try every excuse in the book to get out of paying, so just keep hounding them.

Yeah - I sent them a 9 page formal complaint letter addressed to the CEO, including photographic evidence, a detailed sequence of events timeline, expert testimonies from various people in the industry such as a guy who has spent the last 30 years installing gauges (!), the distributor of the products (thanks blade), and a lawyer, and I even included a complete formal logic deduction theorem - all of this showing that they are full of shit...

I'm eagerly awaiting what they have to say to that - please could everyone who reads this pray to allah for me momentarily (or at least cross your fingers).

Shit I forgot to mention - the worst thing the repair shop managed to do was break my stereo - now that's gotta be fixed too... I miss my tunes!!!!

You wanna get an Rx7 mate, factory oil pressure gauge!! booya!