Okay,
First of all, I am also of the opinion that there is no oil pressure light on
TR-4A's. The red light that is next to the green turn signal indicator is
indeed an ignition light, and sounds like it is working ok. (A little glow at
600 rpm is common if you ask me)
If you really want to check, turn on the engine and pull the lead on the
generator. (be careful it's hot down there, and of course there is some
lectricity-) Then the light will glow brightly not withstanding engine
speed. When you are reattaching the wire, take a second to put a drop or two
of oil on the generator's busing / bearing thing. A much neglected bit of
maintenance on many cars
Second--I lost the original post, but if your TR-4 has the early radiator
with the long neck on it-- this is called a header tank. It is meant to
allow for some normal expansion, evaporation, and other general fluid
activity. If you fill the neck all the way up--it will leak past any
radiator cap as there is no space for the coolant to expand and the liquid
isn't compressible. You don't have to fill this tank up all the way. As
long as you can see the coolant level down in there somewhere, it's OK. Just
because the coolant is going through the overflow tube doesn't mean the
engine is overheating. What does the temp gauge read anyway?
Of course if you've got coolant in your oil and exhaust, there's trouble to
be attended to.
Third-- In my opinion, the driver whose oil pressure "dipped" has probably
not driven his car long enough before to let the oil and the engine
completely heat up. The coolant temp isn't a direct indicator of oil and
engine temp. When stuff heats up, oil gets thinner, and clearances
increase-thus-lower oil pressure. Things sound fine if you ask me. And I
think I read somewhere that TR-6 relief valve is set higher than earlier
cars. So 90psi might not be wrong there. As always---check the book.
These are all my opinions, they aren't law, feel free to disagree or educate
me further.
Scott Tilton
In Richmond VA
Being in tune with you car is great, being paranoid about it, isn't.
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