CIH 1660 - oil pressure gauge

Dave H (MI)

Well-known Member
Having been SERIOUSLY burned by an oil issue last fall...and let's be real clear here...I was burned to the ground. Not the combine, me personally. Just a human shaped pile of ashes with a checkbook in his hand. Anyway...

When I bought the fool machine the oil pressure gauge was not working. Stupidly, I did not address this issue because I only had about 7 acres of corn and...well...what are the chances, RIGHT? Well, the #@!!# IH engine went low on oil without me catching it and I cooked a bearing. I don't care to discuss it further.

My thing is now I would like to have a working oil pressure gauge. The one in the control panel is permanently pegged all the way over to the right. I would like to install a gauge that works, maybe something new that I can mount right in front of me. Maybe something with an alarm to tell me if the oil pressure drops? But anything is better than what I have now.

I am not thinking this is a difficult job? Just got done getting my old 863 corn head back to working order so have not had time to really look at it but I am thinking it must involve a sending unit, some wiring, and then of course the actual gauge. Am I anywhere near close or is there more to it?
 
My 1660 is, I believe newer than yours. As I recall, yours has the IH engine. Mine is the Cummins. But I think the panels are basically the same?

You should be able to locate an oil pressure sender on the engine. Unhook the wire from it. With the key on, the gauge should peg one way with an open circuit, and the other way with a complete(grounded) circuit. If you can get that much, that tells you the gauge and the wiring is OK. A new sender would probably fix it. My 1660 has a red warning light also, which I think has its own sender. I'm wondering if yours also has the warning light?
 
I would bet it does. I am pretty religious about checking oil gauges and I want to make sure I have more than just fuel level and temperature in front of me. Your info is much appreciated and very helpful. I am curious, though. Does turning OFF the key act the same as unhooking the wire? Currently the gauge is always pegged over to the right...key on or key off. I will do your check this weekend when I have a second body around. One thing about combines...hard to work on alone! I know where the sending unit is and will check that out...thanks!
 
Can't really tell anything with the key off. Sometimes a gauge will relax a little when you turn off the key. Sometimes they won't. If your gauge is bad, hopefully you don't have to buy the whole panel. If the test at the engine doesn't show any results, then you have to get into the gauge, and do the same test there. Hopefully you don't have a wiring issue.
 
Dave run an oil line to the cab and put an actual oil pressure gauge on it. Then you always know for sure and not relying on a sensor. If you don't feel comfortable doing that yourself pay a mechanic to do it. Simple job $100 should cover it.
 
If you have the DT466 the gauge sender is on the left side of the engine.Those senders were notorious for going bad on trucks.With the key on unhook the wire and see what the gauge reads.next ground it to the block and it should do the opposite of what it did in the first step.This proves out the wiring.If the needle does not move=wiring or gauge;if it moved sender is bad.Above the gauge is the low oil pressure light.That sender is on the right rear of the engine teed with another.The one for the light is the 1 wire :ground it to the block(key on)and the light should come on.The light should come on when ever you turn on the key and go out when engine starts making oil pressure.I would want BOTH the light and the gauge to work.
If your dealer installed this engine after a rebuild he should have made sure both gauge and light worked.
If you install an after market gauge with its own oil line be careful how you route the oil line.Mark
 
Good luck Dave.

I created my own alarm circuit with a flashing red LED strip on the steering column. Big improvement over the stock Gleaner system.
 
Thanks, I'll look into that option. It's really just plumbing I guess. If I do a little research on the system I can probably figure it out. But then again, for a C-note I prolly have better things to do with my time! :)
 
I will look into it, but if I understand what you are saying the engine will stop if there is a dip in pressure? That won't be the only thing that stops! The old ticker will probably go with it. Not likely I will remember the oil gauge when it stops dead in the middle of the corn field. The combine will be fine but I will be in the ER.
 
Mark...good info, thanks. The dealership did not do the work, a local diesel mechanic did. After all was said and done he admits he knows nothing about combines. Just diesel engines apparently. Over the years there has been some farmer repairs to the oil pressure gauge and light. Hard to describe, but the sender for the oil pressure gauge is where you say it should be.

What interests me is the OTHER sender you describe...""teed with another". There is just such a thing on my engine. It is hanging loose by it's wires and the "t" is not screwed into anything. One of these senders must have an operator present switch involved because if this arrangement touches anything metal, the separator, feeder, and unloading auger all become inoperative. No one has been able to tell me what these units on the "t" do until now. I think you may have just set me on the right path...

Think I will get out the parts book again.
 
The extra sender that you say is unhooked from the oil passage ???, is there to make most hydraulic functions inoperative when the engine is not running and has no oil pressure. This is a safety feature that should be working.
You are saying that allowing this sender that is no longer connected to the engine, kills the hydraulic functions if you allow it to touch any point of ground ?? Sounds like the electronic internals of the sender are shorted to the sender case. Replace that sender and get it back in the engine oil system. as that unit is an important safety system.
 
That's the direction I am going Jon. No one has been able to give me good feedback on what these are until now. Obviously, if all this had not been disconnected by the PO I may not have had an issue with operating under low oil pressure. I will have all this fixed before the machine moves out of the shed again. This is what makes these forums great.
 
I just went thru this with my bil's 1660,we were checking the oil gauge and light to verify they worked and read properly.There should be a plug in the passage where your 2 unattached senders go at the right rear of the engine.As Jon Hagen said the other is for the hydraulics-it has 2 terminals I believe,and the sender for the light has one terminal.I worked on trucks for 40 years,and I remember replacing a lot of the gauge senders.When they start to fail,the gauge would intermittently read normal and fall off to the right(high). Usually they act up for a while before they fail completely.
I would think you could use the light sender to also operate a buzzer or alarm,but one that sounds different from rotor/feeder house/etc alarm,but you would need to get into the instrument cluster wiring.Good luck,Mark
 
I'm giving up on luck and doing it right this year. I have learned you cannot pull a dipstick too often, you cannot count on it not having a leak just because the oil never makes it to the ground, and there is no substitute for a full set of working gauges. I have always had a thing about checking gauges. Don't know why I let this one go by...but I did.
 

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