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MG MG Y Type - Oil pressure gauge access - is there an easy way?

I've been exploring the cause of my sticking oil pressure gauge. For a while the gauge was slow to respond up or down, and has finally stuck showing about 20psi whether the engine is running or not.

The engine has good oil pressure, before you ask!

By working my way along the feed from the engine to the gauge, I've established there is no blockage in the line at any point. So it's all down to the gauge itself, which will have to come out for a check over.

This is where the fun starts. Should I release the instrument panel from the dash, pull it into the car, and remove the gauge then, or can it be removed from the back of the dash in situ? (This looks unlikely, to be honest).

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome!
Tim Griggs

Hi Tim

Your first method is the correct way to do this. Sorry, no short cuts.
Paul Barrow

Thanks Paul - it's too much to ask for a miracle! I'll just have to get on with pulling out the instrument panel...
Tim Griggs

Drop the steering column and maybe pop the steering wheel off first - make it a bit easier.
Paul Barrow

Episode 27: the problem I have is definitely within the gauge, as the oil feed pipe to the dash is not blocked, and oil flows along it freely.

I'm just about to remove the gauge from the dash.

David Lawrence advises (LTBY p,165) that the gauge unit is Jaeger X.53936/6, type OG.79. Does anyone happen to have a spare gauge unit, in case mine is not repairable? Fair price offered, of course. Thanks!
Tim Griggs

Important discovery alert: it is possible to remove the oil pressure gauge from the instrument panel without moving either the whole dashboard or the instrument panel within it. The three left-hand instruments are retained on a single mounting plate with three U-shaped metal clips, each located by a stud on the instrument panel.

Work carefully behind the panel and the clips can be released: the gauge is now free!

The unit is sealed, with no screws or other means of access that I can see.

Fortunately, a couple of careful squirts of WD40 and the stuck gauge has started to free off. I suspect that 75 years of dried, old lubricant had been getting in the way of things.

Next: a pressure test with a compressor and external gauge to check if the unit is still functional...


Tim Griggs

SO back to the original problem Tim, was the gauge initially just not going up past 20psi?

Paul
Paul Barrow

It's alive! So good to have confirmation that we have oil pressure again.

Gauge removed without moving the dash panel, as above. A iittle spray PTFE lubricant and some gentle persuasion of the moving parts (accessible around the needle mounting). I reconnected the gauge to its feed pipe, started the engine, and bingo!

Warning: Remounting the gauge in the instrument panel ideally requires a three-handed six-year-old with second sight... but it can be done with a bit of patience by an adult.

Tim Griggs

This thread was discussed between 07/03/2026 and 16/04/2026

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