Oil light turns on "on idle"

[fbenach]

Hmmm... here´s a newbie question for the gurus...
My oil light and "gen" light both turn on when I am on idle (800rpm)... my mechanic told me today that the gen light turning on is normal, but the oil light shouldn´t turn on...
He told me I will need to at least, check my oil pump...

If I hit the throttle a little bit, both lights go off, but now, I´m concerned...

What do you guys think?
Thank you again!!

[Barry]

The gen light is normal if it goes out just above idle.

The oil light is most definitely not normal and you should not use the bike until it is resolved. The likely cause of low oil pressure is not the oil pump but the oil filter installation not sealing correctly.

Have a read through this recent thread and follow the links to learn about the 2000$ O ring. 

http://www.bmwr65.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1340793349

[fbenach]

Thank you Barry, I saw the thread seconds after sending this question, I will read everything...

Take care!!

[R65LS]

 I once had the easy fix:  the sender unit.  Installed a new one, problem solved.
 of interest:  my R65 and my '74 BMW 2002 car both use the same unit, so there is a cost savings involved buying the sender from an auto parts store rather than a BMW bike dealer.
 
Cheers,

Carl

[Barry]

Carl

Good tip on sourcing the switch.

Are you sure the switch really was your only problem.  The only reason for caution is that the oil pressure switch does not work at some marginal setting just below the normal idle oil pressure. The switch is set very much lower. I'm not sure of the exact pressure but it's something like 9 PSI or less where as the idle oil pressure when cold should be at least 5 times  higher than that.

So the oil light could go out if the oil pressure at idle was above say 10 - 15 PSI but it might still be far from normal oil pressure. Unfortunately short of fitting a pressure gauge there is no easy way to know if that's the case.

Did you check the filter installation when replacing the switch ?

[EGRG]

First set your rpm to 1100 then try to check your oil pressure with a automotive oil pressure gauge. With more information you can make a better decision.

[Bob_Roller]

If a new low oil pressure switch isn't the culprit, you really shouldn't be riding it until you get it fixed .

These bikes put out a lot of oil pressure, even at idle, I don't know if it's true, but I have seen the value that this switch turns on at posted, it's around the 3-4 psi range .

There's a filter bypass valve in the oil filter cavity area, it's just a spring loaded metal ball, if you're in there checking the oil filter o-rings and filter, may want to give it a quick look .

It's at the far end of the cavity, just to the right of the long tube that goes through the oil filter .