Smiths Oil Check

[ddoherty958]

I’m making this post to share information I have obtained on the Smiths Oil Check switch, a rare aftermarket means of checking the oil level of a classic car. I have fitted this to my moggy.

The smiths oil check switch is a dashboard mounted plunger and associated hallow dipstick which uses vacuum to check and report oil level of a car remotely.

Pulling on the plunger sucks air through the system. If the hole at the end of the pictured hallow dipstick is submerged, no air can be pulled and a “green” ring is visible. If the liquid is below the level of the hole, air is pulled through and a “red” ring is visible. The length of the dipstick is adjustable.

See attached my photos and scans of the unit. I hope this post is of use to someone researching this obscure item.

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[ddoherty958]

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[ddoherty958]

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[ddoherty958]

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[ddoherty958]

Higher quality versions of these images + PDF scan of the instruction sheet is available from the Internet Archive at the following link https://archive.org/details/img-8629_202510

[bobtail4x4]

A simple idea,
wonder if there is a market for these now?

[Bill_qaz]

Yet another overcomplicated solution to a non existing problem, no wonder it didn't catch on. You have to lift the bonnet to check the water anyway and a cursory visual check whilst checking the oil. If you check before starting you don't need to wipe stick so how do you get dirty?

[moggiethouable]

A very interesting piece of history.
The Smiths accessories book from 1910 has been reprinted, I enjoyed reading about the "consumeter" fuel gauge to you and I, not felt necessary in 1910 and available as an accessory.

[myoldjalopy]

Yet another overcomplicated solution to a non existing problem, no wonder it didn't catch on. You have to lift the bonnet to check the water anyway and a cursory visual check whilst checking the oil. If you check before starting you don't need to wipe stick so how do you get dirty?

Yes, it seems a fairly pointless gadget. But lots of other overcomplicated solutions to non-existent problems have caught on! Electric windows for one!

[ddoherty958]

Is it over complicated? Yes. A bit. But 2 things really spoke to me.

1) The cleverness of the mechanism. No sensors, no wires, just a tube and a spring.

2) This will allow me to check my oil more often. We all have these cars, we know they leak oil. Leaking coolant isn’t an issue. This will let me check my oil before each journey. Making it easier to check will massively reduce the chance of driving with low oil, a very real possibility with these old engines! And yes, if I wanted to I could get out and check it each time. But who wants to do that before every trip? One pull of the plunger and you’re done. Simple!

[Bill_qaz]

To each their own
Personally I like to check oil, water, tyre pressures and general check around before every outing. I have to lift the bonnet anyway to unplug the battery minder, so already there. Perhaps it's years in the truck industry where daily checks were normal procedure.

[myoldjalopy]

To each their own, indeed. But an engine in decent shape is unlikely to lose a lot of oil quickly - it can happen though. I checked the oil one day and it was extraordinary low, which puzzled me. The oil filter casing had become loose and I was losing oil every time I went for a drive. If I remember correctly, the drivers' handbooks do recommend a daily check of oil.

[ndevans]

I would raise the bonnet and check fluid levels before anything other than a short drive. I see this as solving a problem that doesn't really exist-it's not exactly a big ask to raise the bonnet and check fluid levels.

[MikeNash]

Well ddohert958, you’re a lucky man. I love period gadgets which are useful and ingenious, and that definitely is one. And no electrons involved! That’s a bonus. Take no notice of Messrs quaz, evans or oldjapoly, they’re lovely people (indeed, each is a “Minor Legend”) but they’re fastidious characters whose cars approach perfection. (And Bill-qaz checks everything “before every outing”. I bet he includes the hydraulic oil too.)

But what if your engine is an oil burner? A while ago I had to make occasional weekend journeys to Newcastle in a loaded Trav, a round trip of 600 miles plus some running around up there, often with a trailer too. Cruising up the A1M at around 60 (true) often required spells at full throttle which, of course every well-adjusted A Series adores. (As the poets says, “Singing like the morning stars for joy that they are made”.) BUT as the oil crept up above 90C and the oil pressure went down to just 40psi (and at the idle the oil light flickered), the oil consumption was only 150 miles per pint at the best. I'd have loved to have your gadget then!

My opinion is coloured by once owning a Rover 14 which has push switch next to the fuel gauge which on depression allowed the gauge to read the output of “fuel gauge” style float in the sump. So simple I wonder why they weren’t more common.
Please let us know how you get on with your new toy, MikeN.

[ndevans]

Thanks for the compliment Mike!

I don't think my car would ever be described as nearing perfection, but I'll take that!

Each to their own, and I do see the attraction of period gadgets, but for my part I'd rather lift the bonnet every few hundred miles on a long journey.

[myoldjalopy]

'Approaching perfection'? Well, yes, but from a very long way away, and at the pace of a tired snail going uphill!

[svenedin]

I think it is a lovely period piece of paraphernalia. My Morris was using (burning and leaking) a pint of oil per 100 miles for rather a long time and I would have been glad of this dashboard oil level check on longer journeys. Now, after a full engine rebuild, the oil consumption is minimal.

Nice to see the OP back on the forum. Are you the young chap from Northern Ireland with a Minor as a first car or am I remembering incorrectly?

Stephen

[ddoherty958]

I think it is a lovely period piece of paraphernalia. My Morris was using (burning and leaking) a pint of oil per 100 miles for rather a long time and I would have been glad of this dashboard oil level check on longer journeys. Now, after a full engine rebuild, the oil consumption is minimal.

Nice to see the OP back on the forum. Are you the young chap from Northern Ireland with a Minor as a first car or am I remembering incorrectly?

Stephen

Thanks for the kind words Stephen. Yes, that’s me! I daily drove my Percy for 2 years, and done AJ’s engine and clutch change in that time. Very kind of you to remember me!

[svenedin]

Not at all. You're welcome.

You are the next generation of Minor custodians so I hope you will be looking after (and more importantly enjoying) Morris Minors for a very long time to come.

I was 17 when I got my Morris Minor in 1989 and it was my only car throughout my student years and beyond. I was at university in Scotland, 460 miles from home and I also had placements in the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. I never broke down, not once even in freezing winter weather. I remember once, in the snow going from Dumfries to Edinburgh. A friend asked for a lift and then started to take the mickey about my old banger and whether it would make it over the big hills in the snow. I asked whether perhaps he would rather take the bus (which took hours and was very infrequent). He decided he would rather have a lift and had to admit he was very impressed that the old "banger" got to Edinburgh with no fuss at all!

My car was just old when I got it and not really considered a "classic" back then. Now of course things are different.

Enjoy!

Stephen

[Mervin]

"My opinion is coloured by once owning a Rover 14 "
You have brought back some treasured memories there Mike. The first car my late Dad bought was a used 1939 Rover 14, black, ACA475. Must have been 1955 ish.
I remember the "free wheel" function. Take your foot off the pedal and it free wheeled, no engine braking.