Oil Pressure

[Guest]

For those who have fitted oil pressure gauges can you tell what the oil pressure should at around 70mph
cheers
ps mines a tad over 55psi

[Phil]

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another guage to worry about then

mine shows 40-50psi or there abouts its sometimes difficult to see as I have 13" steeringwheel and it blocks the guage. New 14" one on xmas present list but I don't hold much hope

Phil

[Ian B]

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the actual pressure as long as not too high or too low is not important, it's just an indication that you have oil flow, these gauges are far from 100% accurate. for what it's worth mine reads 50 - 55 psi when cold and about 15psi on hot tick over and about 45psi when on a long fast run of 70+mph.



Ian

[tedlit]

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Mine reads 25psi cold, 8-10psi hot idle, 15psi hot under load. The gauge jumps 4-5psi if I depress the clutch for some reason.

It's just another thing to watch and worry about - until my car starts smoking and/or rattling, I'm not going to worry.. the oil stays nice and clean, and the car doesn't use a drop!

[GDPR]

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Mine 60+ cold whatever the engine speed, dropping to 20psi hot @500rpm idle in D, 25psi @650 idle in N, and 45/50psi 1500rpm and above depending on how hard I've been caning the engine and ambient temp........

Pretty average Stag engine readings

Buick V8 pressures anything over 5psi at idle when hot is safe (P5, P6 and older Range Rover engines) and don't expect more than 30psi on a standard pump at higher rpm...

Russ:dude:

[DJT]

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tedlit wrote:

Mine reads 25psi cold, 8-10psi hot idle, 15psi hot under load. The gauge jumps 4-5psi if I depress the clutch for some reason.

It's just another thing to watch and worry about - until my car starts smoking and/or rattling, I'm not going to worry.. the oil stays nice and clean, and the car doesn't use a drop!

Could be a dodgy sender, or gauge. You could try fitting another to see, but if it doesn't rattle, or use oil I guess nothing to worry about.

Dave

[V Mad]

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tedlit wrote:

Mine reads 25psi cold, 8-10psi hot idle, 15psi hot under load. The gauge jumps 4-5psi if I depress the clutch for some reason.

It's just another thing to watch and worry about - until my car starts smoking and/or rattling, I'm not going to worry.. the oil stays nice and clean, and the car doesn't use a drop!

Yours is unusually low, but it may just be the gauge. If the gauge is OK,the low pressure may indicate worn main/big end bearings, or a weak oil pump. If you are lucky, it may just be a faulty pressure gauge, but if not, I think its only a matter of time before somethings starts to knock or rumble.

BTW oil consumption is nothing to do with oil pressure. High oil consumption indicates worn cylinder bores,worn rings or valve seals, and vice versa.

[tedlit]

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I hooked up another (tested) gauge a while ago.. apparently if I double the readings from my gauge, I get the real readings.

As long as mine keeps going up and down, I don't worry.

My oil pressure light even works.. although I'm not sure what pressure it actually lights up at. It goes off as soon as the engine cranks once or twice.

[Ian B]

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i think the oil pressure light comes on at less than 4psi, by which time it may be too late:shock:

Ian

[tedlit]

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V Mad wrote:

Yours is unusually low, but it may just be the gauge. If the gauge is OK,the low pressure may indicate worn main/big end bearings, or a weak oil pump. If you are lucky, it may just be a faulty pressure gauge, but if not, I think its only a matter of time before somethings starts to knock or rumble.

Also wanted to add.. I did replace the old oil pump with a NOS Hoburn pump just after I got the car.. the old one was gummed up *badly* with solid brown gunk.

This is a car that sat outside for 21 years with all its fluids in it.. the big end bearings *are* worn, but I've seen a lot worse. Getting all the gunk out of the bottom end was a big enough task as it was

[tedlit]

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Ian B wrote:

i think the oil pressure light comes on at less than 4psi, by which time it may be too late:shock:

Ian

4psi? I think that'd redefine too late. If you've got an oil leak and you're down to 4psi before you notice, chances are you don't even have enough time to get to the side of the road!