Oil pressure readings

[rob911]

Anyone interested in oil pressure?

I'm sure everyone keeps a regular check on levels, but what is the acceptable variance from the factor ideal?

Include any change in pressure during the colder weather if you reply to the post.

Btw my oil level sender is shot , ( I will do it next week when I'm on holiday) so I really pay attention to oil temp and pressure.

0 to 1.0 Bar at warm idle
1 to 2 Bar at warm idle
2 to 3 Bar at warm idle
3 to 4 Bar at warm idle

I am usually at 0.8 Bar on a hot engine. In the recent cold weather I am 1 Bar +.
However my engine has done 172,000 miles with only a "top end" job at 130,000. The pressure picks right up with any pressure on the throttle.

[Rick Lee]

Maybe I misread your message. But if you're only at .8 bar, as in eight tenths of one bar, your gauge, pressure sender or both are very faulty. If your car has been doing this for a while, then I guess your pressure can't really be that low, or else your engine would have died long ago. At warm idle, your needle should not dip below 2. It should rise (as a rule of thumb) about 1 bar per 1000 rpm's. I've heard it should hover around 2.5 bars at warm idle, which is what mine does, when the gauge doesn't stick -- yes, I need to replace mine too.

[rob911]

Originally posted by Richard LeSchander
Maybe I misread your message. But if you're only at .8 bar, as in eight tenths of one bar,

Richard

I have posted the poll to find out if this is normal, add your voice to the poll!

Also I have heard of many others at 1.0 Bar at warm idle, plus the PO confirmed that she experienced the same. As I mention above "The pressure picks right up with any pressure on the throttle." Not sure if it is quite 1 Bar per 1000rpm. Certainly in "normal" driving the pressure is alway 3 - 5 Bar.

[Early_S_Man]

Actually, there is NO MINIMUM PRESSURE AT IDLE! This topic has been hashed over many, MANY times by letters to Bruce Anderson at Excellence, and he says as long as an engine meets the hot oil pressure 'standard' of 59 psi min. at 5000 rpm with the oil at 194 degrees F, then it doesn't even matter if the oil warning lamp is on or flickering at idle!

[rob911]

Warren

Thanks for the reassurance, couldn't find the info here and I await Santa for the Bruce Anderson book. I have 4 + Bar at 5000rpm so all is OK ( I think 1 Bar = ~15psi ?).

[jwetering]

my owners manual says that it's even ok if the oil pressure light comes on occasionally at idle. This would depress the hell out of me though. I get a reliable bonus bar at speed(where 1 bar per 1000 rpm is normal) with my 160,000 mile top end rebuilt 3.0.

jasper

[rscupper]

Near nothing at idle but moves up nicely with any RPM increase.

BTW Jasper, I like your headlight rings. Are they black like your trim? I've not seen that before.

[rob911]

Yeah great looking car.

Those headlight rings.......when I removed my headlight rings (replacing parking bulbs) one of the rings underneath was black and the other was chromed. These are actually part of the headlamp assembly.
If both of mine were black I would leave the rings off, they are such a pain to re-fit my 0.02c

[jwetering]

When you buy a set of standard H4, the rims are primed black. You can spend an extra $100 and get primed trim rings which you can paint and slip over top to cover up the "unsightly" adjusting screw heads.

I on the other hand was too cheap to get the trim rings...it's just a bonus that they give my car that edgy racer's look.

cheers
jasper