Another Oil Pressure Question

[JeffSchroeder]

Hi All-

I am new to the water-cooled world and have some questions for you! I just obtained an ’87 944S, with about 140K on the clock, and let’s just say that it hasn’t had the easiest of lives! Upon getting the car, the oil pressure light would flicker at idle and the gauge would hit the magical .9 bar area. At cold idle the gauge almost reads 5 bar, but once the car is warm (at about 15 minutes later) the gauge drops back down to the old red mark again! I removed the pressure relief valve, clean it, inspected it, sealed it, and then put it back in the block. This made the pressure raise a hair, but nothing to get excited over. After making numerous phone calls, I talked to a few very nice people “in the know”, and they all said the same thing; rod bearings. So, I guess I am going to fix my pesky oil pan leak after all – yuck. I guess my question is has anyone had this same problem before and solved it with rod bearings? My lifters are just starting to tick very slightly at hot idle (not on cold startup at all – only when the car is already warm) as well. I guess I am just concerned, and want to rule out an oil pump failure, but as I am getting textbook cold idle pressure (factory filter’s and 20W-50), pump failure sounds incorrect. If I even breath on the throttle, the gauge bounds back up to 1.75-2.00 bar level (all sender’s have been replaced as well), and at highway speeds the car reads about 2.75 – 4 bar. Thanks so much all, any comments or suggestions are appreciated! I am replacing the rod bearings regardless, but wanted to get some more feedback!

Jeff

[winddance@att.n]

You know, this was a common problem years ago in my airplanes and volkswagens. The new synthetic and multiweight oils were just too thin, even when warm, to keep the oil pressure up. The flickering oil light is the first clue. First, try switching to the recommended straight weight for your season and see if that helps. It will. Then, as in my 944, your oil pressure gauge may not be anywhere close to accurate. Check out the sender.

[Roger Hall]

Rod berrings are a serious repair. Before you tear apart the engine have you noticed any metal shavings in the oil? On my 81 924 the oil pressure guage read as low as 1 bar. After cleaning the grounds it now reads 2 bar at warm idle. However when I turn on the headlights it drops back to 1 bar.