weird oil pressure situation

[3KVT]

Okay, so I'm not leaking oil, or any other liquid for that matter. When I start the car, the oil pressure goes high until it warms up, which isn't a problem. But after the car gets up to temp and has been run for a while, the oil temp drops. Like droooooops down to about 2-3 bars on the stock guage. My idle is normal, though it goes from lean to normal (round 14.8ish), but the idle stays at almost the same rev range (1K-1200). I've checked all vac lines and all the oil lines I could see without digging into it. Any ideas as to what could be causing this problem? Is my pump going bad? Is it a vac leak that causes the pressure to drop cause fuel is being cut? Any input is appreciated.

[3KVT]

Also, the pressure does fine through the rpms. it's just at idle that I experience this nonsense.

[Assy]

on mine at cold idle it will be above the big line(about 1300k) when its warm it drops to 2 under the bar @750k +-i know the stock gauge is really inaccurate

[3KVT]

oh, I'm aware of how horrible the stock guage is, but the weird thing is that it used to stay in the "normal operating temp" range and it just started doing this crap.

[Assy]

oh you didnt mention it just started to do this. how many miles on the engine?

[Goallie11]

Mine does the same thing and seems to run fine, thought I've though about replacing the oil pump.

Is about 3 ticks above the middle when warming up and anywhere from 1 above to 1.5 below when driving, speed dependent. Once at idle and warm its about 2.5 ticks above the bottom.

[3KVT]

yeah, sorry, I forgot to mention that it just started happening. The engine has about 143k, but it was rebuilt at 108k and had a compression test before I got all my newest mods (turbos, fuel system, fmic, ems, etc) put on it (it had about 140k on it when the compression check was done).

@Goallie11 that is exactly what mine does at idle. Through the rpm band the pressure goes back into the "normal" range, but then drops tremendously at idle after warmed up to about 2-3 ticks above what I assume is 0 on the stock guage. No warning indicator on the dash.

I guess I may just be paranoid because of the history of the car, but any little thing that seems out of whack has always led to something serious and costly. So I've learned it's better to be safe than sorry.... especially when it's your only mode of transportation to work currently.

Any additional input is welcome, and thank you to those who replied already.

[Emilie@GZP]

Your best bet, would be to put an aftermarket oil pressure gauge (electronic, not that mechanical crap), and see where you're really at.

We've seen stock gauges read SUPER low, then you put on an aftermarket gauge, and it reads just as it should. It's a crap shoot.

How is your oil level? I noticed on my purple one, since it burns quite a bit of oil, that after a while, at idle, it will read quite low... which is when I know I need to do an oil change... then I wait another month or so. LOL

Check your oil level and see if it's getting a bit low :confused:

[3KVT]

Your best bet, would be to put an aftermarket oil pressure gauge (electronic, not that mechanical crap), and see where you're really at.

We've seen stock gauges read SUPER low, then you put on an aftermarket gauge, and it reads just as it should. It's a crap shoot.

How is your oil level? I noticed on my purple one, since it burns quite a bit of oil, that after a while, at idle, it will read quite low... which is when I know I need to do an oil change... then I wait another month or so. LOL

Check your oil level and see if it's getting a bit low :confused:



That was my first suspicion (oil level), but I'm not losing any oil, and the level is currently slightly above full (just the way I like it, cause the car uses some anyway). Perhaps you wa-hoos could hook one up to it, just to check it out when I drop it off this weekend? I realize that it's probably just the stock guage being stupid, but I wanna make sure, cause as you are probably well aware by now, this car is a ticking time bomb, at all points in time, lol.

[Maximal]

I'd sorta lean towards the gauge to be honest. Stock gauges can get more inaccurate (I noticed that with my car until putting an aftermarket gauge) so there's a chance it's just that. Also it could be your pressure sensor going and reading a bit lower.

[J_Parker]

Buy yourself a reasonably priced mechanical oil pressure guage and check it out with that, if your sender is acting up it may be misread by the stock guage.