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oil pressure


skylervee
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dont know whats happening but just resently when i come to a stop and car idles the oil guage drops off to a 1/4 and when im driving it goes back up to a little over half. now when i come to a stop i keep my foot on the gas pdl. to keep oil from droping off ,the car runs great no prob. i hav not driven it since that happend i started it yesterday a drove it aroud the block and she was fine and i let it idle for about 15 min then it started to lose oil press. also no ticking in the motor. can anyone help out?
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dont know whats happening but just resently when i come to a stop and car idles the oil guage drops off to a 1/4 and when im driving it goes back up to a little over half. now when i come to a stop i keep my foot on the gas pdl. to keep oil from droping off ,the car runs great no prob. i hav not driven it since that happend i started it yesterday a drove it aroud the block and she was fine and i let it idle for about 15 min then it started to lose oil press. also no ticking in the motor. can anyone help out?

 

 

sounds about right but I suggest a mechanical gauge.

When I drive 65 mph it's 85lbs pressure and idles at 25-30 lbs hot.

 

Dad

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Is the way your oil pressure guage reads/acts "differently" than it used to be? If so, something HAS changed on your car - and you should be concerned. Much of the time though it just means the oil pressure pickup/sensor is bad. If you've just bought the car and are alarmed "the oil pressure drops at idle" don't be - that's normal and expected. ALL cars do that.

 

Having the oil pressure drop slowly when the engine returns to idle is normal. If you hook up a mechanical oil pressure guage, instead of or in addition to the factory electrical oil pressure guage, you'd see oil pressures go up/down quickly and in sync with engine RPMs. Very normal. The factory electrical guage responds REALLY REALLY SLOWLY to oil pressure changes - so that it doesn't "dance" and distract the driver. That's why I tell folks to get used to how it "typically acts/moves on a cold engine at idle and at RPMs, and again on a hot engine at idle and RPMs." When that CHANGES, the guage is telling you "something is different in the engine or guage system..."

 

Running thicker (heavier weight) oil leads to higher pressures; the slow-responding factory guage will react to this as well - it'll change slower too. Hot oil flows better so pressure drops more & drops more quickly. Just changing oil weights/viscosity, oil brands, and even oil filter brands, can change the dash guage behavior. But it'll always slowly drop as the engine idles. As long as it drops to the same point your engine is fine; when you see it drop even lower THEN get concerned.

 

mike c.

 

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