oil pressure

[ssc1]

just about to pick up a chimaera but i'm a little bothered about the oil pressure , its a 94 model 4.0 litre, when running it is about 25/30 psi at 2000rpm, which seems a bit low compared to the last one i had. and the car has had alot of work done to the engine by thames racing services, and they took the oil pump apart because of low oil pressure reported by the owner and replaced some parts, now i have just spoken to a dealer who says that it should be checked , the present owner says its just a gauge or sensor problem as it dont rattle or knock at all , and i must say that it did sound ok when i took it out for a test drive ,just that the needle seemed to be in the lower part of the gauge, and now i'm worried that it may be at fault and i have just paid a small deposit on this car to hold till tuesday, am i just worrying for nothing or should i look for a better one, everything else was spot on and all the big jobs have been done , has anyone ever used thames racing services and does anyone have their number so that i can talk to the mechanics before i payout for this car...

[kenny chim 4]

Hi, the psi you describe is actually quite normal.

When starting, the guage should read around 30/40 and once the oil is hot, it will stabalise at around 20psi.

You didn't mention what the reading was on the 'previous car' driven- obviously higher I guess

[shpub]

It is reasonable for a pre-serp engine. The later serp engines run a higher pressure because of the different oil pump design. If any doubt, stick a mechanical guage on it!

[carinatauk]

Hi, I have a 95 M reg Chim; my experience of oil pressure is :

Cold 30-45 psi [2,000+ revs]
Hot 10-15 psi [idle]
Hot 25-35 psi [2,000+ revs]

The pressure sensor was replaced before I got it [replaced by TVR Power?]; the pressures were checked manually and found to be ok; I believe that the sensors / gauges are prone to being inaccurate but it is safer to get someone to physically check the individual pressures, just to confirm. My engine, I believe, to be a serpentine [at least that appears to be the configuration, and I am willing to be stood corrected].

The car has done 101k and runs well ; I am sure that I will need to deal with the cam shaft, etc and cam belt shortly, but I am not grumbling.

Hope this helps and best of luck

George

[jtong]

FWIW, my 99 Chimaera 450 has similar oil pressures though even when cold it barely gets above an indicated 30psi. I'll get the guage and pressures checked at the next service because I *think* they're reading a little low (by only 5psi).