Oil Pressure from cold start

[DIB350]

Sorry if this has been done to death....I recently changed my oil from 10w 40 to 20w 50 as I felt the 10w 40 was too thin during after long runs in our balmy Scottish summertime. I replaced the filter with an anti drain valve type. The only thing is I feel the oil pressure warning light now takes about 4 or 5 seconds to go out when starting from cold after being laid up for a few days. Will this cause premature wear? Once the car has been running its fine and the oil pressure is about 15 psi at tickover which is fairly healthy for a RV8?

[ElvisWedgely]

That is quite normal. It's how quickly the oil pressure goes up when the engine is warm and revved that matters. Also noisy, tappety, metalic noise when engine is warm and idling indicates unusually low oil pressure. Few seconds for the light to go out on start up is normal. I've owned five V8 Wedges so far and they all did the same.
Just fill her up with unleaded and make some noise.

Tony.TCB.

[DIB350]

Thanks Tony, that's put my mind at rest. It's sweet as a nut at tick over when warm and pressure rises fine when revved.

[jon haines]

I have just had this and cured it. I changed oil and filter and it rumbled and the light didnt go out for nearly 8 seconds hot or cold, 2 oil filters later cured with light going out almost straight away when cold and when hot instant. So filter does make a big difference which dosent make sense to me.

[DIB350]

Mine is nowhere near as long as 8 seconds and instant once the car has been started or hot. Filter is an anti-drain valve type so I think I will leave alone at present!!

[400SE Dave]

Another seeing the same here. 2-5 seconds from cold or when stood for a while, instant when warm.

Yours sounds fine for me too.

[keatsie]

Sounds about right, mine is 3 - 6 seconds from cold and about 18 - 20 at idle.

[Wedg1e]

The heavier-weight oil will take more moving to get the pressure up; on the other hand it's thicker viscosity means it'll cling to the bearing surfaces better than the thinner oil while the engine is stood so should give lubrication until the pressure comes back.

[V8 Fettler]

jon haines said:

I have just had this and cured it. I changed oil and filter and it rumbled and the light didnt go out for nearly 8 seconds hot or cold, 2 oil filters later cured with light going out almost straight away when cold and when hot instant. So filter does make a big difference which dosent make sense to me.

Some suppliers will sell you a filter described as anti-drain, but it isn't. I was told that you can (gently) stick a screwdriver into the central hole, the non-anti-drain filter should allow the screwdriver to sit on the bottom of the casing, the anti-drain filter should prevent the screwdriver from sitting on the bottom of the casing. This has been the case with several filters in my experience..