Discussion
Hi all,
my shopping car has been loosing a bit of oil recently, not much, but a small bit on the drive, then yesterday whilst it was still cold, I noticed the oil pressure seems to be running a bit high..
Normally it sits around the 5 Bar mark, but yesterday it was up at the top of the guage at about 8... I wasnt thrashing the car, indeed, I was being extra careful as I thought this might be a sign the engine was going to expire...
So.. my question is... is high oil pressure a bad thing, and a sign the engine is about to go pop, or is it nothing to worry about, and just caused by the cold, or some weird atmospheric change ?
Today, it was almost the same, tho dropping back down to the 5 mark on idle..
The car is a 95 306 xsi, done 111,000 miles and not showing any real problems other than leaking a bit of oil from 'somewhere'..
my shopping car has been loosing a bit of oil recently, not much, but a small bit on the drive, then yesterday whilst it was still cold, I noticed the oil pressure seems to be running a bit high..
Normally it sits around the 5 Bar mark, but yesterday it was up at the top of the guage at about 8... I wasnt thrashing the car, indeed, I was being extra careful as I thought this might be a sign the engine was going to expire...
So.. my question is... is high oil pressure a bad thing, and a sign the engine is about to go pop, or is it nothing to worry about, and just caused by the cold, or some weird atmospheric change ?
Today, it was almost the same, tho dropping back down to the 5 mark on idle..
The car is a 95 306 xsi, done 111,000 miles and not showing any real problems other than leaking a bit of oil from 'somewhere'..
Assuming that the car has been properly maintained and that the filter and oil are OK, it sounds like the oil pressure relief valve is sticking shut - ultimately not good for the oil pump. Still, better than it sticking open and starving the engine bearings I guess!
Don't know the engine in question - hopefully an expert will be along shortly.
Don't know the engine in question - hopefully an expert will be along shortly.
Nimbus,
Don't feel alone! I have a pal with the same model, same year, similar mileage, same symptoms exactly - except the guage now reads of the top all the time except when it's steaming hot and idling. It's been like it for to or three years and it now leaves a slick of oil everywhere he parks it. On the plus side, it's never going to rust underneath.
Don't feel alone! I have a pal with the same model, same year, similar mileage, same symptoms exactly - except the guage now reads of the top all the time except when it's steaming hot and idling. It's been like it for to or three years and it now leaves a slick of oil everywhere he parks it. On the plus side, it's never going to rust underneath.
The most likely explanation is the gauge and / or sender rather than the engine. The only way to know for sure is to temporarily connect a mechanical gauge into the system - which will involve screwing the feed pipe for the gauge into the hole for the oil pressure warning light or the gauge sender.
cheers guys, thats reassured me somewhat 
The gauge has calmed down a bit now, sitting at 6 bar again, so I wonder if it was something to do with the cold weather... still seems to be running ok, tho the occasional small cloud of smoke at the lights when the oil leaks burns off is always entertaining
On the oil front, I think I might have slightly overfilled it.. or.. is it possible I'm using to thin an oil and its just leaking thro ? I'm putting castrol gtx 10/40 in it... Maybe it needs something thicker now its getting old !
The gauge has calmed down a bit now, sitting at 6 bar again, so I wonder if it was something to do with the cold weather... still seems to be running ok, tho the occasional small cloud of smoke at the lights when the oil leaks burns off is always entertaining
On the oil front, I think I might have slightly overfilled it.. or.. is it possible I'm using to thin an oil and its just leaking thro ? I'm putting castrol gtx 10/40 in it... Maybe it needs something thicker now its getting old !
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