Low oil presure in traffic jams, any help? :)

[neeko99]

I have an 03 Tamora and whenever I'm stuck in traffic (slow to not moving) for more than 15 mins or so I start to loose oil pressure. I get the warning on the dash that its dropping below 4 psi. The oil temp seems fine, around 70, and the water rises to about 96 before the fans kick in and get it back down to below 90. But the oil pressure keeps dropping to the point where it feels like if I don't keep the revs up to around 2000 that it could cut out. The other day I was stuck in a jam - not moving for over an hour and it was a bit of a nightmare keeping teh revs up for all that time. All other times the pressure is fine and idols between 8-12 psi.

Is this a common problem or is there a problem with my car?

Cheers

[tamore]

the most common failure is the pressure sensor. it's pretty cheap to have replaced, and the new part is more robust.

[rev-erend]

Yes - had this on mine.

Was a combination of things.. loose early cable and a faulty sensor - they recabled it so the water did not run down the cable to the plug and used gold plug pins..

[grumbledoak]

Low oil pressure at idle is pretty much a fact of life with the SP6. Mine stopped beeping at me after the first service, when the dealers replaced the pressure sensor (known issues). Has this been done ?

[bobd]

New oil sensor and slightly thicker oil 10w 50 i am told although mine has 15w50 in it!

[Softlad T350t]

Had very similar problem on my T350. I had the oil pressure sensor changed last year coz the original ones drip oil. Then the new one read lower pressures. I took the car to the guys at Track V Road in Clitheroe and in 15 mins flat they took the pressure sensor off and put an analogue pressure gauge on to check it. This showed that when the engines sensor was telling me i only had 6psi pressure, the engine actually had 20 psi. The oil sensor was replaced again for the latest type (no leaks and correct readings) and the problem is cured. I'd suggest getting it checked. Its better to be sure that you actually have good pressure in the engine and that there isn't another problem. I'm not trying to frighten you, its almost certainly the sensor with bad readings, but its better to know for sure.

[gary_de_tam]

So basically idle (7-800rpm) should be around the 20PSI mark ?

[Softlad T350t]

Yes, with the oil at normal temp of around 70 degress, the engine will have 18-20psi at tick over of 800rpm. During very hot days or track days when the oil will reach 80-90 degrees, the pressure might drop to around 12-15psi, but certainly not down in to single figures.