Oil pressure bit high on my Triumph
Discussion
An oil pressure relief valve problem will usually reveal itself in a low oil pressure reading on the gauge, not a high one. My E-type suddenly dropped from 60 psi to 40 psi until we cleaned the valve. Now we are back to a healthy 60 psi reading. Have you taken a wet gauge reading. If not I suggest you find someone to do so to find the root of your problem because it could possibly be the gauge or sender. High pressure can cause pipes and joints to blow; My XKSS will, on start-up in the morning, go way past 100 psi over 2,500 so i am forced to warm the engine up gently before driving. Then I run at 65 psi all day long.
Edited by lowdrag on Wednesday 25th April 05:06
lowdrag said:
An oil pressure relief valve problem will usually reveal itself in a low oil pressure reading on the gauge, not a high one. My E-type suddenly dropped from 50 psi to 40 psi until we cleaned the valve. Now we are back to a healthy 50 psi reading. Have you taken a wet gauge reading. If so I suggest you find someone to do so to find the root of your problem becaue it could possibly be the gauge or sender. High pressure can cause pipes and joints to blow; My XKSS will, on start-up in the morning, go way past 100 psi over 2,500 so i am forced to warm the engine up gently before driving. Then I run at 65 psi all day long.
I did not warm up this morning as I was late perhaps that triggered it?Yertis said:
High oil pressure is normally the sign of a healthy engine.
No its not.. Oil, by getting between bearing surfaces has to lubricate and remove heat from those surfaces. If your oil pressure is too high, it would indicate that the oil isn't flowing where it should be in sufficient quantities or speed.
Better a lower pressure and a good flow of quality oil than a high pressure oil situation that's not able to do its job properly.
I'm not saying that anything's wrong, but I'd have that gauge checked and use a slippery molecular additive like Activ8, which is similar to the additive as used in Royal Purple oil.
steveL98 said:
No its not..
Oil, by getting between bearing surfaces has to lubricate and remove heat from those surfaces. If your oil pressure is too high, it would indicate that the oil isn't flowing where it should be in sufficient quantities or speed.
Oil, by getting between bearing surfaces has to lubricate and remove heat from those surfaces. If your oil pressure is too high, it would indicate that the oil isn't flowing where it should be in sufficient quantities or speed.
Unnecessarily high oil pressure increases oil temperature and saps engine power/economy with no actual gain.carboy2017 said:
I did not warm up this morning as I was late perhaps that triggered it?
Please don't think you can treat an old car like a modern. Once upon a time we had winter and summer oil, now for classics you go to Halfords for their 20/50 multigrade or buy elsewhere such as Castrol XL. These oils are not synthetic flexible friends. Make time to warm up the motor a little; I don't mean until the temperature gauge reads normal, just enough to see it move off its stop. You will have seen the pressure drop as the oil warms and thins. Then you can drive it like a modern!Mr2Mike said:
steveL98 said:
No its not..
Oil, by getting between bearing surfaces has to lubricate and remove heat from those surfaces. If your oil pressure is too high, it would indicate that the oil isn't flowing where it should be in sufficient quantities or speed.
Oil, by getting between bearing surfaces has to lubricate and remove heat from those surfaces. If your oil pressure is too high, it would indicate that the oil isn't flowing where it should be in sufficient quantities or speed.
Unnecessarily high oil pressure increases oil temperature and saps engine power/economy with no actual gain.
In every Triumph engine I've ever owned, the figure the OP mentioned (ca. 70psi from memory) is considered a good operating pressure on a warm engine at around 2000rpm. Around 50psi at idle is OK. When its dropping to around 20psi at idle it's time to get a rebuild. Now, it may be that the engine in a Herald has different operating pressures – I don't know. And the OP also didn't say what psi was showing previously. Put another way, Triumph fitted their cars with low oil pressure warning lights – not high oil pressure warning lights. Anyway, I Googled around and found this. Make of that what you will.
So to the OP – since the limit of Triumph on-board engine diagnostics is the gauge and a low pressure warning light, if you're worried get it to a garage and let them investigate.
Yertis said:
In every Triumph engine I've ever owned, the figure the OP mentioned (ca. 70psi from memory) is considered a good operating pressure on a warm engine at around 2000rpm. Around 50psi at idle is OK. When its dropping to around 20psi at idle it's time to get a rebuild. Now, it may be that the engine in a Herald has different operating pressures – I don't know. And the OP also didn't say what psi was showing previously. Put another way, Triumph fitted their cars with low oil pressure warning lights – not high oil pressure warning lights. Anyway, I Googled around and found this. Make of that what you will.
So to the OP – since the limit of Triumph on-board engine diagnostics is the gauge and a low pressure warning light, if you're worried get it to a garage and let them investigate.
70psi at a cold fast idle is normal (my Midget 1500 got up to similar readings) and they can get up to 100psi if in really good conditon with cold, thick oil, If that's what you've noticed and you usually let the engine warm up a little then I wouldn't worry too much. If it's still showing 70psi with a warm engine then my money would be either on a faulty gauge or a stuck relief valve, although as said they tend to fail open, although they can fail the other way.
A good alternative full synthetic for older, high mileage, track cars that need a bit more protection is Mobil 1 10w60. Its way better than that classic mineral piss that people are conned into buying as it "looks good on the garage shelf" Your classic car is your pride and joy, so don't skimp on the fuel and oil, ..feed it the best!
http://www.mobil1.co.uk/synthetic-engine-oils/exte...
I use it in my '87 Corvette and the old oil (still good to use, goes into my mates MGB. I change it every two years or 15k miles plus a new filter once a year.
http://www.mobil1.co.uk/synthetic-engine-oils/exte...
I use it in my '87 Corvette and the old oil (still good to use, goes into my mates MGB. I change it every two years or 15k miles plus a new filter once a year.
steveL98 said:
A good alternative full synthetic for older, high mileage, track cars that need a bit more protection is Mobil 1 10w60. Its way better than that classic mineral piss that people are conned into buying as it "looks good on the garage shelf" Your classic car is your pride and joy, so don't skimp on the fuel and oil, ..feed it the best!
http://www.mobil1.co.uk/synthetic-engine-oils/exte...
I use it in my '87 Corvette and the old oil (still good to use, goes into my mates MGB. I change it every two years or 15k miles plus a new filter once a year.
I'm sure it's no problem but it makes me smile that you say "Your classic car is your pride and joy, so don't skimp on the fuel and oil, ..feed it the best!" then go on to say "the old oil, still good to use, goes into my mates MGB."http://www.mobil1.co.uk/synthetic-engine-oils/exte...
I use it in my '87 Corvette and the old oil (still good to use, goes into my mates MGB. I change it every two years or 15k miles plus a new filter once a year.
Most of the oil I put in the TR finds its way onto the driveway, it's like it's having a continuous oil change by transfusion.
That 'old' oil that goes into the MGB is still good to use in the Corvette.
I could just leave it in there, but I feel I should change it anyway. When I do change it, it still has good body and feel unlike old mineral oil which becomes watery like black ink. My mates MG tends to burn oil a bit so he's happy to use mine after he runs it through his home made mesh filter thing.
There's a lot of prejudice among the classic fraternity that synthetic oil is very thin and will pour out of the seams of old cars, and maybe some oils will but, not all of them.. Its works out cheaper too as you don't have change it so often.
I could just leave it in there, but I feel I should change it anyway. When I do change it, it still has good body and feel unlike old mineral oil which becomes watery like black ink. My mates MG tends to burn oil a bit so he's happy to use mine after he runs it through his home made mesh filter thing.
There's a lot of prejudice among the classic fraternity that synthetic oil is very thin and will pour out of the seams of old cars, and maybe some oils will but, not all of them.. Its works out cheaper too as you don't have change it so often.
steveL98 said:
That 'old' oil that goes into the MGB is still good to use in the Corvette.
I could just leave it in there, but I feel I should change it anyway. When I do change it, it still has good body and feel unlike old mineral oil which becomes watery like black ink. My mates MG tends to burn oil a bit so he's happy to use mine after he runs it through his home made mesh filter thing.
There's a lot of prejudice among the classic fraternity that synthetic oil is very thin and will pour out of the seams of old cars, and maybe some oils will but, not all of them.. Its works out cheaper too as you don't have change it so often.
I'm going to give it a go in the Triumph, it'll probably be easier to get hold of than the specialist stuff I've been using up to now.I could just leave it in there, but I feel I should change it anyway. When I do change it, it still has good body and feel unlike old mineral oil which becomes watery like black ink. My mates MG tends to burn oil a bit so he's happy to use mine after he runs it through his home made mesh filter thing.
There's a lot of prejudice among the classic fraternity that synthetic oil is very thin and will pour out of the seams of old cars, and maybe some oils will but, not all of them.. Its works out cheaper too as you don't have change it so often.
bodgerben said:
I would get the pressure relief valve checked - not that is staying open in dropping the pressure, but remaining shut and not doing it's job and over pressuring the oil filter - what will happen is the filters bypass valve will open and the filter won't be doing it's job, the oil will be unfiltered and you're simply putting extra strain on the oil pump drive.
I'd get it checked.
High oil pressure doesn't cause the filter bypass to open, it opens when there is a high pressure drop across the filter e.g. with a blocked filter element. I have seen very high oil pressure burst a spin on filter though!I'd get it checked.
Irrespective of whether high oil pressure is good or bad, a sudden change in oil pressure indicates that something is wrong and it should be checked out.
In general terms, unless you know the history of an engine, oil pressure isn't necessarily an indication of it's true condition.
For example, the oil pressure on most classic Jaguars is indicated on an electric gauge via a sender unit which is notoriously inaccurate, particularly if using a newly purchased replacement.
High oil pressure on certain old engines, Riley for example, can show that the engine is in good condition, it can also mean that the oilways are silted up and hardly any oil is circulating.
Different engines are designed to run with different oil pressures. Aston Martin for example run at much higher pressures than Jaguar as I recall.
In general terms, unless you know the history of an engine, oil pressure isn't necessarily an indication of it's true condition.
For example, the oil pressure on most classic Jaguars is indicated on an electric gauge via a sender unit which is notoriously inaccurate, particularly if using a newly purchased replacement.
High oil pressure on certain old engines, Riley for example, can show that the engine is in good condition, it can also mean that the oilways are silted up and hardly any oil is circulating.
Different engines are designed to run with different oil pressures. Aston Martin for example run at much higher pressures than Jaguar as I recall.
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