Oil pressure seems higher than usual, concern to worry?
Discussion
Hi there
Last couple of months I've noticed what seems an increase in oil pressure, now it could just be the very cold weather causing it as it does seem over the winter period. But i remember my car hovering on 5 bar whilst cold or any revs on the engine and once warmed up the idle would be under 2 bar or around 2 at idle with any revs quickly taking it to 5.
But now the car seems stuck on 5 bar, had a good drive tonight for an hour or so, got engine temperature in the 95-100c range and outside temperature was 3c. But at idle the car was hovering around 4, playing gently with the revs between 1000-2000rpm did see the pressure fluctuate between 3-5 bar but the car was idling around 4 bar, a couple of hard revs towards 5000rpm did bring it down to 2.5 bar area.
Now it might just be the cold weather, anyone else witness their oil pressure increase or a potential sign of an issue? Car drives great, no sign of power loss or odd sounds. Change oil and filter less than 1000 miles ago and car was serviced less than 6 months ago.
Local OPC said nothing to worry about and others have said good pressure is a good sign, I'm just curious of the change and if anyone else can comment on why the pressure seems higher than it once was. Probably worrying over nothing but maybe I should give Hartech a call or speak to Baz?
Last couple of months I've noticed what seems an increase in oil pressure, now it could just be the very cold weather causing it as it does seem over the winter period. But i remember my car hovering on 5 bar whilst cold or any revs on the engine and once warmed up the idle would be under 2 bar or around 2 at idle with any revs quickly taking it to 5.
But now the car seems stuck on 5 bar, had a good drive tonight for an hour or so, got engine temperature in the 95-100c range and outside temperature was 3c. But at idle the car was hovering around 4, playing gently with the revs between 1000-2000rpm did see the pressure fluctuate between 3-5 bar but the car was idling around 4 bar, a couple of hard revs towards 5000rpm did bring it down to 2.5 bar area.
Now it might just be the cold weather, anyone else witness their oil pressure increase or a potential sign of an issue? Car drives great, no sign of power loss or odd sounds. Change oil and filter less than 1000 miles ago and car was serviced less than 6 months ago.
Local OPC said nothing to worry about and others have said good pressure is a good sign, I'm just curious of the change and if anyone else can comment on why the pressure seems higher than it once was. Probably worrying over nothing but maybe I should give Hartech a call or speak to Baz?
Gibbo205 said:
Hi there
Last couple of months I've noticed what seems an increase in oil pressure, now it could just be the very cold weather causing it as it does seem over the winter period. But i remember my car hovering on 5 bar whilst cold or any revs on the engine and once warmed up the idle would be under 2 bar or around 2 at idle with any revs quickly taking it to 5.
But now the car seems stuck on 5 bar, had a good drive tonight for an hour or so, got engine temperature in the 95-100c range and outside temperature was 3c. But at idle the car was hovering around 4, playing gently with the revs between 1000-2000rpm did see the pressure fluctuate between 3-5 bar but the car was idling around 4 bar, a couple of hard revs towards 5000rpm did bring it down to 2.5 bar area.
Now it might just be the cold weather, anyone else witness their oil pressure increase or a potential sign of an issue? Car drives great, no sign of power loss or odd sounds. Change oil and filter less than 1000 miles ago and car was serviced less than 6 months ago.
Local OPC said nothing to worry about and others have said good pressure is a good sign, I'm just curious of the change and if anyone else can comment on why the pressure seems higher than it once was. Probably worrying over nothing but maybe I should give Hartech a call or speak to Baz?
The short answer is I'm pretty sure what you are seeing is a result of the cold temperature and a rather cool engine and engine oil.Last couple of months I've noticed what seems an increase in oil pressure, now it could just be the very cold weather causing it as it does seem over the winter period. But i remember my car hovering on 5 bar whilst cold or any revs on the engine and once warmed up the idle would be under 2 bar or around 2 at idle with any revs quickly taking it to 5.
But now the car seems stuck on 5 bar, had a good drive tonight for an hour or so, got engine temperature in the 95-100c range and outside temperature was 3c. But at idle the car was hovering around 4, playing gently with the revs between 1000-2000rpm did see the pressure fluctuate between 3-5 bar but the car was idling around 4 bar, a couple of hard revs towards 5000rpm did bring it down to 2.5 bar area.
Now it might just be the cold weather, anyone else witness their oil pressure increase or a potential sign of an issue? Car drives great, no sign of power loss or odd sounds. Change oil and filter less than 1000 miles ago and car was serviced less than 6 months ago.
Local OPC said nothing to worry about and others have said good pressure is a good sign, I'm just curious of the change and if anyone else can comment on why the pressure seems higher than it once was. Probably worrying over nothing but maybe I should give Hartech a call or speak to Baz?
An hour's drive at highway speed in cold weather may not get the engine or the oil as hot as you might think. It has been some time since I've driven a lot in that cold of weather but I recall from when I did the coolant temp would barely rise to 180F. In my case given the outside temperature I'd have the auto climate on (with the cabin temp set to 72F) and this runs the A/C compressor which in turn means the radiator fans were on.
These on coupled with the colder air and rather lightly loaded engine -- it takes just around 40hp (or a load of around 12%) to move one of these cars down the road on level ground at around 70mph -- means the engine just doesn't get that hot.
This in turn keeps the oil pressure higher than it would be. 5 bar at 3K or thereabouts is normal though you have only the oil pressure gage to go by which is almost certainly dampened and the actual oil pressure higher.
Oil pressure at idle will naturally be higher too. In my Turbo even if the coolant gage needle is at 180F (which I know from actually reading the coolant temp closer to 190F) the oil pressure will be higher (above 2 bar closer to 2.5 maybe a bit more) until the engine idles a bit. It doesn't take long for the coolant to heat up and thus the oil to heat up and the pressure to drop. Depending upon ambient it can stop at 2 bar or in hotter weather drop to just under 2.0 bar.
In fact I use this oil pressure drop when I pull off the road and let the engine idle -- as called for by the owners manual to give the turbos time to cool down -- as a sign heat has left the engine and gone into the oil. Remember the oil is in contact with the hottest parts of the engine so the oil will get the heat then transfer this to the coolant.
That initially with your car the oil pressure was higher but with some revs (up to 5K) dropped strongly suggests the oil got hotter as you played with the throttle and the pressure drop after was the result of this.
However, if you see hot oil pressure at higher revs drop or the hot oil pressure at idle drop precipitously you should take this as a sign there's a serious oil pressure problem and shut off the engine as soon as you can and get it to an OPC for diagnosis.
You didn't mention Oil Temp - I noticed on mine when out for a spirited drive the other day that Oil Temp fell a clear 15deg when once I'd settled down to a cruise, and this on a day with a circa 3deg outside temp. Mines just had a service so the oils still new enough not to fluctuate too much pressure-wise, however.
You didn't mention Oil Temp - I noticed on mine when out for a spirited drive the other day that Oil Temp fell a clear 15deg when once I'd settled down to a cruise, and this on a day with a circa 3deg outside temp. Mines just had a service so the oils still new enough not to fluctuate too much pressure-wise, however.
You didn't mention Oil Temp - I noticed on mine when out for a spirited drive the other day that Oil Temp fell a clear 15deg when once I'd settled down to a cruise, and this on a day with a circa 3deg outside temp. Mines just had a service so the oils still new enough not to fluctuate too much pressure-wise, however.
STiG911 said:
You didn't mention Oil Temp - I noticed on mine when out for a spirited drive the other day that Oil Temp fell a clear 15deg when once I'd settled down to a cruise, and this on a day with a circa 3deg outside temp. Mines just had a service so the oils still new enough not to fluctuate too much pressure-wise, however.
95-100c was oil temp after a good drive. But this quickly falls to 90c oil temp when driving normally. Water temp never moves above half way which is 80 I think.My 996 oil pressure gauge started playing up, going to max, then next time I looked it was on zero nearly giving me a coronery..! then it would settle to normal, turned out to be the sender in the block.. If you have no leaks anywhere I would start with that it's a £100 job, then consider the dash gauge.. which is a much more expensive fix.
RatBoy M3CSL said:
My 996 oil pressure gauge started playing up, going to max, then next time I looked it was on zero nearly giving me a coronery..! then it would settle to normal, turned out to be the sender in the block.. If you have no leaks anywhere I would start with that it's a £100 job, then consider the dash gauge.. which is a much more expensive fix.
Exactly the same happened to My old C4s-- as Ratboy said it was the sender unit,cost to me- a few more grey hairs and that nasty sinking feeling in the stomach!!MadMark911 said:
Gibbo - my C2S was about 1.2-1.5 bar hot idle. Stone cold starts gave about 5 bar at a fast idle and when warming up anywhere between the two. Sounds like you have an issue - but the questionn is what's causing this? Sender - oil pressure relief valve etc?
MM.
No idea, I do have the X51 radiators so everything runs a bit cooler than normal. Shall give Hartech a call I think and they can maybe advice further. MM.
Gibbo205 said:
No idea, I do have the X51 radiators so everything runs a bit cooler than normal. Shall give Hartech a call I think and they can maybe advice further.
Yup - mine had the X51 centre radiator too (albeit with Hartage's low temp thermostat) and so should be a good comparison as they were almost idential in spec (remember you helped me with the spec of a few extra bits).Gibbo205 said:
No idea, I do have the X51 radiators so everything runs a bit cooler than normal. Shall give Hartech a call I think and they can maybe advice further.
Just so it is clear -- and one I failed to cover in my post but which others have touched up -- there can be a case in which the oil pressure gage needle jumps/dances around some. In my Turbo I have seen the needle jump from near 2 bar at hot idle to 3 or more bar. At higher rpms and pressures I have seen the gage needle drop just as precipitously and in all cases recover and indicate a pressure I would expect given the temp, rpms, etc.If this is what you are referring to, the jumping/dropping oil pressure I described above, then this is not due of course to a cool engine or anything else other than a bad oil pressure sender (or electrical connection from it to the harness).
In the case of my Turbo the erratic oil pressure gage needle behavior is not all that frequent and I have managed so far to live with it.
But of course in your car's case the erratic behavior may be at an intolerable level.
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