oil pressure. ??
Discussion
changed the oil yesterday, bit of a git but ok, no leaks at all & pressure just below 50psi @ 2000 rpm.
went out for a 2 hour pootle around the countryside probably not breaking 3000 rpm (wife-on-board) but oil pressure was slowly dropping each time it was at tick over, down to 25 psi rising to around 35 psi at rising revs.
driven to work today & all is fine, no oil lost at any point & level is the same as when i filled it up yesterday.
any ideas anyone???
Ricahrd.
went out for a 2 hour pootle around the countryside probably not breaking 3000 rpm (wife-on-board) but oil pressure was slowly dropping each time it was at tick over, down to 25 psi rising to around 35 psi at rising revs.
driven to work today & all is fine, no oil lost at any point & level is the same as when i filled it up yesterday.
any ideas anyone???
Ricahrd.
I had the same problem after changing the oil, same sort of numbers when hot, 25 on tickover and about 42 over 2500 revs.
I think its down to the oil, the S should have semi synthetic oil and I think they suggest 20/50. I put 10/40 fully synthetic in mine and think the thinner oil could be the answer. At least I hope so!!
I think its down to the oil, the S should have semi synthetic oil and I think they suggest 20/50. I put 10/40 fully synthetic in mine and think the thinner oil could be the answer. At least I hope so!!
i used 15/40 magnatec, couldnt get mobil 1 (last minute favor from mate at a garage). this is fully sinthetic oil, as should be used stated in the bible.
maybe i should have stuck to 10/40 as thats what it has always run on?
used an engine flush also before hand but that shouldnt affect things.
if i was to change back soon do you think i could get away with not changing the filter??
maybe i should have stuck to 10/40 as thats what it has always run on?
used an engine flush also before hand but that shouldnt affect things.
if i was to change back soon do you think i could get away with not changing the filter??
NickP_S2 said:
Mine's up to well over 50 when driving but well below 50 when idling... not sure why... I hope to figure this out once I find a garage to rent and get some time to do all those things I want to do.
Mine does this too - I think that's normal? Every car I have ever had with an oil pressure gauge has showed significantly lower pressure at idle that at speed...
Fear not, perfectly normal old chap!
It's quite normal for fresh new oil to display lower pressures than older stuff, especially if it's fully synthetic.
IMHO, I would agree that GTX Magnatec or Valvoline racing oil (ie. semi-sythetic) is a better bet than fully sythetic oil like Mobil 1. Mobil 1 is primarily designed for all alloy multi valve modern engines.....no disrespect to the old granny engine, but it's hardly technologically advanced!
Chatting to a friend who races Caterhams (and has done for over 20 years), 10 psi per thousand revs is perfectly acceptable, and we will all see much more than that on our gauges. He turns down the pressure that his oil pump creates to offload mechanical drag on his engine to get an extra 3/100ths of a sec per lap.
Also, as oil warms up it becomes less viscous (ie runnier) and will lead to a gentle reduction in oil pressure, especially at idle. Now, as an aside, this is a better way of telling when your engine has warmed up than by water temperature alone. As soon as the oil is fully warmed through (which may take a little while longer than the water temp, due to the cooling system thermostat controlling matters) then it's game on to open it up. Until I see the oil's warm, she won't go above 2500-3000 revs.
Just my 2p, take it or leave it. But never thrash your motor from cold, that's just not cricket....
It's quite normal for fresh new oil to display lower pressures than older stuff, especially if it's fully synthetic.
IMHO, I would agree that GTX Magnatec or Valvoline racing oil (ie. semi-sythetic) is a better bet than fully sythetic oil like Mobil 1. Mobil 1 is primarily designed for all alloy multi valve modern engines.....no disrespect to the old granny engine, but it's hardly technologically advanced!
Chatting to a friend who races Caterhams (and has done for over 20 years), 10 psi per thousand revs is perfectly acceptable, and we will all see much more than that on our gauges. He turns down the pressure that his oil pump creates to offload mechanical drag on his engine to get an extra 3/100ths of a sec per lap.
Also, as oil warms up it becomes less viscous (ie runnier) and will lead to a gentle reduction in oil pressure, especially at idle. Now, as an aside, this is a better way of telling when your engine has warmed up than by water temperature alone. As soon as the oil is fully warmed through (which may take a little while longer than the water temp, due to the cooling system thermostat controlling matters) then it's game on to open it up. Until I see the oil's warm, she won't go above 2500-3000 revs.
Just my 2p, take it or leave it. But never thrash your motor from cold, that's just not cricket....
Okey dokey,
spoken to Adrian Venn @ exactly TVR.... he uses magnatec in all of his / customers / race spec cars etc. he also says (20yrs experiance) mobil 1 is too good for the ford engine, & the problem i was having is probably the oil pressure sensor giving dodgy readings on long runs. apparently it's in the top 3 electrical things to go wrong along side the speedo & TP.
also hot oil does reduce in pressure so i dont think there's anything to worry about.
Adrian did also mention that a 2.9 engine is good for at least 200k miles with regular oil changes, & the S3 chassis can only handle 190bhp tops, strongly advised me to get a Griff.......
hmm.
spoken to Adrian Venn @ exactly TVR.... he uses magnatec in all of his / customers / race spec cars etc. he also says (20yrs experiance) mobil 1 is too good for the ford engine, & the problem i was having is probably the oil pressure sensor giving dodgy readings on long runs. apparently it's in the top 3 electrical things to go wrong along side the speedo & TP.
also hot oil does reduce in pressure so i dont think there's anything to worry about.
Adrian did also mention that a 2.9 engine is good for at least 200k miles with regular oil changes, & the S3 chassis can only handle 190bhp tops, strongly advised me to get a Griff.......
hmm.
S3 rich said:
Adrian did also mention that a 2.9 engine is good for at least 200k miles with regular oil changes.......
I can vouch for that - I got a 1990 Granada to 186,000 miles (which had probably been clocked before I bought it at 56,000, so the actual mileage was probably much more than that!) with decent oil every 9,000 miles or so... still going a treat it was... I only sold it because my work decided that a 10-year-old Granada wasn't in keeping with our "image".
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