10w-30 cause low oil pressure?

[jonathancullen]

hey im wondering what motor oil the 4g3t takes. ive always used 10w-30 in all the cars ive used. but after the car is warm the oil pressure stays just below the first line on the oil guage. sometimes it drops up to a 1/4 inch to the left of the first mark on the stock oil pressure guage. when im driving (not at idle) the oil pressure stays on the low side of normal. is this something to be concerned about? im planning on doing an oil change here shortly after i seafoam smoke it. i got valvoline 10w-30 synthetic to put in it. i was just going to use whatever oil filter the parts store has, are some better then others? thanks!

 

[97gsxIA]

See this all the time on here, first of all stock oil pressure gauge is crap. second, I'd check it with a mechanical oil press. gauge tapped at the oil filter housing (allen head bolt typically) since most electric gauges either stop working or people don't solder the wire connections and it gives incorrect readings. That's the only way you'll know for sure if you have low oil pressure. But, to answer your question, no, 10w-30 does not directly lower your oil pressure.

by the way I, and many others, run 10w-30 all the time.

 

[BLOHS7844]

I second that. Just like the stock boost gauge, the stock oil pressure gauge is useless. Investing $50 in an oil pressure gauge could save your car one day.

Prosport Gauges Oil Pressure Gauge 52mm

 

[gofast63]

hey im wondering what motor oil the 4g3t takes. ive always used 10w-30 in all the cars ive used. but after the car is warm the oil pressure stays just below the first line on the oil guage. sometimes it drops up to a 1/4 inch to the left of the first mark on the stock oil pressure guage. when im driving (not at idle) the oil pressure stays on the low side of normal. is this something to be concerned about? im planning on doing an oil change here shortly after i seafoam smoke it. i got valvoline 10w-30 synthetic to put in it. i was just going to use whatever oil filter the parts store has, are some better then others?


If you do a manual oil pressure gauge. Mount it under the hood, just in case a line pops off. It would suck to have oil all over the dash. If you want pics let me know and ill send you some.

 

[zcoh2gdsm]

hey im wondering what motor oil the 4g3t takes. ive always used 10w-30 in all the cars ive used. but after the car is warm the oil pressure stays just below the first line on the oil guage. sometimes it drops up to a 1/4 inch to the left of the first mark on the stock oil pressure guage. when im driving (not at idle) the oil pressure stays on the low side of normal. is this something to be concerned about? im planning on doing an oil change here shortly after i seafoam smoke it. i got valvoline 10w-30 synthetic to put in it. i was just going to use whatever oil filter the parts store has, are some better then others?


If you do a manual oil pressure gauge. Mount it under the hood, just in case a line pops off. It would suck to have oil all over the dash. If you want pics let me know and ill send you some.

especially at 200+ degrees it would burn your skin. electric gauges are fine if you wire them properly. half assed installation will leave you with half assed results.

 

[DSM1G90]

No, 10w30 does not create low oil pressure..tired connecting rod bearings will definitely cause the low pressure since it can't keep the oil pressure up and will seep past the bearings and journals.

Love this when people condemn the stock gauge - all it does is show presence of oil pressure, not the actual pressure.

As long as it goes up, you got pressure.

 

[TSIBOB]

20 50 ftw

 

[BogusSVO]

20 50 ftw

Ok explain just how 20w50 is FTW.

Facts, data, or personal experiance

Link any facts or data you post, or what book you read it in.

 

[DSM1G90]

..like putting molasses in the crankcase - so danged thick, but raises oil pressure.

Be fine if a track racer with a monsterous 426 Mopar HEMI tricked out to the max, but not for DDriving-simply not needed.

 

[jonathancullen]

ok thanks for the replies everyone, i doubt its the bearings motor was rebuilt ~650 miles ago. if putting a better oil pressure guage is a must id have to do it cheap or wait till i can afford it. im not terribly worried about it since your saying the stock oil pressure guage isnt the best. it reads fine until car warms up then it usually sits just below the low end normal mark. if at an idle it drops more. atm i need to get a new turbo/intercooler piping have a boost leak and faulty wastegate actuator

 

[dsmpat95]

Ok explain just how 20w50 is FTW.

Facts, data, or personal experiance

Link any facts or data you post, or what book you read it in.

He better have really high oil temps to run that.

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

Put it this way: 10W30 is what the factory recommends for our cars

 

[CleverDSMusername]

He better have really high oil temps to run that.

before i changed my oil for the 1st time since i had owned the car it was using 1qt/mo & smoking out the exhaust like mad @ idle so i figured since it had 125k on it & i had no idea when/if the engine was rebuilt (I believe the oil consumption might've been caused by worn valve guides) or when oil was last changed before i owned it, that it was in need of an oil change...so when i got the cash for a RP oil change i chose 4qts of 20W-50 with 1/2qt of Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer & the oil consumption & smoking have ceased entirely *knocks on wood*, now that i think about it...last time i checked my oil (aside from the other day when my car randomly overheated on me) was when i changed my oil 1500-ish miles ago.
P.S. the thicker oil has yet to hinder my cars performance or driveablity *knocks on wood* so from my personal experience, thicker oil helps IF internal parts are worn enough to burn off oil over time. Also with the 4qts of 10W-30 i ended up using before the oil change would see the oil light to come & the oil pressure gauge go from mid range normal to nearly no pressure @ all whenever @ an idle, now with the 20W-50 oil pressure gauge hovers right @ or just below the normal range when idling & the light only dimly blinks when the ac compressor 1st kicks in (for some reason my compressor pulls 400rpm's from the motor, so i now idle @ 1000-1100rpm w/ the ac off, though i HAVE to run my ac otherwise my fans wont turn on)

 

[donniekak]

Put it this way: 10W30 is what the factory recommends for our cars

I didn't see I thing in the manual about upping the boost, bigger turbos, and huge injectors.

 

[JB4G63]

I use Rotella 15w40 synthetic in mine.

 

[007jimmy]

I use Rotella 15w40 synthetic in mine.

Same here, oil pressure is fine and even zero lifter tick.

 

[Ozone302]

I use valvoline vr1 racing synthetic 10w-30. Runs great with zero oil consumption.

 

[Bud92gsx]

Ive used 5 and 10 in mine.5 for winter,10 or thicker for summer.

It's harder to start in freezing temps with 10 in the winter.But I'm sure many on this thread alone have used 10 in the winter just fine.

 

[DSM1G90]

..and if you want to make it start easier when it's cole, put a drop light under the oil pan with the light on to keep the oil warm.

 

[obsidian]

I use Rotella T6 full synthetic 5w-40.

And yes, the factory manual says 10w-30... when the engine was only around 200hp. How much are you pushing now?

 

[gprix1]

You cannot issue a blanket statement about what is the correct weight to use. There are other factors to consider such as, balance shafts removed, oil squirters y/n, ported oil filter housing.

You have to see what your oil pressure is when your engine is hot. An ideal pressure at idle is around 20psi but you also want your OFH relief valve to be able to control the pressure at high rpms. I've heard some on hear say they have as low as 10psi at idle. Think about this, do you want 10psi of pressure feeding your thrust bearing when you push in your HD clutch? Not me!

With my balance shafts and oil squirters removed and a ported OFH, I started with 10-30 and was seeing about 14psi at idle when hot.
Now I run 5-40 synthetic and see around 19psi at idle yet it still doesn't overun the relief valve at 7500 rpm's. This is the oil I will continue to use.

Note: If you do not have a pressure gauge I believe 5-40 is your safest bet in most cases.

 

[Ozone302]

I'm actually planning on switching to either 20-50 of the valvoline vr1 synthetic (black bottle) or 5-40 rotella synthetic on my next oil change. I was gonna use the rotella last time but all I could get my hands on we're the gallon jugs and that would mean I wouldve had to buy two of them . But I found individual quarts of it at Walmart so I might go that route.

I'm using 10-30 valvoline vr1 synthetic (black bottle) right now and my oil pressure at idle when warm is very low according to the stock gauge. Pretty much at the bottom line almost. And the engine has 80k on I'm guessing a stock spec rebuild and doesn't burn a drop of oil. It runs perfect but seeing the pressure maybe a millimeter above the first line on my gauge scares me sometimes. Next oil change is in a couple weeks and I'm leaning towards the 5-40 rotella since its cheaper and almost as good as the valvoline I use. Plus here in Colorado the temp changes from 90's to 60's day to day almost and gets chilly at night so I don't really feel comfortable running 20-50 here. Now, if I was still in Arizona I'd be running 20-50 in a heartbeat