2G low oil pressure readings

[ks-95gst]

ok guys, my stock oil pressure gauge was reading a little low, and i didnt kno if the sender was bad so i just replaced the sender with a after market sender and gauge. on a cold start up it reads 80 to 90psi and at a completley warm idle it reads 11 or 12 psi, then i was driving to the mall to meet some friends and i pulled up to a stop light, looked at the gauge and it read 2 or 3 psi so i tapped the gas and it went to about 20psi, then slowly fell back to 11 or 12psi, looked at the gauge a few seconds later and it read2 or 3psi again. and when driving at about 2 grand it reads inbetween 30 and 40psi this is not normal is it? for those of you that have aftermarket oil psi gauges, can you please tell me what yours reads when completly warm at idle, and what it reads at 2k rpm thanks alot.

 

[Benshooter]

ok guys, my stock oil pressure gauge was reading a little low, and i didnt kno if the sender was bad so i just replaced the sender with a after market sender and gauge. on a cold start up it reads 80 to 90psi and at a completley warm idle it reads 11 or 12 psi, then i was driving to the mall to meet some friends and i pulled up to a stop light, looked at the gauge and it read 2 or 3 psi so i tapped the gas and it went to about 20psi, then slowly fell back to 11 or 12psi, looked at the gauge a few seconds later and it read2 or 3psi again. and when driving at about 2 grand it reads inbetween 30 and 40psi this is not normal is it? for those of you that have aftermarket oil psi gauges, can you please tell me what yours reads when completly warm at idle, and what it reads at 2k rpm thanks alot.

Different a/m gauges will read differently. If you have the resources to hook up a mechanical oil pressure gauge then do so immediately. If your oil pressure really is that low then youll be in deep sh*t soon enough.

Out of curiosity, do you have any dents in your oil pan?

 

[ks-95gst]

no, i was just under the car yesterday changing the oil and installing the sender unit for the gauge, there were no dents in the oil pan, and also about a week befor i installed the gauge my engine started tapping when i hit 2k rpm, i think i kno why the tapping started.. (no oil pressure) im pretty sure i have a rod knock now, or maybe the lifters tapping due to low oil pressure, idk whats goin on but im deff not driving the car untill i get this figured out. i will get under the car tomorrow and check all the wire connections to make sure everything is good and nothing came loose, if that dosent work then i will go buy another gauge and sender unit, incace this one is deffective or something, its a cheap guage from harbor frieght tools by the way, so idk how accurate they are but i had one in my integra that i use to have and it worked just fine. the boost gauge in my car is also the same brand and reads pretty accurate,. but its not elictrical either so idk.

 

[95redturboawd]

My Megan gauge reads those numbers almost exactly. The engine hasn't imploded for the 2k miles since I've had the gauge, so who knows.

 

[cooltiger089]

well all i knw is that stock oil psi is about 10 n for every 1k rpm u should have 10 psi of oil like at 4k u should have 40 psi...

 

[ks-95gst]

see, iv been searchin around to see what ppl gauges read on there 4g63's and they say it should be inbetween 10 and 20psi at idle, and about 70psi while cruising and thats about what my acura integra read, at warm idle i would be at about 20psi and when cruising i would be around 60 or 70 psi, now i know these motors have nothing to do with eachother just sayin, thats what ppl are saying my oil psi should read on the 4g63 as well, and mine is nothing close to that. i hope it is normal and not hurting anything, im scared to drive my car . i just got a really good job ill be bringing home about 400 a week, so once it gets warm out i wanna pull the engine and do a full a build. but i want the motor to last untill then. i mean the oil pressure litteratly almost drops to zero at idle, that cant be good. and at 2k rpm you would think it would be higher then 35psi.

 

[Benshooter]

Don't drive it until you rectify the problem. Simple as that. I helped my bud with his stock 1G a couple weeks ago, he had low oil pressure from a big dent in the pan closing off the pickup screen. Spun a bearing. It wasn't loud at all, and sounded like a knock, not a spin. But we pulled the pan and it was a copper mine.

 

[ks-95gst]

Don't drive it until you rectify the problem. Simple as that. I helped my bud with his stock 1G a couple weeks ago, he had low oil pressure from a big dent in the pan closing off the pickup screen. Spun a bearing. It wasn't loud at all, and sounded like a knock, not a spin. But we pulled the pan and it was a copper mine.

ok thanks alot, im going to mess with the wires to see if any of them have a bad connection. if not im going to pick up a new gauge today, ill post back and let you guys know if any of this helps.

ok, so i checked all the connections and there all good, and i replaced the sender unit with a new one. but it didnt change anything. im almost possitive that its the gauge itsself because if its at 12psi idle and i tap the gauge with my finger it falls to zero, so ill replace the gauge tomorrow and see if that does the trick.

also, when i put the sender unit in i put it inplace of my stock one (so now my stock guage doesnt work) i was wanting to know even tho the stock gauge doesnt work will the low oil light come on still ? or does the the stock sending unit have to be there? because you would think the oil light would come on with 2 psi of oil pressure. but even befor i put the aftermarket gauge in the oil light still never came on, so that makes me think even more that it is the gauge thats at fault, if them were real numbers the oil light should deff come on right?

 

[trevor425]

if your gauge is accurate.

low oil pressure is common in worn 4g63's.
i blame in part the balance shafts. after doing the balance shaft elimination, ie rotating the shafts bearings to block oil flow, after removing them. lifters are quiet, and i gained quite a bit of oil pressure. i went from barely any on the factory gauge at idle, to constantly above a 1/4 @ idle to 3/4 @ wide open on the gauge sweep. keep this in mind when you do a timing belt. scrap those balance shafts and gain some oil pressure and free some ponies! search the forums for a write up on how to do it, and what parts to get. good luck. oh and for now, run a thicker oil or some lucas.

 

[ks-95gst]

if your gauge is accurate.

low oil pressure is common in worn 4g63's.
i blame in part the balance shafts. after doing the balance shaft elimination, ie rotating the shafts bearings to block oil flow, after removing them. lifters are quiet, and i gained quite a bit of oil pressure. i went from barely any on the factory gauge at idle, to constantly above a 1/4 @ idle to 3/4 @ wide open on the gauge sweep. keep this in mind when you do a timing belt. scrap those balance shafts and gain some oil pressure and free some ponies! search the forums for a write up on how to do it, and what parts to get. good luck. oh and for now, run a thicker oil or some lucas.

ok thanks, ill look into the balance shaft elimnation, iv heard of it befor but i hear its a very difficult job. ill search the forums and see how hard it is. do you know if you can make your own parts, or do you have to buy the elimination kit ?

 

[1990AWD]

what weight of oil are you using?

 

[ks-95gst]

what weight of oil are you using?

mobil 1 10-w30 fully synthetic and a mobil 1 filter.

ok well i put a new gauge and sender unit in, check all the wires again, and everything is good, but the pressure still reads between 1 and 3psi at warm idle, but when i rev the car the oil pressure shoots up to arounds 80psi, so the oil pump is working, i just dont have any pressure at idle, idk whats goin on.

 

[okcpopeman]

I had similar issues with a built motor that ended up being the mains were honed too big after the ARP main studs were installed. I never suspected bad machine work and did several oil pump swaps and didn't find the issue till the motor was actually pulled. For your issue though it does not sound related (I may be wrong but you dont have a built motor do you?) have you pulled the oil pump off and checked it for wear?

 

[ks-95gst]

I had similar issues with a built motor that ended up being the mains were honed too big after the ARP main studs were installed. I never suspected bad machine work and did several oil pump swaps and didn't find the issue till the motor was actually pulled. For your issue though it does not sound related (I may be wrong but you dont have a built motor do you?) have you pulled the oil pump off and checked it for wear?

no, my motor is not built yet. and i haven't had a chance to inspect the oil pump either, alltho i did drain a quart of oil and put a quart of lucas stabilizer in, and the oil pressure went from 2psi at idle to about 17psi, which is about right. so im sure its due to worn rod and or main bearings. considering the motor has 170k on it which is impressive for a dsm. hopefully if i keep the lucas in there it will hold me over untill i can get the money saved up for a nice build. i am in no means cheap, if i dont have the money to do it right the first time i wont do it at all, so hopefully it will last until then.

 

[okcpopeman]

no, my motor is not built yet. and i haven't had a chance to inspect the oil pump either, alltho i did drain a quart of oil and put a quart of lucas stabilizer in, and the oil pressure went from 2psi at idle to about 17psi, which is about right. so im sure its due to worn rod and or main bearings. considering the motor has 170k on it which is impressive for a dsm. hopefully if i keep the lucas in there it will hold me over untill i can get the money saved up for a nice build. i am in no means cheap, if i dont have the money to do it right the first time i wont do it at all, so hopefully it will last until then.

Heck ya man do it once and do it right! Because I didnt take the time to do my homework before I chose my machine shop I now have no more built motor. Its cool though, the junkyard motor I swapped it out for runs better anyways! hah!

 

[ks-95gst]

Heck ya man do it once and do it right! Because I didnt take the time to do my homework before I chose my machine shop I now have no more built motor. Its cool though, the junkyard motor I swapped it out for runs better anyways! hah!

haha, yea. i dont get how they messed up?? what do the arp main studs have anything to do with it, aren't they a dirrect replacement for the factory main studs?

 

[PatricksDSM]

You can buy the stuff separately, but get one from FFWD.com. They have a great kit with the stub and the piece that is the replacement for the gears for the balance shafts. The theory is, why run the gears if your not running the shafts? It is pretty difficult to do, and I did it while building a new 4G63T. Good luck!!

 

[ks-95gst]

You can buy the stuff separately, but get one from FFWD.com. They have a great kit with the stub and the piece that is the replacement for the gears for the balance shafts. The theory is, why run the gears if your not running the shafts? It is pretty difficult to do, and I did it while building a new 4G63T. Good luck!!

ok thanks, ill look at there kit. im sure i can handle it, just askin if it was hard since i have never done one. but now im debating on doing it, i have heard that if you just replace the belt every so often like you should, you will be good. i dont know if i really want the extra vibration. some say its not that bad and others say its horrible, i guess it all has to do with how well the engine is balanced.

 

[okcpopeman]

haha, yea. i dont get how they messed up?? what do the arp main studs have anything to do with it, aren't they a dirrect replacement for the factory main studs?

They are a replacement but you have to re-hone the mains (or you should) when you swap them in. Not doing so could result in misalignment of the main caps and cause even bigger issues.

 

[ks-95gst]

They are a replacement but you have to re-hone the mains (or you should) when you swap them in. Not doing so could result in misalignment of the main caps and cause even bigger issues.

what do you mean re-hone the mains? the holes where the old studs use to be, or the holes in the girdle where the studs come through?

 

[okcpopeman]

what do you mean re-hone the mains? the holes where the old studs use to be, or the holes in the girdle where the studs come through?

Neither actually, what I'm referring to is where the crank is and the main bearings. You know...line honing.

 

[trevor425]

balance shafts aren't to hard to remove. its a little time consuming and tight if the engine is in the car. if you can do a timing belt you can do this. there is some extra steps from timing belt tear down for the balance shaft removal.

if you do the elimination, you can inspect your oil pump for wear and replace if needed. the shaft that drives the oil pump is connected to the front balance shaft. the kit is just a stub oil pump shaft (from a mirage i believe) used to replace the large front balance shaft. a plug for the rear balance shaft hole and a new set of balance shaft bearings. again, these are only used to block the oil feeds (by intentional misalignment of the oil feed holes) to the now non existing balance shafts, thus increasing oil pressure substantially across the operating range, while reducing rotating mass at the expense of a little added vibration at idle(seriously, its not that bad) . also you will need a new gasket, for the engine plate you have to remove.

link to stm kit i used

STM BALANCE SHAFT ELIMINATION KIT 4G63