oil pressure

[93laser1g]

should my oil pressure gauge read only 20 psi at idle? and is the gauge supposed to drop and raise when driving? or is it supposed to stay at a certain psi all the time?

 

[92AWDHX40]

Well it changes its lower when idling, and raises when you driving it, the pressure never stays the same.

 

[93laser1g]

okay thanks what does urs idle at?

 

[92AWDHX40]

I dont know, havent driven it in a long time, is this your new car, dsm, is the oil pump, on the car new, lot of miles, just wondering why you ask.

 

[Jon91TSi]

Every car is different. My car holds around 15 psi at idle, and I see a max of 80psi with my ported 90 housing. Like I said, no two cars will be the same. Oil weight, mileage, BS removal, oil filters, squirter removal, etc, etc, all effect oil pressure.

 

[93laser1g]

the car is new to me, it has a rebuilt block and head but i just bought it. i was just wondering because im new to the dsm world but from what both of you said the car seems to be running fine.

 

[99gst_racer]

The oil pump is crank driven, so oil pressure is dependent on engine RPM.
The only other dependent is oil temperature, which is also affected by ambient temperature.

So, it's completely normal for your oil pressure to change with temperature and RPM.

 

[T is for TURBO]

At idle you will see anywhere between 10psi and 20psi on a healthy, fully warmed engine.
As a general rule of thumb, a healthy engine should see 10psi oil pressure for every 1000RPM. So, if your at 1500 rpm, expect to see around 15psi, 2500 rpm, expect to around 25 psi.

But as said before, every car is different. Especially if you have the balance shafts removed and/or the oil squirters under the pistons blocked off. In those cases, you will see higher oil pressure, unless you port your oil relief valve on the oil filter housing.