oil pressure at idle?

[sam-131]

hmmm i decided to hook up a oil pressure gauge and i was wondering what should the oil pressure be at idle with engine warmed up? i am thinking 40-60psi

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

depends on the engine, the car, the location of the sender etc...

For example, on my gen 2 3sgte, after a rebuild, with brand new pump. Idle PSI after warm using 10W30 oil was 5psi. Which falls under 'normal' under the toyota BGB.

[sam-131]

hmmm the plot thickens

i am getting nothing i even got rid off the cooler thinking it was that but still nudda nothing might try to change the fitting loctaion

oh oil pressure my sworn enemy

[crowncustom]

Is the guage you are using mechanical or electrical?I ask because if it is electric did you use the sender unit already in the block that ran the light in the dash?If so this will be your problem as electric guages use a different sender unit.
Cheers Brett.

[sam-131]

nah mech i just got rid of the std oil sender and screwed the fitting on in it's place

[crowncustom]

Did you run oil through the line before connecting the guage?Sometimes when they get air in them they can stuff up a bit.Is there any reading on the guage at all when car is going?
Cheers Brett.

[sam-131]

i was just thinking about doing that sorta bleeding it i'll go and do it now

nah no reading at all it's speco gauge

thanks Sam

[crowncustom]

All you need to do is unscrew the union off the back of the guage,place a rag under the oil line and run the car till you have oil running out the line then turn the car off and screw the line back on and hopefully you will have an operating guage.
Cheers Brett.

[sam-131]

i have come to the conculsion that
1. the cooler is fine
2. mechanical gauge oil pressure gauges are poo

i tryed the gauge on a mates 253 and it worked fine it for some reason it dosnt like running on smaller engines with less oil pressure

[takai]

Yeah, probably air in the lines.
For reference my 4A idles at 40psi ish. Cranks at 25psi.

[crowncustom]

If it works on your mates 253 then it most definitly should work on your engine.Its only a pressure guage which is universal for the use on any engine wheather its 4,6,8 or even 12cyl.Are you sure you have plumbed it into the oil line that the original oil sender was in?I have been running a VDO mech oil pessure guage for about 17yrs now.It was bought new with fitting kit and it has been used on 2 18RG's.1 1600 4R eng, 2 6cyl Ford engines and a 253 V8 and the guage has never ever let me down.Just double check and make sure that its put where the original sender was.
Cheers Brett.

[sam-131]

hmmm i am pretty sure it's were the std sender was (near the starter) theres oil pressure but no enough you can see the oil in the gauge line it goes about half way then stops just before were it goes threw firewall it's starting to shit me

the motors a baby hasnt even hit 100k it's still high on comp i might try taping the oil presssure line some were else (the back of the head) i dont know i am gonna go have a look tomorrow and do a leak down test i have a funny feeling it might have a hg

3 of them it makes me that mad although this could be a good thing to get my arse into gear and finish the other engine off

[allencr]

oil or air, any engine in the world, it doesn't matter to the guage, just its responsivness because the air compresses, and most small 2 & 4 stroke/cycle engines have pre-mix or splash lubrication systems - no pump, no pressure.

[love ke70]

a little to the side of this topic, but relevant.
it doesnt matter if you have air in the line for the oil pressure gauge does it?
i think thats what you were sayin allencr ?

[cambelt]

no air wont matter , it may compress a little different to oil , but maybe only a couple of psi difference