Normal oil pressure ?

[428street]

Thanks mpanten...I thought so but I wanted to be sure...I did a 200 mile trip today and it ran flawlessly but I was a bit concerned with the oil pressure...

[mpanten]

Im running 10.5 to 1 in a small block and normal for me is 40psi at normal cruising speed once it reaches it's normal operating temp, even down in the 30's at Idle. Been that way for the three years I have owned it. Dont get to worked up over the oil preassure unless you see a significant drop. There are lots of engines out there and lots of different psi's.

[RICK LAKE]

428street Between 45-60 is a large range at a steady rpm. Is this new oil or old oil? If you are running a HV oil pump in the motor, add 1 quart more than what is called for. The problem is the returns from the heads and block to the oil pan, are slow. A HV pump puts out about 30% more oil than a standard pump. This should also stablize the pressure readings. Do you know if there are limiters in the heads to control oil to the rockers? If not you may want to add a holley jets of .090" to each head. This is for a street motor. For the track an .080" would be fine. Cruising at 2,000 rpms and steady, you want to see a steady reading with maybe a 5 pounds high to low. Any thing more than 10 psi I would be getting another gauge to check out the one in the car. The oil pressure may be fine but the gauge could be off in calibration over time. There is a 10-20 psi differents between the reading you get at the oil filter plate and the heads. As long as you don't hear and rocker noise you are OK. I run a bottle of lucas oil suppliment. I think this helps keep the oil on the parts longer and stops dry startups. You just have to pour it in slow with the motor oil being warm and the engine running. I don't let my motors idle for a long time except when warming up to run. What weight oil are you running? you might want to go 1 range up for the summer months. Rick L.

[mpanten]

Rick,

you have a valid point, if it is fully warm and still fluctuating I would agree. I took to mean that it starts out at 60 then drops when it is warmed up.

[patrickt]

... an oil pressure gauge that fluctuated at a steady RPM. I wouldn't know what to make of it if I did. When I write "fluctuate" I mean the needle is wobbling significantly, or it drops rhythmically, you know -- like a vacuum gauge does with a stuck valve. I can't even think of something that would cause that -- has anybody ever seen that before?

[1985 CCX]

My car runs about 55psi +3

Might be the difference between a mechanical PU and an electrical?

[RICK LAKE]

patrickt A spun bearing in the main trying to weld itself to the crank. At idle it didn't make any noise like you would think.#3 main. The crank just kept spinning. Enough splash from the crank shaft kept it running. This was in a SBC motor. The oil gauge was jumping about 10-15 psi at idle. The rpm was steady. Some motor just don't know when to quit. Rick L