how much oil pressure?

[Al]

The needle of my oil pressure gauge is most of the time on the far right side (80 psi?) Only when the engine is really warmed up, the needle moves slightly when idling. I am using 20W-50 oil (Valvoline VR1 racing).

I have now changed to 10W-40. The oil pressure has dropped but only slightly, it's never below 40 psi in idle. The sending unit is a new one and the gauge is stock.

Is this too much pressure ?

Al

[myk]

I wouldn't count on the gauge to give you an accurate measure of pressure; keep in mind that gauge is about 50 years old and the technology behind it is even older.  The only way to verify the pressure is to hook the car up to an actual oil pressure gauge and measure it remotely.  When my gauge was flatlined on "0" but I still had oil flow I had my trusted shop verify that there was normal oil pressure; a custom dash with modern gauges is on the list for sure.  Good luck and keep us updated...

[Cooter]

Not uncommon with that thick oil such as 20W/50 to see 80 psi. Remember, although old skool thinking says a lot of oil pressure is reassuring, it robs HP trying to push all that pressure.

GM engineers used to try and tell us at the dealer that anything above 5 PSI at hot idle was just fine. I prefer like 15-25 PSI hot idle, in gear, and anywhere from 40-60 PSI at highway Speed. I use 10W/40 oil as well.

[firefighter3931]

I'm a firm believer in lots of oil pressure...especially in a street driven car. I don't care about a 5hp loss at 6000 rpm ; I want oil pressure and protection for my bearings, rings and cam/lifters. An 850rpm idle to keep the cam/lifters well lubed at all times. 


Ron

[tan top]

I'm a firm believer in lots of oil pressure...especially in a street driven car. I don't care about a 5hp loss at 6000 rpm ; I want oil pressure and protection for my bearings, rings and cam/lifters. An 850rpm idle to keep the cam/lifters well lubed at all times. 


Ron

    

just for referance Al
   mine is just just under 50 psi when hot at idle ,  850rpm    , 80psi at about 12 hundred rpm , never moves  , with 20/50
  , with 10/40 oil  oil was about  just over 40 psi when hot at idle  & from about the same    70 to 75 psi ,   normal  coolent tempreture is 180 degrees maybe 185 if stuck in traffic for a long time

only have to touch the throttle & its maximum oil pressure ,

[Al]

I'm a firm believer in lots of oil pressure...especially in a street driven car. I don't care about a 5hp loss at 6000 rpm ; I want oil pressure and protection for my bearings, rings and cam/lifters. An 850rpm idle to keep the cam/lifters well lubed at all times. 


Ron

    

just for referance Al
   mine is just just under 50 psi when hot at idle ,  850rpm    , 80psi at about 12 hundred rpm , never moves  , with 20/50
  , with 10/40 oil  oil was about  just over 40 psi when hot at idle  & from about the same    70 to 75 psi ,   normal  coolent tempreture is 180 degrees maybe 185 if stuck in traffic for a long time

only have to touch the throttle & its maximum oil pressure ,

Good to know I'm not the only one with high oil pressure. 

[tan top]

 did think about calming down the oil pressure at first , with one of these see below

http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/milbrbadregk.html
takes all the guess work of  cutting the spring or fitting shims to alter the psi .
but never bothered , just use a good  quality oil filter  , better to have high oil pressure at idle  like Ron says 

[Chippa]

I was also a bit concerned that my oil pressure was on the high side when i first got my Charger,my gauge is always at 60 psi at idle and climbs a little higher when cruising.
I put a mechanical gauge to check directly into the block to verify my gauge and it read 55 so gauge out a little..

I also run a good quality 20w50 in my 440 but i'm happy to run a thicker oil as the Summers over here are pretty hot and our winters are pretty mild.

Chippa 

[firefighter3931]

Mine has 75-80 psi cold and 50-55 at hot idle. 

Once warmed up.... at WOT it goes to 75-80 and that's fine by me 



Ron

[Al]

  thx to you all for the replies
Al

[Brass]

Wow.  Mine with a stock pump and 10/40 is usually 18-20 at warm idle in gear and 55-60 at speed on the highway.  I think It'll break 70 during WOT bursts but other times it will actually drop about 10 psi (from 55 to 45) if there is increased load while cruising; like accelerating up a hill.   Is that normal?  Also, how do you guys have such high pressure – is it all in the pump?

[green69rt]

Lot's of things affect oil press,  pump condition, oil relief valve spring (built into the pump)  Engine clearances, especially the rod to crank side clearance (it acts as a orifice to maintain back pressure on the oil system..  So 20 psi is probably fine, the oil pressure only has to overcome gravity to get to the top of the engine and 20 will do that.

[Back N Black]

Al, I'm running the same oil pressure, no worries. 

[Al]

Al, I'm running the same oil pressure, no worries. 

[68CoronetRT]

70-75 cold and like 55ish at hot idle, haven't gotten a WOT pull yet but slight throttle revs and it jumps to 75-85 pretty quick.

[green69rt]

OK, there's a lot of talk here about high oil pressure, but what's important???   Flow to the engine... that's what's important or am I wrong??  I actually installed a Ramchargers hi press/ hi flow pump on my old charger.  Did it do any good?  I really don't think so.  So what you need is good flow, a good source for the pump (I mean a nice sump with a good pickup)  and open gallerys.  Then make sure all the engine clearances are good.  If you're running a race car then that's different, for those of us on the street, follow the basics.

How much HP will a normal oiling system support??  I would bet...la lot.  5-600 HP??

[ws23rt]

OK, there's a lot of talk here about high oil pressure, but what's important???   Flow to the engine... that's what's important or am I wrong??  I actually installed a Ramchargers hi press/ hi flow pump on my old charger.  Did it do any good?  I really don't think so.  So what you need is good flow, a good source for the pump (I mean a nice sump with a good pickup)  and open gallerys.  Then make sure all the engine clearances are good.  If you're running a race car then that's different, for those of us on the street, follow the basics.

How much HP will a normal oiling system support??  I would bet...la lot.  5-600 HP??

Indeed there is a lot of chatter about flow vs pressure. For street use it tends to become something that is of little concern. The factory designed pumps do more than the engine needs.
In general good pressure means you have good flow. If you add pressure the bearings still accept the oil they need and the gauge goes up showing available oil is there waiting for it's time. More pressure costs more power.
When the engine is old and loose, or bearing clearances are intended to be loose more flow is needed to fill the gaps but if the pressure if up that means the flow is enough.
The bottom line is pressure. After all if we needed to know the GPM we would have flow meters instead of pressure guages.
BTW for my comfort zone I would like to see at least 30psi. If I was looking at 20psi or less I would not panic but think of it as a limp condition to find the problem. I have had a zero psi condition and that was not a good outcome.

[fy469rtse]

 :popcrn:I'm with Ron on this one , good pressure, I always go with a high volume pump,  good oil pressure a must, let's talk about the oil's people choose, I prefer old school oils , don't like the new , synthetics are about marketing and not about longevity,

[Dino]

Mine's around 60 when hot, I forget what the idle is.  Ever since I 'calibrated' the gauges it won't go over 20.   

[green69rt]

OK, there's a lot of talk here about high oil pressure, but what's important???   Flow to the engine... that's what's important or am I wrong??  I actually installed a Ramchargers hi press/ hi flow pump on my old charger.  Did it do any good?  I really don't think so.  So what you need is good flow, a good source for the pump (I mean a nice sump with a good pickup)  and open gallerys.  Then make sure all the engine clearances are good.  If you're running a race car then that's different, for those of us on the street, follow the basics.

How much HP will a normal oiling system support??  I would bet...la lot.  5-600 HP??

Indeed there is a lot of chatter about flow vs pressure. For street use it tends to become something that is of little concern. The factory designed pumps do more than the engine needs.
In general good pressure means you have good flow. If you add pressure the bearings still accept the oil they need and the gauge goes up showing available oil is there waiting for it's time. More pressure costs more power.
When the engine is old and loose, or bearing clearances are intended to be loose more flow is needed to fill the gaps but if the pressure if up that means the flow is enough.
The bottom line is pressure. After all if we needed to know the GPM we would have flow meters instead of pressure guages.
BTW for my comfort zone I would like to see at least 30psi. If I was looking at 20psi or less I would not panic but think of it as a limp condition to find the problem. I have had a zero psi condition and that was not a good outcome.

Didn't mean to imply that our engines shouldn't have good pressure, that's really the only way we have to monitor the oil system.  Just trying to say that oil pressure above 20-30 psi  is good enough for most cars at idle, maybe 60 when hitting it hard.  Beyond that it's just icing on the cake and not adding to the reliability of a car.   Again race engines may be different.