Oil pressure issue

[dwiseman]

I am having a problem with oil pressure. It's summer and I was running 10w30 and the pressure was runnning a little low but still in the normal range. When it was colder it ran at the half way point. When it warmed up it started dropping to the quarter point which is still in the normal range. I was told to change my oil to synthetic blend and up it to 20W50 for summer and could go back to 10w30 in the winter. It seemed to work for the first week but now it starts to drop down again just above the quarter point but goes back up to half when I have the RPM's over 2,000. Any ideas? I bought this long block new 2 years ago and has about 35,000 miles on it. It's a daily driver I use for work and plan on doing more work to it but I would like to make sure this isn't a major problem first.

 

[sunil6784]

Mine runs at the quarter point as well at idle. NOrmal for these engines IMO. Btw...mine's got 72,000 miles on it. Currently I am running 5w-30 synthetic mobil 1 (which I had for the winter). I plan on running 10w-30 next time I change the oil in the next few weeks.

Also, the stock gauge is very inaccuarate. If you are really concerned about it, you might want to look into getting a real gauge, even if you stick it under the hood just for diagnosis.

 

[dwiseman]

thanks for the quick reply! It makes me feel a little better. i think i will keep an eye on it for now and look for a new gauge. i didn't know the stock one's were so off.
thanks again...
Dale

 

[DMAN302]

Could be nothing..could be pump...could be you can't tell jack with the stock gauge. Spend 40$ on an aftermarket gauge so you can see what's really going on, stockers (from too much experience) really are NOT accurate at all. If the engine is of any real concearn to you then forty buck and twenty minutes shouldn't be of any concearn..the info provided is SO valuable. Internet guessing is really not the best way, MANY people will describe simular issues..with exceptionaly different causes.

 

[HISSIN50]

Dale, dont guess. I really second Sunil's idea to go get an aftermarket gauge (you dont have to permanently mount it if you dont want to, but can use it for a week just to see what's going on). The stock gauge wasnt meant to actually be read or interpolated.

FWIW, if it's hot in the land of Dale, you shouldnt have issues running 20W-50 if you really are lacking pressure.

Good luck.