Oil pressure and temperature information...

[Jolly F]

Since fitting my defi oil gauges i've been keeping an eye on things. From what i believe the approximate cold and warm readings should be: -

Warm temperature reads between 170 and 180 degrees (F). Hot days with spirited driving reads between 200 and 220 degrees (F).

Pressure from cold = 100psi tick over
Pressure from cold = 120psi @ 3000rpm
Pressure from warm = 25psi tick over
Pressure from warm = 75-80psi @ 3000rpm

I did have an incident the other day with i got cut up by a driver really bad and decided to put my foot down to get aroung the bugger. The car was still cold and the oil pressure gauge went over 140psi

Do these reading look about right to you? Might help others in the future...

[Mark]

yer looks pretty like what i get with my Autometer gauges. It only reads to 100psi tho

I seem to get between 80-100 on idle on start up and off the scale at any other revs,

When at peak temp (210F) its 25 on idle and about 60 at 3k and 75 @ 4k

[Papa Lazarou]

The pressure depends on the oil you are using.

With Mobil 1 15/50 I get around 6 kg/cm (85 psi) pressure at idle when cold.
About 2 kg/cm (29 psi) pressure at idle when warm.
About 1.5 kg/cm (21 psi) pressure at idle when HOT (over 100 degrees)
And around 5 kg/cm (71 psi) at 3000 rpm when warm.

Car normally warms up to a steady 80 degrees C (175 f) with town driving.
Sits at around 95 (203 f) with moderate motorway driving.
A fast motorway drive with short periods on boost raises temps to 110 degrees C (230 f).

[voodoo_melon]

I get about 5.5-6kg/cm2 on a cold start, 2.75kg/cm2 warm idle down to about 2kg/cm2 when it's hot using Castrol RS 10w60.

[Stef]

Makes me wonder why my Blitz temp gauge reads all the way to 150oC when its normally sat at no more than 80-85 and delivered with a sump plug replacement sender so I'm assuming was meant to be fitted there and only there?!

[Wak]

Makes me wonder why my Blitz temp gauge reads all the way to 150oC when its normally sat at no more than 80-85 and delivered with a sump plug replacement sender so I'm assuming was meant to be fitted there and only there?!

150 centigrade is the standard maximum temperature everyone works to when designing things for oil systems on cars. The oil very rarely sees that temperature if ever but all the car makers quote it.

[Stef]

Thank you for the explanation! I can stop wondering now. Just thought it was weird as the needle only ever moves a wee small amount!!!

[Jolly F]

When i had the autometer gauges, the sensor was in the sump. From this the temperatures read were lower than they are with the Defi. I can think of two reasons why, because the defi are more accurate, and more likley the temperature is now being read by the oil filter, you'd expect higher temperatures there...

The weather today with steady driving came up with a 190-200 degrees (F).

At least were all coming up with the same sort of readings...

[archenemy.co.uk]

In the manual under oil pressure check page LC5 it says with normal operating temperature (doesn't say what that is though ) and under no load:

Engine at idle more than 0.8kg/cm, 11 psi
Engine at 3200rpm 3.2-4.0kg/cm, 46-57 psi

Thing I've noticed is when, say after 5 mins driving, temp of water on std gauge is in the normal middle position I get 30psi oil pressure at idle, but at that time the oil temp is still only approx 50 C. Once it gets up to full temp of around 80-90 C that Idle pressure has dropped to around 18-20psi. I'm surprised how low the oil pressure goes on this engine goes when hot. Also seems like theres a lot of difference between the pressure at 2000 and 3000 rpm.

Basically I'm in line with Papas readings, I take mine at sump and T'd pressure switch. I'm using a 10W 50 synth oil.

At cold start I goes straight to a steady 80psi, I can't remember if it goes over that when I drive cold, I have thought of it as the top pressure, as I assumed the engine has a pressure relief valve to stop the oil pressure going through the roof when you drive it cold, I think 120psi is very high.

[Jolly F]

Engine at idle more than 0.8kg/cm, 11 psi
Engine at 3200rpm 3.2-4.0kg/cm, 46-57 psi

I think 120psi is very high.

The manufacturers measurements seem too low to me...

What is the top pressure others have got whilst driving from cold then?

Can someone tell me exactly why the pressures are what they are at certain tempertures...

[SM]

I'll add mine here, using Castrol 10w60, temps and pressures AFTER the oil cooler.

From cold
Idle - 100psi (max reading of gauge could be more)
Driving - still maxed

Warming up (50oC)
Idle - 70psi
3K - 90psi

Just warm 75oC
Idle - 60psi
3K - 80psi

[archenemy.co.uk]

The manufacturers measurements seem too low to me...

What is the top pressure others have got whilst driving from cold then?

For me at start up 80psi, as soon as I drive off it tops out over 100psi

SM zZoom Are you sure you're using the right thickness of wire to the sender as we know its all to do with measured resistance, your readings seem very high, 60psi at idle that can't be right. You may get this if the wire you use is too thin I think.

[SM]

You may get this if the wire you use is too thin I think.

I dont think its too thin ... I have some 3-core elec wire from a 240V cable, using 1 core for temp, one for pressure, and one spare. Bodgetastic

@85oC its 40psi IDLE
@95oC its 30psi IDLE

[cHiL]

Hey mods, shouldn't this thread be in the "useful" section? Was useful for me anyway

[disco-tom]

My readings so far after having the gauges fitted the other day and not having driven it very far. About ~20miles.

Cold Idle = 100psi (max gauge reading)
Cold driving = 90-100psi

Warm idle = 40-50psi
Warm driving = 80-90psi (raising to max when I put my foot down)
Oil temp about 60-80 degrees centigrade at this point.

Temps and pressures taken before the oil cooler.
Oil is Silkolene ProS 10w50.

It's getting swapped round in a few days so that the temps and pressures will be after the oil cooler. I'll post again with the readings after then.

[Mark]

My readings so far after having the gauges fitted the other day and not having driven it very far. About ~20miles.

Cold Idle = 100psi (max gauge reading)
Cold driving = 90-100psi

Warm idle = 40-50psi
Warm driving = 80-90psi (raising to max when I put my foot down)
Oil temp about 60-80 degrees centigrade at this point.

Temps and pressures taken before the oil cooler.

It's getting swapped round in a few days so that the temps and pressures will be after the oil cooler. I'll post again with the readings after then.

What oil is that with? thats quite high pressure when warm

[disco-tom]

Oh aye, sorry.

That's with Silkolene ProS 10w50.

[ShawJohn]

My oil temp has hit 210F a few times but mostly sits around 145F under normal driving.

[Mark]

Hmmmm mine sits at 180F round town and goes up to 250F on a thrash

[Ashley g]

Mine too! Rises up tp 240-250 on a motorway thrash, then I ease off to cool a little! Must fit that oil cooler