Oil pressure levels before warm up?

[Kevin08]

I've noticed this for a long time but always forget to ask about it. When I'm driving my car before it hits normal operating temps, my oil pressure will jump to 100PSI, maxing out the digital gauge, when applying anywhere between 1/2-3/4 throttle. It'll sit there for a few seconds before dropping down. Is it normal for the pressure to build that high? Once the car is at optimal temperature it doesn't spike anywhere close to that, and it's idle pressure seems normal enough. Not sure if that's just the gauge being not-super-accurate or what, but it's always a little concerning to watch it max out the gauge every morning.

Sponsored

 

[NoVaGT]

This is why very few vehicles come from the factory with real oil-pressure gauges.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Oil viscosity upon start up is thicker than when at normal operating temps. Other factors are:

1) your geographical location outside temps - the colder, the more psi you will see at initial start up as well as when driving.
2) drivetrain gearing, which affects overall rpms, which affects psi ratings

As the car warms or gets to normal op temps, you will notice that the oil psi at idle is much lower as well as when driving. Lower as in a possible 10-15psi difference from when it was cold.

What you are seeing is totally normal.

 

[Silver Bullitt]

Mine is exactly the same. I've seen 100 psi under any moderate throttle until it gets warm. I'm not sure that gauge is very accurate as to reporting actual pressure, more like a dummy gauge that measures low, medium, and high. There's usually a pretty good delay responding to actual throttle position.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Slow gauge response is most likely the amount of damping built into either the gauge or what's between the sensor and the gauge proper. It's to keep the gauge from being in constant movement, which tends to make people (the ones who bother to look at the gauge, anyway) nervous.


Norm

 

[Deleted member 35644]

My childhood neighbor had an early-80's 911 SC Targa. I was always fascinated with the oil pressure guage, as it seemed like it was actually accurate.

Not hers, but a similar car: They should all work like this.

 

[69mach1-395]

Only a mechanical gage will provide real time and pretty accurate readings...

 

[Kevin08]

That all make sense, but it seems like they would have increased the upper limit on the gauge to be able to display more than 100PSI, accurate or not, a completely maxed out pressure gauge is usually not a good sign in most cases. If 100 PSI is under normal circumstances, it makes it seem a little worthless if you can't diagnose high oil pressure by using the gauge.

Sponsored