Spiked oil pressure after oil change

[21M5033]

I just completed my 1st oil change and noticed the oil pressure was noticeably higher for the 1st 25 miles or so and then returned to what I would consider "normal" on my particular car. It seemed to be roughly 20 PSI higher across the RPM range. It had nothing to do with oil temperature as I let the oil fully warm up before driving. Also, no change in oil grade so I thought it was very weird. As anyone else experienced the same thing?

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[JOKER M1]

Mine pegs the gauge for a little while, unsure on how long or miles it takes to go down and I’m on my second oil change. I remember reading a while back that it was normal to read high on startup but can’t remember if it was referencing oil changes or not. Does it make me uncomfortable, sure but I haven’t heard anyone say it wasn’t normal.

Oh, and nice color choice

 

[coz0502]

Did you use a different oil filter this time? I noticed the same 2 oil changes ago, when Motorcraft was out of stock and I had to buy a different one. I went with Mobile and saw a increase in pressure like you describe. Went back to Motorcraft on the last oil change and it was normal.

 

[Snakebyte]

Oil does break down and lose viscosity over time/use. Not sure if that's the reason, but if you have a worn out oil, your oil pressure will not be what it was at the last oil change. Some oils break down faster than others. An oil change kind of sets a new benchmark. For reference on this oil, you may want to document oil PSI with your engine at full operating temp, record the ambient temp, the AIT, the head temp, and such. And then, maybe 1,000 or 2,000 miles compare OIL PSI when all the reference data is very similar.

 

[Zrussian13]

Consider yourself lucky it has oil pressure.

 

[Snakebyte]

I lost confidence in the Mustang's oil temp (at times oscillates 5 psi for no known reason). Therefore, I installed a GlowShift Oil PSI gauge. The GlowShift gauge generally reads 2-4 PSI higher...and doesn't oscillate. Yea!

 

[21M5033]

Thanks for the comments so far everyone. This was the 1st oil change with a little over 1000 miles on the car and oil. I used Amsoil 5W-30 Full Synthetic and a Ford FL500S Filter. The weird thing is the pressure went back to close to (pre-oil change levels) after roughly 25 miles.

 

[PoCoBob]

In your first message you said you let the oil fully warm up before you drove it. I don't think the oil would ever fully warm up no matter how long you let it idle. Driving it would be the only way to get it to operating temps. There's a lot of oil in there to keep hot.

 

[21M5033]

Good point on letting the oil warm up. I usually judge by the engine head temperature and that was up to full running temp.

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