At Idle, the oil pressure barely registers and at speed it registers just above 30 psi. After doing some searching here, I confirmed these numbers with a mechanical oil pressure guage. Since I already have the engine out of the car for other work, I thought I would check the Oil pressure control valve (per other posts suggestions). The service manual doesnt elaborate on that other than checking the tree length at 2.74". What else should I look for on the control valve to see if its "good"? Short of tackling the oil pump, any other suggestions?

Thanks!

-Steve

 

A common issue with low oil pressure is leaky oil front cover o-ring. Since you have everything out, I recommend:

replacing the O-ring.
Clean and shim (1/8 washer) the control valve in the front cover.
Mod the stock ROPR. I dont know what year you have but mazda made 2 types of ROPR (pix 1). If its the uncapped ones, then slightly wack the tip to get 80 psi (pix 2)



Right ROP = modded

 

Is that it just hit it with a hammer? anything else?