OK my oil pressure has been slowly dropping over the last few months. I currently get about 10psi at idle and 45psi at 3k most of the time. Before its warm, I'll get almost 60psi at 3k and about 25 at idle. As it warms it drops. It used to 'recover' after driving a bit (25idle, 60 at 3k) but this doesn't always happen now. I don't think its the sender as I do see 60psi when its warming up and after its 'recovered'.

To me, this says bad thermo pellet in the e-shaft. I tried to do the shim mod today but couldn't get the f&($#@)!@ nut off - couldn't tighten the chain wrench enough to keep from slipping. Any ideas/suggestions?? Looks like I might need to get access to an impact wrench.

On a bright note, I did discover that you can get a free light(er) weight main pulley. The PS and AC pulley's are separate from the alt/air pump one. Since I have neither PS nor AC, off they came. For those who are interested the AC pulley weighs a full pound and the PS comes in at 14oz.

Henrik
87TII

 

use a long breaker bar with your socket wrench.. wedge the breaker bar against the frame rail under the battery (make sure it's under the framerail, not resting under the battery!).. remove the EGI and the Igntion fuses from the main relay (You don't want the car to fire up)..now go quickly "Bump" your starter.. do this quickly... this should easily break the bolt loose...

 

I've used the CRIS NG method with much success. I give it a five star. Starter makes for a great impact wrench.

 

What are you reading your oil pressure with? I hope your not going to all of this trouble because of a stock oil pressure gauge.

James

 

Right, and first try changing the oil out with some Castrol GTX 20W-50. Mine did the same thing as yours however, with the new oil it is right on when it idles and exspecially when it is at 3k rpm

 

Wankel7 is right. Get a cheap aftermarket mechanical gauge from PEPBOYs and patch it in. The factory unit, especially after all these years can't be considered reliable. You'll be surprised how much better your real oil pressure is.

 

I looked everywhere (except pepboys) for a damn mechanical oil pressure guage. And you know what? nobody sells mechanical oil pressure guages. Maybe in your part of town but not mine. I had to barrow one off of one of my buddies who owns a B.P. I never checked pepboys because the closest one is like a half hours drive. But I checked 2 speed and hobby shops, advanced auto parts, NAPA, some worldwide auto parts store, Walmart, and a dumpy import speed shop and nobody had one. Most of the places looked at me like I was crazy, or gave me the electrical guage and said "here it is" Then I would say "that's electrical, I need mecanical with a oil line attached" They would say "this is mechanical, the electrical ones have digital displays" I would say "You ******* idiot, get at job a KFC and let someone who knows **** about cars have the car related job." Well I didn't really say that but I was tempted. Anyways, the point is: it is not so easy to find a mechanical oil pressure guage.

 

my oil pressure gauge is crap...i was on a long distance trip, and i had no oil pressure...i had to get it home so dumped like two or three bottle's of STP into it, come to find out the gauge dies on me, so i just went out to pep boys bought the little kit to hook up a mechanical gauge, and i found out that my pressure was great.

before you jump to conclusions, make sure you gauge is reading properly.

 

I'm sure the oil thing has been talked about time and time again, but is that weight really necessary? I think that's what mazdatrix recomended too.

 

Although when I finally did get the guage, I found out first hand how UNaccurate the stock equipment is.

 

For future reference, what should the oil pressure readings be when running correctly? Thanks.

 

http://fc3s-pro.com/TECH/MODS/EL/opress.htm



-Ted

 

My car runs at about 60 psi at 3k but then drops as I hold it there for a long *** time. like, if Im on the highway it wil start to drop and settle at about 45psi. This is cruising at about 70mph. I've been getting more and more worried about it lately. am I screwed?

 

I have owned my car for 90K miles. Its been reading low psi on the stock gauge since i first drove it. Car still runs now. So I dont see a problem unless you notice the problem on the big gauge. Speaking of which, I am really doubting the accuracy of the autometer gauges, what do you guys think? Kahren will probably order me that oil adapter for the oil temp and psi

 

Thanks for the suggestion - I'll give it a shot on the weekend. I just changed the oil, Castrol 10w30 so that's fine. And yes, this is reading the stock gauge, the reason that it concerns me (and I trust the stock gauge enough) is that I get normal readings when cold, that drop as it warms up then usually back to normal after I've run for a bit. It seems to go through a pattern: normal when cold, low when warming up and then usually normal again after running for a while, its the recovery to normal that's happening less and less now. Also when coming to a stop from cruising, it'll hang at about 30psi at idle for a few secs, and then drop.

I used to get 30psi idle, 60psi 2.5k regularly.

Henrik
87TII

 

it's the sending unit my car did the exact same thing...you can buy one at any autoparts store for like40 bucks

 

your symptoms sounds like mine was when the oring between the oil galleries on the front cover and the front end plate had **** itself.

when the engine is cold you get almost normal pressure but as it warms up (due to expansion) the oil pressure drops off. the o-ring costs like $3NZ but you need to pull half the engine bay to replace it.

 

LOL, this reminds of a line from a Dire Straits song "two men say their Jesus, one of them must be wrong"

I'm hoping its not the front cover o-ring.

I'm going to start with another gauge, then the bypass valve. Will post results when I have 'em.

Henrik
87TII