I recently noticed that my oil pressure drops to around 15 or lower at idle and I have been loosing oil. This leads me to believe I have a leak somewhere. It doesnt smoke at all (when warmed up), and starts right up without any problems. Where should I check for the leaks? I changed my oil around 300-500 miles ago and the problems didnt surface until recently. yesterday I also noticed that the pressure rose above 60 when under wot and then dropped between 30 and 60 when I returned to driving normally.

 

Drive your car over a big piece of Cardboard,and park it Over night.If the Car leaks oil,at least you have Protected the Driveway a bit,and the Cardboard will have a big spot where the car has leaked oil,and give you a Good Idea of where to check...and have you checked the Oil Filter?..how is it Seated?..sometimes when you Replace your Filter the Old Gasket from the Old filter will remain on the Pedestal and makes that area Prone to leakage.Also,the TYPE of Filter will make oil pressure Vary..it is better to stick to OEM type filters.I hope that helps ya.

 

what kind of gauge is this? autometer oil pressure sending units frequently go bad

 

I am getting this reading off of a stock gauge and sending unit. What kind of oil filter do you recommend using? Im thinking about doing an oil change soon and seeing if that helps at all (oil is starting to turn black). Il check to see if there is any left over gasket on the pedestal, im almost certain that there wasn't anything when I last changed it.

 

Hey can I find out more about ".. the thermo-wax, oil bypass, accelerated warmup thing. .. "
I have the same pressure fluctuations
Where is it located?
Can I repalce it without tearing down the engine?
What does Mazda call it in the shop manual?
I am pretty new here and do not navigate well so please excuse if this is covered elsewhere that I was not able to find.

 

I used to have a steady idle at around 750 RPMs. Recently, while sitting at a stop (doesnt matter if its cold or warmed up) it will idle between 800 and 700 (fluttering while oil pressure is dropping) and then I will hear a click and the idle will jump to 1100 until the oil pressure reaches 30psi, then it returns to the fluttering idle. Is this the TPS, a vacuum leak, oil pressure problem or a combination of these?