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Good or Bad high oil pressure?

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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 12:24 AM
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Question Good or Bad high oil pressure?

Ok I bought a car with a racing oil regulator (was told by seller). Damn I use 5w-30 oil and the oil pressure at idle on cold start is at 120-140psi. It goes to 80psi when it gets hot but onceon half throttle it goes to 140psi (that the highest point on an aftermarket gauge) I even have problem with oil filter gasket popping off and now I got oil leaking out of the oil pan( I silicone that crap out of it). I was told too much oil pressure could cause rear main seal leaking? So what do you think I should do?
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 05:36 AM
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your oil pan shouldnt see the pressure the rest of the oil system does.
what size turbo feedline restrictor are u running. this would increase oil pressure if it is 2 small.

what kind of pressure do u see @ and idle when the car is at normal operating temp?
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 10:17 PM
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As of the now turbo is a gt35r, I think it has a build in restrictor. The oil pressure goes up to 120-140psi at cold start and once it warms up it's at 80psi. What do you think I should do, replace the oil regulator to stock ones?
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 10:34 PM
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gt35r is a ball bearing turbo is it not?
it would require less oil to lubricate the cartridge.
hence the restrictor size could be very small which is causing the high pressure.
take the restrictor off the top of the turbo and check the size of it. it is probably just the fitting that the feed line is connected 2. just gauge it by seeing what size drill bit will fit through the hole. it should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/16" to 5/64" (diameter of a tooth pick) anything smaller i would do away with.

the oil pressure regulator is tough to change. it is inside the engine . so hopefully that isnt the culprit. it is a regulator though so i am thinking it should be adjustable???

80psi is quite a bit of oil pressure to be seeing @ and idle. mine sits about 25psi while idling. i wonder if your gauge maybe just out of whack.
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 10:51 PM
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Originally Posted by smitter113fd
gt35r is a ball bearing turbo is it not?
it would require less oil to lubricate the cartridge.
hence the restrictor size could be very small which is causing the high pressure.
take the restrictor off the top of the turbo and check the size of it. it is probably just the fitting that the feed line is connected 2. just gauge it by seeing what size drill bit will fit through the hole. it should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/16" to 5/64" (diameter of a tooth pick) anything smaller i would do away with.

the oil pressure regulator is tough to change. it is inside the engine . so hopefully that isnt the culprit. it is a regulator though so i am thinking it should be adjustable???

80psi is quite a bit of oil pressure to be seeing @ and idle. mine sits about 25psi while idling. i wonder if your gauge maybe just out of whack.

Let me guess you're running a stock oil gauge and regulator? I get it the same on my other FD. I don't think the gauge is off cause I had to change the oil filter 3 times due to the seals on the filter blowing off. I rebuilt the motor and install it so I'm not concern about changing the regulator.
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:06 PM
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The only thing that would explain this would be your gauge.
Take stock oil pressure regulators for example: they release the pressure from the system when it meets or exceeds it's rating. So, a 2nd gen N/A stock OPR is around 70 psi. Anywhere below that pressure, the oil pressure regulator stays closed.
Now, with that being said, there is no way that you should see anything near 80 psi at idle. Unless, of course, your idling around 3000 rpms or so because you have a peripheral port
Warmed up and at idle, you should be roughly between 30 - 40 psi. Anything noticibly higher than that means that the gauge is unreliable. Because there is really no way that your oil pump is making higher pressure than that idle idle.....it's not spinning fast enough. I assume that your using the stock oil pressure gauge? They frequently go bad after soo many years. They just start to give erratic and false readings. My 2nd gen stock gauge once told me that I was making 120 psi of oil pressure at idle!!
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:06 PM
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^^nope. racing beat regulator and an autometer oil pressure gauge. i do have the stock one as a reference though. i dont run to much stock these days

i hope your are using a stock op gauge?
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:11 PM
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:11 PM
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just re-read it and saw that you are using an aftermarket gauge. Is it a mechanical or electronic one? I'm curious because I've seen some $55 gauges give false readings when headlights and what not were being used. They were voltage sensitive. I just can't see how in the world you can possibly see that MUCH oil pressure at idle!! It's almost mechanically impossible with our oil pumps.
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:12 PM
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The regulator in the front cover might be stuck..
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:12 PM
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nm. autometer = mechanical op
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:16 PM
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OK, this is going no where. I know I got a really high oil pressure and it's not the gauge. This is reading of an aftermarket gauge and the oil filter seal pop off several times due to oil pressure being too high. Also the lines to the oil cooler is braided because it blewn the hose apart. I wanted to know if this kind of oil pressure good or do I need to replace it?
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:25 PM
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if its tearing out oil filter gaskets u definetly need to get it fixed. dont under any circumstances drive the car like it is.
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:26 PM
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Well then the answer is no. It is not normal. 1Revvin7 is probably right on. Either the "piston" in the front cover is stuck, or it was shimmed too much. Racing Beat gives you shims to use for the front regulator when they send you the adjustable/ high pressure kind. I assume that when the guy before you put it in, something went wrong when he took it apart and re-shimmed the front regulator. Either way, I would put my money on the regulator.
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:29 PM
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Have you ever seen the video from pineappleracing on how to increase oil pressure by "crushing" the stock regulator?

They do that and then "shim" the one in the front cover.

Somebody could have gotten carried away and crushed it too much....?
Have you visually inspected the regulator itself?
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:30 PM
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Originally Posted by smitter113fd
if its tearing out oil filter gaskets u definetly need to get it fixed. dont under any circumstances drive the car like it is.
Well, the previous owner doesn't think anything wrong with it that is why I want to know from others. He drove the car for over a year before the coolant seal gave out. Before changing the regulator I'm going to see what others have to said about it.
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:33 PM
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you can spin bearings easily that way.....
I don't consider that normal at all.
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:38 PM
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Wink

Originally Posted by jamespond24
Well, the previous owner doesn't think anything wrong with it that is why I want to know from others. He drove the car for over a year before the coolant seal gave out. Before changing the regulator I'm going to see what others have to said about it.
if nothing else "commom sense" should tell u somthing is wrong. blowing oil cooler lines & gaskets. hardly normal. 80 psi @ an idle. not normal at all.

p.s. sell me those defis
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Old Jan 18, 2008 | 11:46 PM
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Originally Posted by smitter113fd
if nothing else "commom sense" should tell u somthing is wrong. blowing oil cooler lines & gaskets. hardly normal. 80 psi @ an idle. not normal at all.

p.s. sell me those defis

lol buy the wheels
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Old Jan 19, 2008 | 12:07 AM
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James im running the same pressure that you are with no problems. Oil mods and regutator twin oil coolers all braided s/s lines and never blew a filter seal. Like you said 140 psi on start up and idle at 80 psi ive got almost 2000. miles no problems. You may need a diffrent type filter i use wix and have changed them 4 times. I also have have defi gauges. It also has a spring loaded bupass from what i was told!
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Old Jan 19, 2008 | 12:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Busted7
James im running the same pressure that you are with no problems. Oil mods and regutator twin oil coolers all braided s/s lines and never blew a filter seal. Like you said 140 psi on start up and idle at 80 psi ive got almost 2000. miles no problems. You may need a diffrent type filter i use wix and have changed them 4 times. I also have have defi gauges. It also has a spring loaded bupass from what i was told!

I got a fram filter in it and it look like it's holding up pretty good. I'm just worry I might blow the oil seal in the highway and get stranded. Thanks Charlie, I'll try the wix filter.
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Old Jan 19, 2008 | 12:29 AM
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I never have been a fan of fram after i looked inside and saw all the cardboard. Its funney we both are running the same pressure. They were right the oil pressure sould not have any effect on the oil pan. See ya james.
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Old Jan 19, 2008 | 12:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Busted7
I never have been a fan of fram after i looked inside and saw all the cardboard. Its funney we both are running the same pressure. They were right the oil pressure sould not have any effect on the oil pan. See ya james.
i wanted to blame on something else beside my silicone job on the oil pan. I guess I better run more silicone around the pan?

Thanks
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Old Nov 7, 2009 | 03:21 PM
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Found this thread.... went driving around today, mine is around 130psi while cruising. I'm running 20 50 oil
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Old Nov 12, 2009 | 07:47 PM
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^That is also extremely high, considering the thicker oil you are running.
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