I just hooked up an Autometer electrical oil pressure gauge, started the car, and it read close to 50psi!!! Is there something wrong with the guage? Isn't it supposed to be around 10-20psi at idle? I'm using Mobil1 15w50 right now... could that be why? The sender is also mounted on the firewall and connected to the stock sender location via s/s braided hose if that would made any difference. My idle is a little high at 1000rpm but I don't think that can account for close to 40psi of extra pressure. I can't think of any other reason why it would be so high... anyone have suggestions?

after the car was already warmed up? I know when first starting my car in the morning Oil Pressure is a lot higher. I believe it might have something to do with the oil not being warm yet so its a little bit thicker than when it actually heats up.

Originally posted by rr88
I just hooked up an Autometer electrical oil pressure gauge, started the car, and it read close to 50psi!!! Is there something wrong with the guage?
Wait till the oil heats up. It will drop to 10psi or even less at idle.

FWIW, my VE reads 80 psi at idle when cold and drops to 25 when sufficiently warmed. At speed I'm running 65psi or more. This is due to a larger oil pump on the VE.

yup just wait till it warms up.. mine also reads 50psi when i first fire it up.. after a few minutes it drops very low at idle, almost to the 0psi mark

What weight of oil are you guys using to get these pressures?

I'm using Mobil 1 15W-50 and get 2bars at idle, and 8bars (115 psi!!) near redline. Warming up pressure is 4 bars (58psi).

Engine is SR20DET (black top) in an S15 Silvia.

(Why 15W-50? Ambient temperatures are always in the 90s.)

I use Mobil 1 10w-30. At cold start up, my oil pressure is ~50psi. Once it is at normal operating temp, it drops to about 15psi.

im running 5w30 mobile 1 in mine