Is it ok for the oil pressure to sit at 90(ish)psi when engine is cold?

Yes,

Should sit high up near maximum for 1st few minutes, dropping away to about 1/4 way up when warm, increasing a bit when accelerating.

 

Paul

Mine sits just over the 60 until it reaches temperature and then wanders about all over the place. The stock guage is notoriously poor so I wouldn't worry too much!

 

I've got 15/40 fully synth in and the system was pretty well flushed when the HG was changed I would think. It's still a good colour after 2k miles - that's something to watch as well as level on dipstick.

 

I remember when the A-pillar guage was working it would show 60 on cold and then 20-40 driving. Must fix that one day...

 

High oil pressure whilst cold is one reason not to boot it until it's good and warm. (Very frustrating when the first car you see coming out of the cul-de-sac is an SLK that disappears into the distance, but that's life...)

Originally posted by zevans

Mine sits just over the 60 until it reaches temperature and then wanders about all over the place. The stock guage is notoriously poor so I wouldn't worry too much!

 

I've got 15/40 fully synth in and the system was pretty well flushed when the HG was changed I would think. It's still a good colour after 2k miles - that's something to watch as well as level on dipstick.

 

I remember when the A-pillar guage was working it would show 60 on cold and then 20-40 driving. Must fix that one day...

 

High oil pressure whilst cold is one reason not to boot it until it's good and warm. (Very frustrating when the first car you see coming out of the cul-de-sac is an SLK that disappears into the distance, but that's life...)

 

But the SLK will be pissing oil all over the place before long. ;)

 

I dont think the oil pressure should go below 30psi. 20 Seems quite low. It does tell you what the pressure should be when warm. I think it is between 60 and 72psi when reving at 2000rpm.

 

stuart

I presume your talking about an after market guage.

 

Geoff.

Originally posted by tanzx

I presume your talking about an after market guage.

 

Geoff.

 

I dont get what you mean. 30psi of oil pressure is 30psi on any gauge. If it isnt showing the correct pressure you cant trust the readings at all.

My engine is sweet as a nut , neva misses a beat,

but sometimes when hot the oil pressure reads zero or slightly under !! The gauge is total crap lol.

Dunno why they even bother fitting them.:D

That is the sender. But its £80 for a new one :mad:

yeah, just been out for a blat, oil pressure when warm got to 5-10psi at stading up to 25 psi (all on the stock gauge) when doing about 80 in 3rd.

 

10 mins later its reading 30psi at standing and about 60psi at 50mph in 3rd.

:confused:

sender is fecked. Dont trust it. Unless you are pouring oil everywhere dont worry about it.

So what counts as 'booting it' when cold? How long before the engine gets to running temperature? Just a couple of minutes driving? Would you have to batter it day in day out for it to knacker things?

 

I am in general fairly gentle with the car, but might be guilty of going for it a bit as soon as I get to the first stretch of straight road, and getting up to sixty fairly quick. Does 'booting it' from cold mean revving it to pieces and going flat out? How gentle should you drive until the engine is warm?

I wait until the temp gauge reaches normal (just below middle) and oil pressure reaches 30-60 (normal range) and then will I give the Z some stick.........

 

The oil pressure gets to 30-60 quicker than temp gauge reaches middle'ish, I would rahter wait until they both get to normal running temprature until I boot it anywhere otherwise there is no telling what damage you 'might' cause.

 

Matty.

I usually let the car idle for a few minutes before I drive off, is this long enough to count as warming up? I read somewhere that modern cars only needed a couple of minutes to get up to opperating temperature, and that letting them idle for ages on a cold day didn't do them any good. Now I'm getting paranoid I go for it too quickly. I don't think my style of driving really could be described as 'booting it' so i think maybe I'm worrying about nothing.

Idleing damages the car? Not heard that before......

 

Modern cars maybe only take a few minutes to warm up (not sure on that one either TBH) but the Z isn't modern as such it's 12-9 years old depending on what year yours is* (*Thankyou captain obvious!!)

 

I wait for it to warm up, idleing until oil pressure reaches 30-60, revs drop to about 850-1000 (if heater on this is slightly higher!) and then I will drive off but I won't boot it until the temp gauge is at middle position and then the oil gauge usually reads about 30, then I feel free to 'boot it' (means lead foot, foot to floor, redline!) and then after a run of any kind I idle again for a couple of minutes (if booted I let it idle longer) usually while I am putting on steering lock, hiding ICE ;) which lets turbo's cool (and dispurse oil) before switching off.........

 

I like to think I'm doing all the right things, maybe I'm not but I feel better about letting it warm up and cool down correctly.

 

Just my 2p worth.

 

Matty.

Originally posted by Rich

So what counts as 'booting it' when cold?

 

Who knows?

:rofl:

 

My entirely made-up method is to idle for about a minute, and then I stay on negative boost and don't rev past about 3-3.5k until oil pressure has dropped and the ECU has decided the car is warm (ie aircon comes on properly and temp needle is just below middle). It's just that if oil pressure is high and seals are cold it'll wear them out quicker, presumably including piston rings and tubs!

 

By the way, if you've no boost controller the car will stay in safety boost until it's warm anyway.

 

Another good reason is that shocks and pads/discs are also coldwhen you set out, so if you start chucking it about you might find yourself going over stop lines and skipping round corners. In fact now it's icy I warm the brakes up on purpose, F1-stylee.

Originally posted by Matty

Idleing damages the car? Not heard that before......

 

I meant idling for any longer didn't really have any benificial effect, rather than damages them. I don't know- I just get all paranoid that I'm doing something detrimental to the car. But I think I drive it pretty 'safe', and do usually take notice of the oil guage, even if people say they don't tend to be particularly acurate.

 

I certainly don't 'boot it from cold', although of course, yesterday it did take a while to get warm and was a little uneven as it was so cold until it had warmed up- and I could tell easier when that was.

I let this thing warm up before I go over 2.5k, no boost until engine is warm (midway on temp gauge). IF your doing a short trip though and technically dont go into boost - do you still need to run it for a minute or two to let turbos cool down. The whole cooling down thing worries me coz im not sure whether to run car for 1 or 3 minutes after a drive. As is I sit in it now while me other half goes in for a cuppa. I do NOT wanna kill these turbos as there's no smoke from em and they seem mint.

It depends on how you drive and where you have been to work out the time needed to cool the turbos. If I have just come off a motorway onto a service station I will sit in the car for 2-3 mins while it is idleing. The engine has just been working hard and the turbos spooling up often so they will be hot.

 

However if I am pulling up to my house, I would have had 5-10 mins of driving slow, where the oil would be cooler already than when I was driving on the motorway. So when parking at home, I just leave the engine idleing while I put the steering lock on, take the radio out and do what ever needs doing before I get out.

 

Stuart

I heard the same Rich, that starting from cold and just letting it sit idleing does more harm than driving straight away, obviously not booting it till warmed up tho.

Something to do with condensation in the upper cylinders and the engine taking longer to warm up?

Yep I heard the same here, warming and engine up that's not under load is a no no. So would be booting it. I guess Mundeo type drivin' would be a good start until the gauge lifts off the stop (or makes 1/4 travel) - then it's playtime. Last couple of miles or so to let the turbos cool down.

 

It made my old S13 a happy car, I had it from new and never broke a thing. Mind you cubic inches is what you need to go really fast...