oil problem I think.

[zwrangler]

hi everybody,
my oil display (i think its oil pressure) stays up in my car at almost the max mark of around 550. Is this normal or should i have a different oil in it?? I'm just worried coz its really high and i'm not sure if this is doing harm to the engine or not. Thanks in advance for all the help.

[zwrangler]

wow this is a first. its never taken this long for anyone to answer a question for me on this forum. Anyone have any ideas at all?? anyone...

[Joe 1320]

Overly high oil pressure is not good. First you might test the actual oil pressure with another gauge. I don't trust factory gauges. If the pressure is high, there could be a few reasons. Improper oil viscosity for one. Don't need straight 50 weight, 5-30 is recommended. There could be restrictions in the oil passages too. 55 psi is not overly high. I am assuming that 550 was a typo. At what rpm are you taking a reading?

[Jeff_in_Atl]

"wow this is a first. its never taken this long for anyone to answer a question for me on this forum. Anyone have any ideas at all?? anyone... "

Hey man I just woke up! ZZZZZzzzzzz

What Joe said but add what temperture is the engine when the reading is what. That sounds funny. I'm still asleep.

[zwrangler]

no 550 wasn't a typo. I'm referring to the factory display in the camaro next to the speedometer where theres this needle for (I think) oil pressure or maybe oil temperature, I really don't know. but yeah 550psi of oil pressure would be ridiculous.

okay, just looked at it in the car. its the display between the rpms and the battery meter. Its got a picture of an oil can so its gotta be something to do with oil. God, i know i sound like a f*cking newb and i am in many ways, but i really don't know what this display is for. MY car unfortunately didn't come with a manual and I can't find one here coz I live in the middle East so I don't have resources here to find an old camaro manual. anyway, its always at almost the max of 550. before i had the oil changed it used to stay at around the half way mark, so thats why i'm surprised why its so high now.

My car is a 93 z28 by the way, don't know if that makes any difference.

[zwrangler]

oh, its very hot here, obviously being the middle east and all the weather is gonig from winter and its getting really hot now. Could this possibly have anything to do with it?? thanks guys.

[Christopherrr]

550 huh...

I don't have a oil temp gauge...

Max oil pressure is 55 psi, water temp is 280, voltage is 18...so, honestly dude...we don't know what that gauge is for broh.

Does it progressively get higher until it hits max or does it hit as soon as you start the car???

Any signs or icons around the guage??? Take some pictures if you can...

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Sounds like it might be metric. I don't know the conversion to Imperial.

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

If you don't have a manual for your car, check out the link on this page. You'll need acrobat to display it.

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech1.html

[zwrangler]

okay i found a picture of what i mean, heres the link:



gauges

see the one between the tacho and the battery voltage. Only in all the photos on the net they seem to have a maximum of 80 like this one. My one is stock and has a maximum of 550 at the top where the 80 is here. see why i'm confused as to what this is

hope this helps explain it better.

[TraceZ]

Are all your guages metric?

If it is maxing out, I'd bet the sender is shot.

Can you snap a shot of your actual dash cluster and post it? It would be interesting to see.

It is not uncommon for the senders to get gooked up inside and die.

[zwrangler]

Originally posted by TraceZ
Are all your guages metric?

If it is maxing out, I'd bet the sender is shot.

Can you snap a shot of your actual dash cluster and post it? It would be interesting to see.

It is not uncommon for the senders to get gooked up inside and die.

damn, this question is getting more complex with every reply OKay i'll try and get a pic by tomorrow. Its not maxing out, it just floats around the top as soon as the car starts.

oh and as for the question as to are all my gauges in metric. yeah I think so coz my battery voltage goes up to 120 which is higher than that in the picture too.

why is my car so weird to understand I'll have the pics by tomorrow hopefully anyway. thanks for everything everybody.

[TraceZ]

Originally posted by zwrangler
damn, this question is getting more complex with every reply OKay i'll try and get a pic by tomorrow. Its not maxing out, it just floats around the top as soon as the car starts.

oh and as for the question as to are all my gauges in metric. yeah I think so coz my battery voltage goes up to 120 which is higher than that in the picture too.

why is my car so weird to understand I'll have the pics by tomorrow hopefully anyway. thanks for everything everybody.

I didnt realize there was a different metric measurement for volts?
very strange.

Assuming the guage IS working properly, because you say it is "floating around the top" but not maxed out.
If they put in a higher viscosity oil, like 50 weight the pressure reading will be higher. As long as it is within the acceptable measurement of the guage you should be ok. I'd have the proper oil put in soon, though because the thicker oil will not flow as well. Is the reading different when it is hot vs cold?

I'd change the oil with 5W30, then if that didn't work I'd change the sender unit, then if it was still a problem I'd get a mechanical guage and see what that read. I really doubt it will still be a problem at that point. Assuming the pressure registers normal on the mechanical guage, I'd then replace the dash cluster.

If the pressure is indeed that high with the proper oil in the system you may have a problem. Like I said earlier, I really doubt that it is.

[fastTa]

I think his oil pressure gauge displays kilopascal units, and I'm not sure which units are displayed as the measurement of voltage. I think his might be meausuring frequency.

But I think I would get the oil changed just to make sure you have the proper oil. Maintaining high oil pressure can be hard on the oil pump.