Borderline Low Oil Pressure, Normal?
 

Why is it that both of my SSEis have 20psi of oil pressure at 600-700RPM at HOT idle in drive and 25psi in neutral (800 or so RPM), yet have well over 40 at 1500 RPM cruising. I tested the car at 55ish PSI with a mechanical gauge about 2 months ago. but that was cold startup which it shows 60ish on the gauge at 600RPM.

I dont get it.

Who else has this low of oil pressure on their 92-99 SSEi?

According to the manual anything between the 1/4 and 3/4 tank is normal, however my 2000 SSEi never really got a 1/4 inch past the 40PSI mark at hot idle.

Here are the pics.

1998 SSEi

http://www.mfxers.com/bc/98ssei/oil1.jpg
http://www.mfxers.com/bc/98ssei/oil2.jpg
http://www.mfxers.com/bc/98ssei/oil3.jpg

I can only guess this is normal. :roll:

Keep in mind the marker NEVER drops below 40 unless the cars have been run hard and on a hot day (86* today) I'm close to switching to a slightly thicker oil for the summer since the motor never got hot in the winter, therefore oil pressure was nowhere near as low as it is now. I know the car is designed for 10w30 but I may just go one step thicker...

it does that on my se, i believe thats normal when the engine has been running for a while

Neither of mine run below 40 at any time. I'd certainly be keeping a very close eye on it.

My 93 sometimes goes down to about 30-35psi when idling hot. Lately it has been about 40psi and that is with outside temps in the mid 80's.

My '93 SSEi has NEVER dropped lower then 40, even when very hot.

could location (i.e. elevation) have anything to do with it?

No.

what kind of oil are you running in it right now?

Uh, mine used to ack just like that. It has worked it's way down to 10 at hot idle.

I was JUST about to post the same problem I am getting too with my 96. During winter when temps were low or on short drives, the oil pressure would stay around 40, and the lowest it would go at idle is 35. Now that warmer weather is here, if the engine is running longer than 10 minutes, at idle it will creep down to about 20. And I dont think we are the only two with the same problem.

This behavior has existed since we got our car last year. I was able to keep it higher with a 180 degree thermostat, but since the fans dont kick on till later the psi will start to drop as the temp reaches 200. I THINK I can keep it higher if I reprogram my PCM to lower fan settings, what do you think?