I'm having a problem with the oil pressure guage in my 95 ssei . It fluctuates from normal to high sometimes right off the scale. I checked the ground wire but it was ok and I also changed the oil pressure sending switch. I worried that the high oil pressure might damage the engine. :?:

huh, i've never heard of such a problem before. :? Good luck

Higher oil pressure usually means good seals doesn't it? However, if its not the sending unit, and its not the oil filter, then I'm not sure. Is there a sensor that reads oil pressure? Maybe that has gone bad.

The oil pressure gage in my car goes up to 550 kPa, when the engine is cold it goes as high as 350-400 kPa and settles to about 250 kPa.

If you are topping out at 550 kPa +, I'd get it looked at, unless someone here knows what to do

I believe there is a way to manually check the oil pressure with a gauge.

Also, sometimes the instrument panels have electrical problems which cause the gauges to become flaky

Im having the same issue byt the sounds of it. Does yours go as high as it can when on the highway at times, and then while your at a stop light drop into the danger zone?
I have been told its my engine oil pressure switch that is needing replacing.
Part costs me here $32.91 Canadian. And I took that nice guy up on his offer to help me out, so my labour only costs 20 bucks an hour compared to 74 an hour.
Dont quote me that this is the problem. Just giving you what is happening here so you can compare.
Good luck and update us!

By the way, my oil pressure in the car goes up ALL the way baby.....
Its going in tomorrow to get looked at, I saw it and not knowing what could happen thought it was gonna blow...giggle. Maybe the less I know the better?????
Not likely!

Do yourself a favor and don't try to guess your way out of this.

Check your pressure by substituting your stock oil pressure sending unit with a known-good mechanical or digintal oil pressure gauge. I'll bet you find that all is ok..........except your instrument cluster voltage regulating IC. Been there, done that.

My '93 SSEi does a similar thing. Usually when the engine is cold the gage reads high and wanders. But when the engine warms up it always stops wandering and reads normal values just like on my '92 SSE */c. My gage never reads low, though, when it'* acting up...it wanders around on the high (right) side.

I checking the service manual it said the oil pressue is regulated by a valve and
spring located in the oil filter adapter. Maybe if the valve is sticking or the spring
is defective it would cause the pressure to vary. I called the dealer and the cost was minimal at $9.00 for the valve and $1.25 for the spring. I guess I should first check the pressure with a seperate gauge to rule out the one in the dash.

If it can be seperated that easily then it sounds like a good cleaning might fix it

I'm goin' by my Buick knowlege here, but that spring and valve are a bypass in case the oil filter gets clogged (dirty oil is better than no oil :( ).