Today, after my 45 mile trip to work, I saw ~18 psi at idle.

I need to sneak this one in because im a bit concerned with the oil gauge behavior on my new SSEi.

The behavior is consistent at with my 93, at cold it is at 40 psi or above and stays there when i drive, and at idle it drops a bit. But after the engine gets warm and I drive around for at least 20 mins, its right at 40 psi while driving but at idle it drops down to 20. After 10 mins of driving it may get down to 35 but as the drive progresses it goes to 20.

I do not observe this kind of behavior in my 93, where it just drops a little bit below 40 and thats it. Because of that im freakin' out a bit, do I have a similar problem?

Sounds like you are a little better off than I am, so far.

If you're saying it drops to 20 psi while driving it and not at idle, that'* very worrisome. It sounds like you have the same problem as the author of this thread had.


If it'* at 20 psi while driving, you'd better park it until you find out why.

No, it drops to 20 when idle. While driving it goes back up to 40.

Glad to hear it!

You're probably just getting into main and rod bearing wear, then.

But certainly dont jump to conclussions... I had a similar problem, I simply replaced what was a new oil pressure sending unit.

As recommended earlier; please use a mechanical gauge to find your true oil pressure. You may need a new sensor, or as Bob Dillon said, main and rod bearing wear is taking its toll.

-IKZ

Similar to mine, but mine gets a little lower at idle.

Being the third week for the thread. Anyone with low reading pressure get a mechanical gauge check on there yet? I'm interested to see if the sender/gauge are presenting the wrong information.

Your info gave me a BIG sigh of relief! I thought I had bought a lemon. A little wear and tear I can live with, as long as it wont break down in the next 2 years.

I need to document one more bit of odd behavior, after the trip and I put her into park, the oil pressure creeps back up a bit. But only until I shift into drive again. Is that because there is no longer strain on the engine?

I will get a mechanical gauge hooked on there sometime in this coming week. I think my gauges act funny. Rather than being updated constantly my coolant and oil gauges only seem to update every 2 seconds. Very not unlike my 93 indeed.