Hey guys,

Have a question for you all about my oil pressure gauge... A couple of weekends ago I got under my car and changed the oil and oil filter. Everything went normal. I drained out the old oil and put in some 10W30 Semi Synthetic. Normally I just put in regular Quaker State but I thought I would try semi-syn this time around as I have once in the past put in full synthetic and the car ran really well. Anyways... car drives fine. Even drove it down the the States on the weekend and there were no issues. Yesterday however I did notice that my oil pressure gauge was reading pretty high. it was at the 3/4 mark around 500 kPa. When I got home I checked the oil level. Everything is fine. This morning immediately upon starting the car, I kept an eye on the oil pressure gauge... the gauge swept from left to right and then left again and then moved towards the right at around 830 kPa. I backed the car out and got out to look at the garage floor to see if there was any oil drippage. I figure that IF the pressure is infact that high, there should be some oil leaking out from where the oil filter meets the engine. There was not even one drop of oil on the ground thankfully. I drove the car to work with absolutely no problem. Car is running like it always has but the oil pressure needle stayed at 830 kPa, which is basically max.

I've been reading around on the forum before posting and there seem to be a lot of oil pressure sending unit problems inherent with this problem. Am I basically facing the same issue with my car as well? Prior to my oil/filter change the oil pressure would read around 250 kPa (middle of the gauge) which I assume is where the level should be yes?

Any advice? Thank you in advance again guys!

Check the plug on the sender unit. Unplug it, clean it and put it back. See if that helps. If not, the sender unit my have died.

Hey Dan thank you for the speedy reply. I reckon I have to crawl under the car and take off the filter and then remove then I'll be able to check the plug on the sender unit yes? Is there a diagram posted anywhere on the exact location or it should be pretty easy to spot I assume..

Oh and the car should still be safe to drive yes? I've not had any issues with it. Infact the car is driving really great ever since I changed the oil and put on a new set of Michelins this weekend

No need to remove the filter. The sender is behind and above the filter. You will have no problem seeing it.

No, there should be no problem driving. If the pressure was really that high, you would know.

Thank you again for the advice and QUICK reply Dan. You're awesome man!

Same thing happened to my 03 SSEI,,,,it was the sending unit as well.

Hi!, great car have never had issues. Low km. I’ve never had this issue. Steam or smoke? Coming from under the hood. Luckily close to home.. a few blocks. My husband was driving it. He checked saw it needed coolant so I went and bought the proper one, according to the manual. Also added oil because next month is oil change month but it needed a bit.
No idea why it would steam or smoke? Since adding it doesn’t steam or smoke just starts but dies- stalls. We know nothing about cars. Likely a dumb question but Is it possible he added too much coolant!? Ty in advance.. 🤦‍♀️