Sorry I haven't really been on that much today

Ok Bill....I have a WIX filter on the car, I run Mobil 1 oil, and the oil was changed ooooh...2 1/2 weeks ago/1,200 miles ago. This is the 2nd oil change since I bought the car in August. The 1st time was in October, and after it got done, I noticed the gauge was slightly higher than it was before it was changed. This time when it was done in December, the gauge is even higher. I use the same kind of oil, and the same kind of filter every time.

Oh and there have been no funny noises either. And this gauge problem started yesterday.

YUP. This is why I first was attracted to the Bonnie. It has the six gauge cluster. I watched my oil pressure in the 96 SSE do the 120psi dance and took it to the dealer. Result? Changed the UIM before the engine seized. Other 3800 owners wouldn't see this so wouldn't be alerted to a possible issue. The oil pressure gauge IS useful.

My oil pressure gauge pegged today so they replaced the oil send unit and everything is all better.

Hey Billboost,

After replying to your questions, I left work and drove over to my mom's and while driving I noticed that my gauge was normal again

While Stopped.....40 as I said before which is normal for my car
https://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c...cture012-1.jpg

And 60 while driving....
https://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c...cture013-1.jpg

My new question is what can make it go up by 20 one day, and then the next be fine? There is clearly a difference from yesterday and earlier today to what is reads now. Can this be a possible major issue??

Les...the answer is in your pictures. Oil pressure is driven by rpm. The faster the rpm, the faster the oil pump is pumping. It's driven off the crank.

Your oil brand and filter are good. Do you know what viscosity oil you are using? I believe the 00's ask for 5W-30W.

Ok bill, I understand that but if you look at the 1st pictures where the pressure was just over 100psi, my RPM's were 1900, then if you look at the new picture with the oil pressure at 60psi, my RPM's were at 2100. So if the higher the RPM, the higher the PSI, then why was it higher when it was at 1900 than at 2100? And also I'm suddenly smelling a burning fluid smell, not sure what it is though. And I also noticed a bit of steam coming from my hood, I noticed it in my headlights.

Engine temperature plays a HUGE role in how high the oil pressure is too. The oil pressure is always much higher when the engine is cold than when it's fully warmed up. I wouldn't doubt that you'd see up to 30 PSI difference between when the engine is cold, and when it's warmed up.

EDIT: In your first picture where the pressure was the highest, your coolant wasn't even fully warmed up. The oil takes even longer to warm up than the coolant as well so that is most likely why your oil pressure was high in that picture.

Actually thats totally warm for my car, I had already been driving for 30 minutes when the 1st pictures were taken and also had been driving for 30 minutes when the 2nd pictures where taken.

Ok so the service engine soon light came on today, and in this pic, the car is warmed up all the way, the oil PSI is way higher than normal (for my car it sits at 40psi while stopped) and I am stopped. I'm taking the car in tomorrow so hopefully I'll know something tomorrow about whats going on. Also the car is running really crappy now.


https://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c...83/Picture.jpg

I'm willing to bet the check engine light is completely unrelated to the oil pressure.

IMO, your oil pressure is fine and you have nothing to worry about.