Oil Pressure

[GravY]

I've been trying to pin-point and answer to this and end up seeing so many different numbers it makes me dizzy lol..

My car (73 Vert) runs about 45-50psi @ Idle (in gear) and around 75psi @70mph and pretty much holds there at higher speeds..

Is this in the safe zone or on the High side?

 

[Silverback]

It's on the high side. But also not that uncommon for something that has had a performance build at some point. If it was me I'd probably be running lighter oil in it.

 

[GravY]

on the topic of oil I see a ton of different info on that also.. what oil are you using.. I've seen many mentions for Mobile 1 15w-50.

 

[72HCODE]

thicker oil means higher oil PSI. switch to 10w or 5w and it should lower the oil gauge psi reading.

i use 10W-30

 

[matrixx]

Well never thought high oil pressure was bad ( I know it can if extreme) lol. It really depends where you live as well. Generally a 10w30 would be ideal for majority of our cars. Unless your planning on being a trans am race car.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Personally, I consider that ideal- especially if you are using an electric sending unit, which is like the Pirate Code-that is to say more of a general guideline

 

[Silverback]

High pressure can break parts, force oil past seals and wastes power. Otherwise its better than low oil pressure. Modern 5 or 10 w 30 would be fine in most of our cars.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

His pressure never exceeds 75PSI on the high side That is not excessive. On the idle side it is higher than normal, but again 45-50 PSI and assume a fairly wide margin of error, he might have 30 PSI at idle which no one would consider excessive in our cars.

Here is a hint-If you ever want higher oil pressure, (at the gauge only) move the sending unit to the galley plug located above the oil filter on a 351 C and you will increase your pressure readings greatly (but the real conditions are unaltered)

 

[GravY]

The Oil gauge is an Auto Meter Sport-Comp mechanical.

I changed the oil to Mobile 1 5w-30 and saw little change in the oil pressure.. Idle was a tad lower @ 40psi but it would still hold around 75psi out on the road..

 

[droptop73]

I wouldn't worry about it, sounds good to me.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

HE MUST BE RIGHT, HIS CAR IS YELLOW TOO!

 

[GravY]

lol ok the yellow cars speak.. I will not worry about it any longer

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

[droptop73]

HE MUST BE RIGHT, HIS CAR IS YELLOW TOO!

AND another Jeff! That's all you need!