Oil pressure - woes?

[kevin h P15]

After reading the Mopar manual - it says that reduced oil pressure at idle is normal, provided that full pressure is achieved at road speeds.

At idle - warm I get only 15psi. At 50mph (3spd) and warm I achieve 40psi & real warm I achieve only 35psi. Cold 43psi. This car only gets occasional drives around town (10miles per trip). Running 10w-30.

Should I quit driving until engine work? What engine work is needed - cam bearings, mains, rods or ? Will using a 20w-50 extend life until rebuild.

thanks

kevin

[greg g]

35 to 40 while at cruising speed is OK for an engine with some experience. You might try switching to 10 40 or 20 50 but your pressures sound fine for a car that gets limited use.

[48mirage]

My opinion, which is worth what it costs. Go to a straight 30 oil and take another look. Multi-viscosity oil is actually the lower number, there are elastomers in the oil that give it the "characteristics" of the heavier oil when at operating temperature.

[Lou Earle]

My Taxi drips/burns- who know which about a quart of oil every 200 miles or less. The pressure is just below 40 when going 50-65- that's right 50 65.

I drive it well over 100 miles each week and at least 60 of them 55 , 60 or better. I have put about 3,000 miles on the supposedly shot engine. It was knocking when I got it- Remember Don,Ritchie, and Tim? Now no knock I can hear. It running just fine. At idle it is about 10 or 15. So keep some oil in the trunk and drive it!!!! A motor job is going to set u back about 1500 to 2 grand. For 2 grand you can buy One thousand one hundred and forty two quarts of oil at $1.75 If your burn or drip a quart every 150 miles you can go 171,300 miles for 2 grand. My Dad taught me that math in 1957 when I wanted a rebuild on my first 48 Plym.

"son, at .25 cents a quart you can buy one helluva lot of oil for the $400 it would cost to rebuild that engine."

[John Mulders]

Lou,

not a totally environmentally friendly solution though

John

[Lou Earle]

Probably not environmentally best. However I wonder how much environmental damage it does to produce 6 pistons, rings, asbestos gaskets.bearings etc. Bet it is a close race environmentally between the 2. Do you all remember the pampers diaper issue? Greenpeace did a study and found that it was environmentally less damaging to use pampers than regular cotton ones because of the phosphates washing would put in the water etc.

Do not get me wrong I am very pro endowment but I think it would be close on the impact deal. And no I am not going to put on a catalytic converter(500bucks) and Fuel injection (1500 bucks) to protect the environment on my cars. Are any of you all?

[Plymouthy Adams]

Rule of thumb is 10 lbs of pressure per 1000 rpm...idle is less than 1000...as long as you have pressure and it rises with the RPM..you should be ok.

Are your main bearing fluttering on start up? This is a sure sign you need new inserts...even with this I have seen engines run for years with fluttering mains as long as they were not dogged to death.

Oil comsumption can actually decrease as you don't have enough pressure to burn oil....lol (lighten up and laugh a bit)

[Norm's Coupe]

Probably not environmentally best. However I wonder how much environmental damage it does to produce 6 pistons, rings, asbestos gaskets.bearings etc. Bet it is a close race environmentally between the 2. Do you all remember the pampers diaper issue? Greenpeace did a study and found that it was environmentally less damaging to use pampers than regular cotton ones because of the phosphates washing would put in the water etc.

Do not get me wrong I am very pro endowment but I think it would be close on the impact deal. And no I am not going to put on a catalytic converter(500bucks) and Fuel injection (1500 bucks) to protect the environment on my cars. Are any of you all?

Interesting subject..........Lou, you really can't compare diapers to engines. You should really compare Horses to Horses. Our engines are rated at about 95 "Horse Power". So......If you take 95 horses down the street, which makes more of an environmental impact? The car or the live horses?

Myself, I would rather see the oil burning 95 HP engine. At least that doesn't draw flies (disease carriers), and engine fumes smell better. Not to mention that if I cross the street afterward I will be safer. If you cross the street after the 95 horses go down it, you might cut your foot. If you cross the street after our 95 HP car, you won't cut your foot. Not to mention the methane gas the horses put out.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I believe I read that Mt. Saint Helen's eruption caused more eco damage in form of pollutants in one day than we as an industralized nation have produced over the course of history..

Now what is greenpeace doing to prevent volacanic eruptions...

On the pampers issue...I don't see plastic as a bio-de-garbagable item...and I would much rather step in an oil puddle than seeing one of these nasty fly drawing items that people leave in parking lots...matter of fact I hate all litter..the biggest litter producers today are the open top garbage truck that use the mechanical arm can grabber...roadside litter is a weekly ordeal along the main road to the landfill since they went to these contraptions that have put people out of work. Out of work people...how many use the self checkouts..you putting people out of work...refuse to use them..they go away and maybe some young mother of three can get a job...

I am off the soap box..I NEED some more coffee.........

[Young Ed]

I agree Tim I avoid the self ones too. Far as I'm concerned if I have to work there and ring myself up I should get a discount. After all they are saving money on less cashiers.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I am not sure if they are saving money..I was told that this is the new rave in theft from the store...this is costing more including cost of install of these machines, paid monitor who cannot view everyone at once and loss of product yeilding a higher operation/loss cost to be passed on to the honest paying customer, not to mention the slap in the face of the efficeint low paid cashier. I had one cashier tell me that it would be faster if I used the self check out..and I told her if everyone did she would not have a job..two seconds later it hit her, she said thanks as she did need the job and never once put the two together.