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High Oil Pressure.. how much pressure is too much?

OK here we go. i'm driving to town today and i look down and the oil pressure gauge is way up over 40 KPi. i drive a little farther and it drops to 20 then jumps back up to 40 then returns to a normal (for the truck) 30. I make it to town down shift to D from o/d and it jumps back to 40. it seams to stay at 40 ( the max on the guage) when the rpm are a high or about the shift point. on the highway in o/d it moves from 20-40 and does a lot of jittering in between.sometimes it just stays on high. Sitting at idle it usually returnes to a normal

20KPI

we have had a lot of snow and there may have been some in the engine compartment when i started it up. restarted it a couple times with no change.

truck is 1989 1500 silverado 305 auto tranny so my questions are: Whats wrong with my oil pressure could it be a faulty sensor where is the sensor how much oil pressure is too much. is it still ok to drive with the pressure guage jumping like that?

Reply to
BIGSteve
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I had a similar experience with my 94 K1500. It ended up being low on oil. The fluxuations could be the oil sloshing in the pan and the pickup tube intermitently being in/out of the oil. Your post didn't mention if you checked the oil or not. Let us know if it is low. Also, I had a major leak in my oil filter housing that sends the oil up front to the oil cooler. I took that apart and replace the seals/gaskets with a kit. No more leak and my presure stays pretty steady. At idle, it goes about 20PSI and at highway speeds about 40PSI. Not sure if this is the norm, but I have no problems with overheating. Hope this helps. Andy

Reply to
AndyW

Sender... Go to the auto parts store and get a new sender. It will look like a washer fluid pump (long black plastic tube about 7.5 cm long by 2.6 cm dia). It is screwed into an adapter that is screwed into the top of the block just to the drivers' side of the distributor (with 3 wires coming out of a single plug) but there is a catch. The adapter is brass and will break easy if you don't put a wrench on it (to keep it from bending to the side) while you wrench off the sender (been there done that). The sender is less then $25 USD and will take you about half hour to replace also be careful when you unplug the wires there is a silicon gasket to make the connection water tight, the gasket can fall out and disappear. I doubt you have an oil pressure problem but yes it is ok to drive it like that but you should change it next time the weather is tolerable.

mark

Reply to
r_d

k i checked the oil and its at a normal level. about the sender i have been told it is 2 places: by the distributer and by the oil filter. which one is it. i have a guage not a light. Thanks

Reply to
BIGSteve

The sender should be next to the bottom of the distributor. Just climb up and take a look. The sender looks like a plastic black tube screwed into a metal adapter that turns at a right angle or take a look at the oil cooler adapter. The adapter is made out of aluminum and is mounted between the oil filter and the engine block. The sender will look the same and will be screwed into one of the pressure inspection ports on the side of the adapter. My bet would be on the top of the engine. In the last 14 years I have replaced the one in my 'burban a half dozen times and it had the same symptoms you mentioned each time.

mark

Reply to
r_d

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