Oil Pressure Question

I have a 94 Grand Am 3.1 V6. Lately I have noticed that the oil pressure gauge seems to jump about, whereas before it seemed to be pretty stable. The gauge goes from 0-550. Usually the car will stay around 275 which is right on the mid point. When I come to a stop it will usually drop down a bit maybe just a bit above the 1/4 mark on the gauge. Then it will climb up again once i start moving. Lately I have noticed that sometimes it will drop down close to 1/4 even if I am travelling at notmal highway speeds. There are no oil leaks anywhere that I can see, and the dipstick indicates that it is not losing any oil.

I was just wondering if this is a reason to be concerned ? What are the normal approximate running values for oil pressure ? Could this be a sign of a serious problem, or something more simple like the oil pressure switch being faulty? The car runs fine. The only other problem I think I might have is a small exhaust manifold leak, but I'm not sure if the

2 are related. Any feedback is welcome.

Regards, KDawg

Reply to
KDawg
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I agree with this. It's probably the result of the engine wearing and having larger clearances. Normal wear and tear. If it downshifts and the revs come up it should increase to the relief setting (which, as you say, was about midway on the gage). If it doesn't do that then it's probably not normal wear.

Reply to
Joe

It could also be that you simply need to change the oil also.

Reply to
clevere

Try running 10W30 oil or sligtly thicker oil. Thicker will improve oil viscosity engine operating temperature thus improving oil pressure. If you are concern about winter starting, 10W30 should not be a problem. However, you can always mix 5w30 to 10w30.

Reply to
Paul

My gauge reads 0 20 40 60 80. Driving its around 60-65. At idle it sits around 40.

========= Harryface =========

1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE ~_~_~273,437 miles_~_~_
Reply to
Harry Face

Mine started doing this right before I had to changed the intake manifold gaskets. There was alot of coolant that had leaked into the engine and contamidated the oil. Was scary watching the oil gauge almost go to zero sometimes.

Reply to
kato

Mine seems to have stabilized. It never got down below the 1/4 mark on the gauge, but I know what you mean about scary. My last grand am (quad 4) was sluggish with low oil pressure one day, and it died. Major damage to the engine or something, I don't remeber. But this is why I am paranoid when I see gauges doing funky things.

Reply to
KDawg

Reply to
Paul

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