K series oil pressure

[p.mole1]

I seem to have quite high oil pressure it is 80psi cold and 70psi hot. Even on a track day when the oil reaches 100 degrees it is still over 60psi I am using a stack capillary gauge so I don't think it is the gauge. 

I am using Comma Motorsport 5w/50 oil but I think I may be better off using a 5w/40 oil to reduce the pressure. What sort of oil pressure is considered normal for these engines? I would of thought 40 to 50 psi hot. Apart from flowing the oil pump ports and an Apollo tank the oil system is standard.

[SM25T]

Does the stack system use the poor quality and short lived Caerbont electric sender ?

[SM25T]

What pressure hot and idling ?

[StevehS3]

I haven't got an oil temperature gauge on the 7 but 100 deg. C doesn't sound overly hot. My tin top runs at 100 during normal driving.

[timb2117]

70 - 80 psi hot at revs, drops to 20 at tickover, '05 K series 1800cc running new VDO sender and new vdo gauge and 5/50 mobil 1. Not sure on oil temp but engine runs 80/82 deg all day long. Mechanic locally who does rover stuff only says thats well within tolerances and A1.

[p.mole1]

Thanks I'm using a capillary gauge,so no sender and it runs at 40psi tick over at 100 degrees oil temperature. When I'm using it on the road the oil never gets above 80 degrees. I might 10w/40 next as that is what Rover used to recommend 

[john milner]

duplicate post

[john milner]

I doubt that 10w40 would make a huge difference to pressure but as it is a bit thicker than 5w I would expect marginally less oil to flow past any point in a given time period.

The official Rover produced MGTF Workshop Manual says:

"Use oil meeting specification ACEA A2 or A3 and having a viscosity band recommended for the temperature range of your locality (e.g.(10W40)". It then goes on to say that API SH or SJ quality should be used although personally I think that a modern oil is likely to be SM, SN or SP.

Following that is a chart showing a variety of oils and their temperature ranges. 10w40 is stated as -20C to over 40C. 5w50 has the widest range of all from sub -30C to over 40C.

There is some debate over what is best for a VVC engine and revila did an excellent post showing the value of using 10w40 in a VVC engine but as that has an hydraulic feature on two of the inlet valves it cannot be easily compared to a regular engine.

My capillary gauge has the Bar scale and spends most of it's life between 4 & 6 on the road.

[Roger Ford]

10w40 is thicker at low temperatures, so you'll need to more careful warming up. If you're already gentle, that's OK. IIRC correctly Caterham recommended 5w so that it was ready to go from cold.

I always used 5W50 for racing. I did try 5w40 when Halfords had their synthetic on offer at £10 for 4 litres but the oil pressure seemed to get a little low in corners.  I can't really imagine that your engine is significantly different in terms of requirements, it seems more likely that the gauge is reading high, but I'm not an expert.

[p.mole1]

Thanks, I'm very careful warming the engine up, It always takes a while  as I have an 82 degree thermostat and an Apollo tank so there is quite a bit of oil. I might lag the Apollo tank to shorten the warm up time. 

[p.mole1]

Thanks, I'm very careful warming the engine up, It always takes a while  as I have an 82 degree thermostat and an Apollo tank so there is quite a bit of oil. I might lag the Apollo tank to shorten the warm up time. 

[eric]

6 BAR  with Motul 300v  15 w 50

[eric]

6 BAR  with Motul 300v  15 w 50

[eric]

6 BAR  with Motul 300v  15 w 50

[eric]

6 BAR  with Motul 300v  15 w 50

[eric]

6 BAR  with Motul 300v  15 w 50

[garybee]

It's important to confirm your test results.

[Toby S]

Mechanical oil pressure gauge on a 92 1400 supersport

65 PSI on start up - whilst warming up, might blip to 70

20 PSI once warm on tick over

Normal drinking anywhere between 40-65 depending on revs

Oil Comma 5w-50

[p.mole1]

Thanks, It seems I shouldn't be concerned. I did Anglesey and it dropped to around 65psi at around 90 to 100 degrees and 45psi tick over.

[revilla]

One thing to be aware of, even some of the regularly-used mechanical gauges can be quite a long way out in reading. I was slightly concerned about my oil pressure, although it has read the same across three different engines (!) so I calibrated it against a decent gauge in the garage. It was reading 7Psi (nearly 0.5 bar) low. I think it's more important to get to know what's "normal" for your car and then monitor for changes.