In a message dated 5/5/2006 7:42:56 AM Central Standard Time,
scottpaisley@smartneighborhood.net writes:
> I'm a guage weanie. I check my oil pressure, temp, charging system as
> part of my scan process while driving. It's a habit. It's an addiction
> is what it is. I see my oil pressure at start-up at 70 lbs and I say to
> myself, "Nice" Of course as the car warms up, I begin to ponder if
> something is wrong as that 70 turns into 50, and lower at idle. Hot is
> probably 20.813 lbs of pressure! I wonder if that fresh engine rebuild
> is really still fresh. I wonder if a different oil would hold up under
> more heat.
>
> Whatever... Dave is right on. Enough pressure is more than sufficient as
> it will lubricate the engine. In fact, the corrective actions would
> probably cost as much or more than if you just wait for the engine to
> seize. Now that's of course an exaggeration, but seriously, I wonder how
> accurate these gauges are, and what the REAL tollerances of oil pressure
> really is.
>
Here's an anecdote:
A friend of mine bought a used TR6. Kelly Green. At cold startup it would
show 70 PSI. When hot it showed 20 PSI at speed and at idle it read about
zero. Tom, being the engineering type decided to see how long it would run
like
this so he continued to drive it. After a couple of years like this he decided
to sell it. A year after selling it the new owner called. Tom thought that
he was in trouble for selling a lemon but, no, the guy just called to say how
much he enjoyed the car.
Good, healthy oil pressure is overrated, I think.
Dave
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