Oil pressure

[Muddytazz]

my stock style gauge reads
0 | | | 60

my gauge never goes above the first line(even when the dipstick reads FULL). When I drive down the road and come to a stop, the needle goes to 0 then climbs to the first line after going again. Any idears?

 

[55Willy]

I think the rule of thumb is 15-20 at idel and then 10 PSI for each 1K rpm above that. do you have another gauge to try? also mileage or oil consuption? and rattles? just seams low

 

[Muddytazz]

Its a mechanical oil pressure gauge and motor has an obscene amount of miles on it....stock 350 with close to 350,000 miles /forums/images/graemlins/yikes.gif

 

[NerdBoy]

I have found that mechanical guages are horribly inaccurate (and leaky). I just spent the $50 and got my self an Autometer electric one from Summit. My mechanical gauge was reading the same thing yours is, and the electronic gauge never drops below 10psi except when the engine isn't running. If you have the money, I highly reccomend getting yourself an electric.

 

[pauly383]

Mine is factory electric and goes 0 | 30 | 60 . For a long time it would just go past first line , not much more , after 3 years of regular oil changes it now reads , as of recently , 30 . So I think in my case it was previous owner cooked it ( I got new heads 3 years ago , rings were great ) . Yours may just be old age if its got that many miles on it , or pump is going out /forums/images/graemlins/k5.gif

 

[POWERMAD]

I would get a cheap mechanical gage and verify the pressure.
If it is still lookin pretty low, drop in a qt of Powerpunch and see if it helps.
If it stabilizes a bit and with 350K on the clock better start gettin ready for a rebuild.
For a quick fix you could roll in some main and rod bearings and replace the pump. That is if the compression in all of the cylinders warrant that.

 

[Grim-Reaper]

Mains are wore slap out. Double check with a second gage to be sure. When the thrust bearings eat it the pressure will drop like that.