ok so my cars oil pressure is high when it starts then when i gas it it gets higher an stays that way till i let off the gas. what can cause this and what can be done to fix this. pls help me!!

 

What pressure reading are you getting? You need to get the readings from a hand held mechanical gage. If you are going by the dash gage it is most likely a problem with the gage not the engine. The dash gages system where very inaccurate and prone to failure when they where new. They don't get better with age.

High oil pressure can be caused by a sticking pressure regulator valve in the oil pump or a spun bearing. A sticking regulator is very rare and spun bearing almost alway makes a fair amount of noise.

 

^^^ what Gorn said. What does it do when the engine is warm? A engine with some miles on it will usually show a 15 to 20 psi difference in oil pressure at start up and at normal operating temp. My suburban show around 60 psi at cold startup that goes up to almost 80 for a couple miles then settles back down around 60. I am running full synthetic 5W 30 oil in it.

 

My dash gauge is working great and I show about 60lbs normal running with a 3.8L

When I spun the bearing my oil pressure went up to 100+ for a few miles then dropped back to normal. Unfortunatly when it went back to normal the rod was knocking, my engine was toast.

Massey

 

What you've told us doesn't indicate a definite problem.

Oil pressure is a function of many variables but two of the most important are:
1) oil temperature
2) engine speed

When the engine and oil are cold, the oil is thick and the indicated pressure will be fairly high (60-80 psi). It shouldn't go any higher than that because a relief valve in the pump opens to dump oil back to the pan. As the engine warms up the oil thins out and pressure drops, most noticeably at idle. When you increase engine speed the pressure will go up until the relief valve opens again.

When I was doing contract work for Ford in the mid-90s I was surprised to see an oil pressure switch used on vehicles with the so-called gauges cluster. I thought it was a mistake but it wasn't. Ford had so many people bringing their vehicles in for service to fix the oil pressure "problem" (it goes up and down!) that they replaced the pressure sender with a switch and soldered a resistor to the cluster printed circuit. The result was a gauge that showed pressure in the middle of the "normal" range at startup and it stayed there until the engine was shut off. Great pressure gauge, huh?

 

I remember that! A local Ford dealer here almost went under because they got caught doing that. Funny thing is, it was a TR from Ford that the dealer was following. It worked here great until some one lost an engine from it. It was in all the local papers about how the dealer was shortcutting the proper repair proceedures and what have you. Big mess. I think I will stick to doing my own repairs, that way I know it is right or at least I know I am the only one to blame.

Massey

 

I have the same problem guys.. I have a slight knock at the first start of the day, and sometimes my oil gauge goes past the highest reading.

 

ok so i dont have a hand held mechanical gauge. where do i hook it up on the motor when i do get one?

and as for the pressure going back down when the motor warms up in my case it does not go back down in fact it goes up more. now if thats just the stock gauge going to **** then so be it. i can always install an after market gauge right? and if not then what do i do?