I've finally got round to fitting my oil temp and oil pressure gauges, and on firing up the Scoob to test them working, noticed that the oil pressure dropped to about 39 PSI once the engine had warmed up. I half crapped myself as I watched the gauge drop and drop, as I thought I'd forgot to fit the sensor properly and there could be oil dripping out (fortunately not).

39 PSI seems a bit too low!

The oil level is fine (only about two months since I had an oil change), so is this normal? What's a 'danger' minimum PSI I should watch out for?`

 

M8 i have a version 3 sti which sits around 2.5 bar when car is warmed up , so ur starting to scare me now as i thought that was normal ? (2.5 bar = around 30psi )

 

I think from memory (only had my scoob couple of weeks and only driven it few times as yet) mine reads somewhere between 3 & 4 when idling then once driving normally it reads about 6.

Mines a 2004 STI should this make a difference?

 

From the 2002 Workshop manual.
Readings taken with oil temp at 80 deg C.






Mick

 

Cold idle is usually around 6BAR

Hot Idle is usually around 2.2-3BAR

Hot normal driving/revs above 2.3krpm say = around 6BAR

Thinner oils will have lower hot idle pressures, but all yours sound healthy to me

OE warning light comes on around 15psi I think

Gaz

 

Totally depends on whether that's at idle or not. At idle it's fine once the oil's hot.

 

Yeah my V3 STI idles very low and is about 40psi when hot (90psi cold) hold it at 1k rpm and straight up to 85-90psi when hot.

 

Serious lack of information, there!
The oil pressure is dependant on a number of things - Oil viscosity, temperature, engine rpm and of course, engine (and oil pump) condition. If 39psi is the hot idle (750rpm) pressure, then it's fine! You should be seeing 80psi + at 3,000rpm.

JohnD

 

1 bar = 14.5 PSI

So 2.5 bar = 36.25 PSI

 

Nice one - thanks for all your input guys.

I guess it was just a case of my initial panic to see the gauge dropping so quickly as the engine warmed as the car idled, so probably more of a case of high blood pressure rather than low oil pressure...