Oil pressure too low?
 

Now I've got my Prosport gauges in, I've had a chance to look at my oil pressure. At hot idle I'm only seeing 15psi.... BUT the idle is only 500rpm so has the mapper set it too low? Is the oil likely to be more like 20-25psi at 800rpm which is what I understand the idle should be?

It's a Blob STI. Allegedly forged if it makes any difference.

Under load at 3k rpm it seems to be around 70psi. Sender is plumbed into the original location under the alternator.

Hopefully I'm worrying about nothing.

1 bar is very low for hot idle,mine is around 2 bar(30psi) which seems about the normal pressure. What grade oil do you use? What milage is on the engine?
500rpm is also low for idle,get your mapper to increase it to 800rpm as this is what it should be.

If you turn the idle up to where it should be then chances are the oil pressure will be spot on.

Does anyone know the actual factory specifications for oil pressure? Cold idle,warm idle etc etc?

That's what I'm hoping. As the mapper is now gone though, I'm not sure if I can have that done easily elsewhere or not without shelling out on a full map.

The oil is Millers CFS 10w-60 that's seen a track day and a couple of thousand road miles. Worth a change?

I gather you have checked your oil level with the car on level ground. I find it difficult to get an accurate reading when I check mine. Low oil level may drop the oil pressure. My idle revs are about 650rpm and oil pressure is 2.4bar when hot. 6.8bar cold start up.

Not since noticing the low pressure but it's the next job. Meant to do it this morning but had to move the car and realised after starting it... Doh!

Being forged it does use a bit and will probably be due a top up.

I find that's the best time to check it, leave for 15 mins then check level. Have the dipstick inserted with the oil can the right way up.

Thats the kind of pressures you get from the standard pump when the revs are low , but I would of expected better pressure from a forged build as a slightly better pump should of been used , most see 2bar (warm idle) with the bigger modded pumps , mine is around 1.9bar , but iv had loads with low pressure

Worst case is what I had when I replaced my Hawkeyes oil pump , we found the bolts in the rear of the pump had worked loose an were hanging right out and were causing a internal leak that would of caused it to fail in the end , glad I found it when I did

It's meant to have an RCM oil pump but I fear I was bull****ted.

Can you not increase the revs via ecu Explorer/romraider?

warm idle around 2 bar, on chat about 6 bar.

Never heard of either. I'll look into it. Any special hardware needed?

What ECU are you running? You will need a cable,probably tactix to adjust any of the map depending on what ECU.

I would defiantly be checking oil level asap,but as domino says the screws in the oil pump have been know to work loose causing low pressure.
Are the gauge and sender both new?

Bought used from Pole Position.

ECU is the standard one.

Be open source mapped then? so you'd need a tactrix cable and romraider software,still cheaper than a map tweak,or maybe there is some kind local member who could help you out?

Im no expert, but i use ecu explorer (tari racing) coupled with my old vagcom cable (cheap ebay obd2-usb) to read fault codes and such.
It gives the option to increase / decrease rpm by 50rpm or set to factory default.
I use this software on my53 blob sti ppp, not sure how it would fair on your opensource mapped ecu.

Ah OK where are you? If you set idle to default it doesn't erase the rest of the map does it?

As for open source, no idea. Cost £450 though so I've been ripped if it is IMO.

Who's the mapper? Can't you just take it back to them for a free tweak?
£450 is probably the going rate for a full remap anyway,might have carberry on it?
Surprised you didn't ask more about the mapping and what you have?

He's no longer in business lol. He'd done some things for other people I knew and so I went to him based on that and the fact he was able to do it for me at short notice. I also made a lot of assumptions. I'll be far more picky in future.

I'm taking it for a check over and a dyno run this Saturday to see what's what.

I forgot to ask, when you found this, was it a sump off job or are these bolts visible from outside? I've never dealt with a Subaru oil pump before so no idea.

Im in Sheffield Jay. Adjusting idle settings shouldnt affect the map, again im no expert. Ive played around with mine a couple of times, but always resort back to default.

You can adjust tick over manually, by slightly rotating the black housing connected to the block of the IACV. I found this out after fully stripping and cleaning my IACV when i bought the car.

To do this, get the engine upto temp and look for the two security torx/screws that hold the iacv together

thesehttps://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...9e2122d0f6.jpg

1 on each side, un-screw (not fully) and gently twist. You will hear the engine pick up or slow.
Ideally this is best done after you have cleaned the iacv.

Found the pic of the pump , you need to remove the oil pump to see the bolts ,,, as you can see in th pic the bolts are hanging out , this is how it was when removed from the car , it was only a 40k miles car


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...18bb9a7354.jpg

So, further to this, I have been stressing and reading. I believe my Blob STI has AVCS heads, and because of that should run a 12mm pump. I have a suspicion it might have had a 10mm pump fitted by a clueless person.

That will no be the cause on idle, a 10mm one is adequate, 11mm are normally fitted to 2.0 avcs, 12mm is for 2.5 avcs and big power. Unless your running 600+ on a 2.0 avcs then a 12mm maybe required but no way below that it's required.
Your map in idle needs adjusting as satiated, or icv needs cleaning or reseating.

Its a 10mm pump on 2.0 dual avc's engine from the factory, more than enough.

mine was single avcs (previous car) and as you can see from the pic it was fitted with a 10mm pump from the factory

Thanks all.

Well the car was checked on the dyno today. Didn't even touch the idle. I have far bigger problems. "It's detting its tits off" was the phrase used.... So I need to sort some stuff out and get a fresh map from someone reputable.

I did have a leakdown test done as I was pretty worried after hearing that. All came back green on the meter luckily. Think I caught it in time and dodged a hell of a bullet. The only negative was two cylinders were clearly affected a tad, but still not enough to take it out of the green. They just weren't quite as good as the other two.

Not good at all,you might be lucky and caught it in time,I wasn't so lucky when the mapper left my car 'detting it's tits off' the Pistons were too damaged and one exploded not long after.
Hope you've caught it in time,just drive steady until you can get a decent mapper on the case.

Don't tell me another pvd ametuer job?

maybe cheap oil filter used

mines is where the oil switch is and 3 bar hot and 6.5 bar cold running motul 10/40 oil