I've loved gauges since I was a kid, so naturally I bought one for my car. Just one. I chose a digital oil pressure gauge. I heard this is a good thing to be able to monitor, kind of like a vital for the engine the way I see it. So back in December I installed the gauge sender with a sandwich adapter between the filter and the oil cooler and wired the gauge in the interior and it works great. I am happy with my gauge, but I would just like to learn more about what I can learn by observing it.
The car: 2007 Honda Civic Si (K20Z3)
The Oil: Amsoil AZO 0W-30
The gauge reads:
Cold Idle: ~95-105psi
Cold 3000rpm: 115+psi (only did that once cold)
Warm Idle: ~19-26psi
Warm 3000rpm: ~88-95psi
Warm 8000rpm: ~105-108psi (hard to look at while driving)
I was torn between buying an oil pressure or oil temperature gauge and I chose pressure because I believed that pressure gave a better indication of the overall "health" of the engine and could warn of a failure/problem in the oiling system. I also believed that the pressure would change according to the temperature of the oil so that the pressure gauge was sort of a ballpark temp gauge as well. I was later told, "Stop trying to extrapolate oil temp, because it's not going to be accurate and it's just not an important thing to know in your situation." I trust this guy's opinion, so I really don't know what to think. Ans also, how come I can drive around for an hour and watch the idle pressure at red lights and it reads 21-26psi, but after the first redline run it dips to 18 or 19 psi? Am I getting the oil that hot with just one run through a few gears?
The car: 2007 Honda Civic Si (K20Z3)
The Oil: Amsoil AZO 0W-30
The gauge reads:
Cold Idle: ~95-105psi
Cold 3000rpm: 115+psi (only did that once cold)
Warm Idle: ~19-26psi
Warm 3000rpm: ~88-95psi
Warm 8000rpm: ~105-108psi (hard to look at while driving)
I was torn between buying an oil pressure or oil temperature gauge and I chose pressure because I believed that pressure gave a better indication of the overall "health" of the engine and could warn of a failure/problem in the oiling system. I also believed that the pressure would change according to the temperature of the oil so that the pressure gauge was sort of a ballpark temp gauge as well. I was later told, "Stop trying to extrapolate oil temp, because it's not going to be accurate and it's just not an important thing to know in your situation." I trust this guy's opinion, so I really don't know what to think. Ans also, how come I can drive around for an hour and watch the idle pressure at red lights and it reads 21-26psi, but after the first redline run it dips to 18 or 19 psi? Am I getting the oil that hot with just one run through a few gears?