Hey, first post, hi guys I own a 1990 Nissan 300zx of which has oil relief valves located in the block, I removed them because I was told they can be highly problematic on this car's engine, and that if I simply make sure to change my oil and filter regularly I won't have any issues, however recently I've been noticing that my oil pressure isn't as high as it used to be, when first starting the car sometimes there is lifter chatter for about 1-2 seconds and then it goes away, making me think that because I'm not running pressure relief valves, that my OEM oil filter might have gotten an issue and is causing a lower than normal oil pressure situation.
Also something to note is that the oil pressure doesn't go higher than 60 no matter what, whereas about a month ago it would go as high as 90 when revving the engine, looking at the gauge it's like something is restricting flow when the engine wants to start building more pressure, I'm running SuperTech 20w-50 which according to my owners manual is suitable to my summertime climate here in Texas
I've looked at the oil pan and don't see any dents or anything that could restrict flow to the oil pump, nothing has changed visibly other than my oil pressure gauge is reading lower than normal pressure for highway RPMs, but listening to the engine it sounds fine, except for that occasional lifter noise on startup
Could not running pressure relief valves have messed up my oil filter? That combined with running a heavy weight oil and such, could it have done anything to the inside of the filter?
Also something to note is that the oil pressure doesn't go higher than 60 no matter what, whereas about a month ago it would go as high as 90 when revving the engine, looking at the gauge it's like something is restricting flow when the engine wants to start building more pressure, I'm running SuperTech 20w-50 which according to my owners manual is suitable to my summertime climate here in Texas
I've looked at the oil pan and don't see any dents or anything that could restrict flow to the oil pump, nothing has changed visibly other than my oil pressure gauge is reading lower than normal pressure for highway RPMs, but listening to the engine it sounds fine, except for that occasional lifter noise on startup
Could not running pressure relief valves have messed up my oil filter? That combined with running a heavy weight oil and such, could it have done anything to the inside of the filter?