Correct Oil Pressure

T

Tyler

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I just installed a VDO oil pressure gauge, and am now curious as to what is the correct running pressure. My figures are:

Cold startup at 1200RPM 60psi
Warm idle at 900RPM 15psi
Warm neutral at 1500RPM 30psi
Street driving maximum read 1500-2500RPM 30-40psi

The guage is calibrated to 180psi, therefore the needle is always down in the bottom quarter of the gauge. Are my figures too low, or is the gauge just calibrated way too high for the M30 engine?
 
Those figures are par for an M30. M30's don't run a lot of pressure, but the BMW oil pump moves a large volume. A 100psi gauge would be more common.
 
Tyler,

where did you attach the sender? Did you mount the gauges in one of the parker perfromance set ups?

Have you got your fuel pressure gauage installed? Mine has gone up the creek and is showing 80psi!

Regards,

Rohan
 
Hi Rohan - I had Parker Performance do a custom mount in place of the radio below the air vent. Looks really great, and I'd post a pic if I could figure out how! Sender is at the back of the head where the original one was. Only problem is the scale of the oil pressure gauge.

No fuel pressure gauge yet, but that's next so if you get another one, let me know and we'll order two.
 
Will try and see where I got the last one. If i do I will let you know and order two.

I have an oil pressure sender tapped into the oil filter housing top. I haven't hooked up the gauges yet though so cant comment on the pressures.

Rohan
 
Generally....

oil pressure when warm should be about 10 psi per thousand rpm.

My '72 factory longblock replacement tii motor ran a big big difference between cold idle and warm idle, but I think I was using straight 30 weight then, which thinned out more when warm than more modern multi-viscosity lubes.
 
I installed a CYBERDYNE digital OP and voltmeter gauges in the speaker hole on the dash. mount purchased from TJ, on this board.
cold idle 70-72 psi, 1k rpm
warm idle 12-15 psi, 700 rpm
3k rpm 42psi
never goes above 48 psi when warm regardless of rpm.
20/50w oil
engine has 40k miles

YMMV
steve in reno
 
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