Typical Oil Pressure Gauge Reading

[mich@el]

Hi people,

Just wondering what your generic oil pressure gauge reads in normal travel? Mine hangs around 4.

[AB]

GQ, MQ or GU?

My GQ stays around 4 too but is very unreliable and can drop to "1 or 0" for long lengths of time.

[mich@el]

GQ, MQ or GU?

Sorry, it's a GQ 2.8 td.

[Clunk]

My 4.2EFi GQ tends to hang around the 4 mark...... sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower

[MudRunnerTD]

If you whack an after market on you will realise how irrelevant the Genuine one is. Just like you Water Temp gauge, both the Water Temp and the Oil Pressure move a round quite a bit depending on what you are doing and how you are driving the car. Both the Factory gauges have a big flat spot built into them that takes up the minor movement during operation so you guys dont freak out.

Go the after Market gauges for sure.

[Clunk]

so with an aftermarket one, what sort of pressure should you be reading? and do you usually just replace the stock dials or fit new ones on a pod or something?

[nowoolies]

get rid of the old one`s and replace from sender to gauge
then nowoolies lmao

[Clunk]

get rid of the old one`s and replace from sender to gauge
then nowoolies lmao

cheers mate

[madk1w1]

One thing Nissan didn't seem to get right is gauge quality, my (TD4.2) like most 0-4 irrespective of oil condition or temp

[lachiek]

Even if the guage is dodgy if it has consistent behaviour matching the way you are driving then it is probably telling you something right? Mine sits on 4 regardless of how I hard / soft I drive but t falls to 1 when idling. Climbs back to 4 when I accelerate from idle.
I've often wondered if low pressure from idle restricts bottom end grunt?

[mich@el]

Besides water in the oil or vice versa, could you tell if you had a cracked head from a consistently low reading on an oil gauge?

[lachiek]

Because mine moves I know it is doing something but if it was always low from what the other guys have said I wouldn't want to base an expensive decision to fix a cracked head on it. If mine was consistently low I'd be 1. checking oil in water vis a vis etc and 2. getting a new guage.

[Ben-e-boy]

I have a VDO gauge on mine. At cold idle its at 50psi , at hot idle its at 21psi and back to 50psi under acceleration

[Super Safari]

4 on mine !! think its nomral

[Bigrig]

4 when cold and accelerating, about 2 at speed, and just over one when warm and idling.

[patch697]

Follow MR's advice & go after market if you really want to know whats going on because Nissan's gauges are useless & will have you sh!tting bricks for know reason what so ever & lets face it the only reason we have them is to keep an eye on things to prevent engine damage (Patrol God forbid) in the first place so you need ones that work & work properly. IMO

[tkn]

I think the Nissan manuals for each model all give oil pressure figures in kilopascals and pounds per square inch (psi).

If my memory serves, for the TD42 at 3000rpm (engine hot) the range is between 42psi and 57psi and at idle oil pressure should not drop below 11 psi.

At start up (engine cold) my TD42 oil pressure is about 55psi, which drops back to about 25psi with the engine warm.
With the engine hot and towing and/or with a decent load the oil pressure holds about 42 - 44 psi at around 2600 - 2800rpm.

The figures are from an aftermarket brand oil pressure gauge.

I found that Ryco oil filters (with anti drain back valve) shorten the time the engine runs below pressure at start up.

Another "kink" in the oil pressure thing is that old oil (i.e. that should have been changed 1000kms or more ago) will often give a good "hot" oil pressure reading (including at idle), but is definitely not doing your engine any favours.

[Evil!]

i think mine is dodgy then from cold to hot or idle to accelerating it sits at 4 but only when the motor is running

[Bigrig]

i think mine is dodgy then from cold to hot or idle to accelerating it sits at 4 but only when the motor is running

Yeah, the OE ones are fairly crap mate as you no doubt know - time for an aftermarket gauge!!

[moo_r32]

i get worried every now and then when mine drops to just on 1... but eventually comes back up.. i figured the light will obviously come on if it does drop to "0"

[YNOT]

Besides water in the oil or vice versa, could you tell if you had a cracked head from a consistently low reading on an oil gauge?

Short answer, no.

Tony

[tappo]

yea mine sits on 4 most of the time, some times sits up @ 6ish and other times stays low.......
td42
but have just rebuilt it and it was cracked in 4 cylinders :P lolz did it good.
will let you know what im sittin on once its back runnin again :)

[adamsc57]

TB42 - sometimes starts around 3ish when cold then drops to 1 or zero once warm. Then never moves. Been like this since new apparently.

[G-ForceCrew]

Hi Mate my GQ TD42 sits around the four mark to. it should be about the same for your 2.8TD. I think you wanted to know what a after market gauge would read in psi? If you times your four (kg/cm2) gauge by 14.223 you will have the psi value. 56.892psi

Regards

Kel

[chester]

My TB42 sits on 6 at start up then drops to 1 and stays there.If the oil light come's on then i will start to stress.

[Geoffy91]

my td42 sits on 3 at idle. 4ish while driving road or bush bashing.

[advarp]

Because mine moves I know it is doing something but if it was always low from what the other guys have said I wouldn't want to base an expensive decision to fix a cracked head on it. If mine was consistently low I'd be 1. checking oil in water vis a vis etc and 2. getting a new guage.

TB42 - mine read from 3 something to almost zero after driving and then idling. I took the step of replacing the sender - whose design has been changed several times since 1991 - and now indeed the pressure shows from 4 to 1.7 or so, never lower. Much better, altho probably still wrong. I am SURE it also depends on the oil you use and how old the oil is. I use 20w50 high mileage Valvoline for example and the oil is in very good condition (honey colour, changed every 6 mts not due to the ks).

BTW my temp sender also died, it was showing a cooler and cooler engine. Almost opened up the pipes to change the thermostat (bought it and the gasket damn lol), however I have one of those ThermoCaps - rad caps wioth temp in it - and it was showing 80 deg or so so I thought something is fishy. Replaced the thermo sender (aftermarket) and the temp is now a bit below the middle. So it is worth having some second instrument to prevent you from starting some expensive repairs you don;t need :-)

[shantillylais]

I have a GQ td42turbo, like many, my OEM gauge varies from just under 2 to 4. Thats no different whether the engine is hot or cold. I have a aftermarket Stewart Warner mechanical gauge, and at cold idle, it is usually around 50psi, hot idle (700rpm) 20-25psi. When the engine oil is hot (takes about 10km highway driving), running pressure at 2400rpm, is 47psi. If I put the a/c on, and the water temp goes up to 85C (digital aftermarket gauge), the oil pressure drops to about 40psi. My oil is Shell Rimula 15/40 with external oil cooler.

[Robo]

Mate, and everyone else, please go easy.
I was told by die hard Nissan mechanic after asking a similar question.
The nissan oil pressure switches/sender leave alot to be desired.
He suggested replace with quality aftermarket one
Go figure. please don't shoot the messenger, I just love my nissan's, just passing it on.