[Scstables]

The oil pressure has been running higher than normal, and sometimes I smell a whiff of oil when it's running. What is going on? I just wonder if it is the quart of oil I put in it that my husband got, it said 5w 30w however after I put it in, I noticed it said for high mileage cars. I hope that did not do something as I have never used any oil that said high mileage. Yikes.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

That won't hurt anything or be noticeable.

How high is the pressure? Are there numbers, or scale marks for high and low, and in between? And how high when it's hot at idle vs cold at idle, and at highway speeds, both hot and cold? Does this coincide with an oil/filter change or any other service?

 

[Scstables]

I have the standard oil gauge where on the one end it is marked with an "L" and the other end is an "H". There is if I recall, two marks between the middle mark on each side. The red indicator has moved past the middle mark towards the H sometimes getting as high as the mark before it gets to the H. Sometimes, when I go around a corner, it will drift back to the middle, then go back up to a notch when I am back on the straight away. This all has me worried, as this is the only vehicle I have to drive right now. I am really missing my 05 Tahoe right now.

What I meant to say, is I have had nothing done to this car recently except to be inspected. The last oil change was about 6 months ago (due for one). I do have to add oil to it once in a while since it is leaking from the left side of the oil pan which has oil slick running down the passenger side of the oil pan. I am assuming it is a gasket leak on the oil pan, unless something else exists in that vicinity that is leaking oil.

 

[chuzz]

Sounds to me like you've got a defective oil sending unit. Was the engine a quart low when you dumped that extra quart in it?

 

[Bob Lincoln]

The sending units do age and usually read low when they do. I wouldn't been too concerned about this just yet, but see what happens after an oil change. My car when cold reads at the mark just before High (7/8), and drops to midscale when hot.

 

[Scstables]

I check my oil regularly, and the mark was down on add when I checked it over two weeks ago. So I put a whole quart in. Was that too much?

Yes I am concerned about my oil sending unit as that has never been replaced so it is 25 years old!!

Normally, my gauge reads less than the middle mark towards the low side. Several months ago, I had some issues where the pressure would drop down to L, then come back up some. This only lasted for about a week, then it stabilized. If I had the money right now, I would just put in a new oil sending unit.

Thanks for all of the feed back.

BTW, what happens if the needle gets to the H? Does that mean I should not drive it?

 

[Bob Lincoln]

If someone could loan you a mechanical oil gauge, that would verify the true pressure. Otherwise, changing the sending unit is a fair bet. You can do it yourself, costs about $20 for the part. I would not drive it at the H mark without verifying that the pressure is OK. If pressure is too high, the filter can leak.

You added the proper amount, 1 qt when it's at or below the Add mark.

My 84 Daytona reads low, the scale shows zero, then the next mark is 5 psi, then there is a 90 psi mark near the top of the scale, then H. Mine reads just below 5 psi at idle, but a mechanical gauges shows a true and safe 14 psi.

 

[chuzz]

Are you hearing any kind of knocking or hammering sounds from the engine? If not, I don't think you've got a bad oil pump. Maybe you should get a quart of engine flush, drain a quart of oil from the car and run the flush through for about 15 minutes. Shut the car off, drain the crankcase for about 30 minutes and then put fresh oil and oil filter on. You may have some oil passages clogging, but I'm still leaning towards a faulty sending unit.

 

[Scstables]

No, there is no knocking or weird noises coming from the engine (knocking on wood). Only time that happened, was many months ago, where for some reason the oil pressure dropped to L, and then I heard some noise so I shut the engine off quickly. I waited a minute, then started it again, then the needle moved up to almost the center and the engine sounded fine. So the unit did go bezerk once already. I know all about that noise, lol, as husband's aunt ran her Jimmy out of oil and boy did that engine knock!

Today I drove it, and the needle hung around the middle. Then I drove it later, and it was down a notch towards L, but not near the L (thankfully). So, the sending unit is most likely getting to the point where it needs to be replaced. I will get an estimate from the auto shop I take it to. Hope to get it replaced sometime in the next 2 months. I don't plan on driving it too much this fall since we picked up $500 Honda odyssey at the auction to drive (getting title tomorrow and getting it on the road asap) until we save up enough money to get a decent used Yukon or Suburban. I want my 88 Daytona to just stay more of a weekend car and not an every day car.