[Z06] oil pressure reading
Thread Starter
2nd Gear
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
oil pressure reading
hi everyone! newbie here. i've watched a couple of videos and noticed that the oil pressure gauge moves up and down depending how hard u get on the gas, my ? is: my 03 z stays right in the middle pretty much all the time. any simple solutions w/o dishing out some serious money right now?
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 4,933
Likes: 30
From: San Rafael CA
hi everyone! newbie here. i've watched a couple of videos and noticed that the oil pressure gauge moves up and down depending how hard u get on the gas, my ? is: my 03 z stays right in the middle pretty much all the time. any simple solutions w/o dishing out some serious money right now?
1) Oil temperature. When the oil is cold it does not flow as well as it does at "normal" engine temperature. When you first start the car, your oil pressure should be around 60 psi or so at idle(depending on outside temperature). Once the oil has warmed, idle pressure will be around 30 or so PSI.
2) Engine speed. Oil pressure will rise as the engine speed rises. This is because the oil pump turns faster as the engine goes faster. Your oil pressure on the road should be around 40 PSI or so.
Oil pressure is not affected by "how hard u get on the gas".
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 826
Likes: 69
From: Seoul Korea
I always notice that if I am at a higher RPM cruise mine stays pretty high (50-60) I am not sure if this is good/bad/normal, but that's what I have noticed. Like if I am on the highway going 75 in 3rd for a min or so is when it starts to rise and stays there until I shift into a higher gear.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,158
Likes: 1
From: St. Peters MO
I was just noticing my oil pressure the other day.
When you give a goose from idle it does go up some due to the above stated reason but it is very slow to respond, not like I've usually seen in other cars.
Was wondering if others noticed the same?
When you give a goose from idle it does go up some due to the above stated reason but it is very slow to respond, not like I've usually seen in other cars.
Was wondering if others noticed the same?
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 4,933
Likes: 30
From: San Rafael CA
I always notice that if I am at a higher RPM cruise mine stays pretty high (50-60) I am not sure if this is good/bad/normal, but that's what I have noticed. Like if I am on the highway going 75 in 3rd for a min or so is when it starts to rise and stays there until I shift into a higher gear.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 4,933
Likes: 30
From: San Rafael CA
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 14,406
Likes: 3
From: Cypress TX
St. Jude Donor '07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18
I suspect it is due to the fact that the PCM only sends oil pressure data intermittently to the IPC. On older "analog" cars the oil pressure gauge was directly attached to the "sensor" ... in fact in many older cars an oil line actually was attached to the back of the gauge. With the C5 the oil pressure is monitored by the PCM and it sends the data out (probably about once a second) to the IPC. Hence, a lag.
Good info! 
