what do the oil pressure and 'volts' gauges tell you?
04-22-2011, 01:31 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
what do the oil pressure and 'volts' gauges tell you?
I know thats a really basic question, but I have no idea why I have those gauges. They werent in any other car I've driven. The volt meter has something to do with the alternator I think, but it always goes to the same value.
The oil pressure needle changes as the car warms up from like 60 to 20. I still dont know what either of those mean.
are you supposed to look at these gauges when you're racing or something?
The oil pressure needle changes as the car warms up from like 60 to 20. I still dont know what either of those mean.
are you supposed to look at these gauges when you're racing or something?
04-22-2011, 02:40 PM
#6
There is plenty of How does a blank work? on the internet, so I will not copy and paste here.
Many vehicles have dumb lights instead of gages. A dumb light will tell you, for example, when oil pressure is low. It will not tell you the PSI.
Enthusiasts what more information when driving. Oil pressure is an example. You can see pressure go up and down with factors such as RPM. 90 percent of drivers could care less.
Many vehicles have dumb lights instead of gages. A dumb light will tell you, for example, when oil pressure is low. It will not tell you the PSI.
Enthusiasts what more information when driving. Oil pressure is an example. You can see pressure go up and down with factors such as RPM. 90 percent of drivers could care less.
Trending Topics
04-22-2011, 02:45 PM
#8
Living in 350Z
iTrader: (30)
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Spartanburg(SparkleCity), SC
Posts: 4,293
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
You aren't sick are you? Maybe we're all just having an off day and caught the "nice" virus.
04-22-2011, 03:20 PM
#9
Registered User
Thread Starter
yeah i read the manual, it didnt really give a lot of insight. sorry i know it is a newb question, just thought i'd ask since you guys have helped me learn so much already. thanks anyway
04-22-2011, 03:41 PM
#11
Living in 350Z
iTrader: (30)
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Spartanburg(SparkleCity), SC
Posts: 4,293
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
In general for gauges in most vehicles, the middle is "normal" just to make it easy on the average user.
Your oil pressure gauge will likely be around 40-60 at idle (middle) and will be higher when on the throttle and accelerating. The key is to make sure that you don't notice the pressure staying low. It's mainly there to let you know that you have enough oil in the car and that it's circulating properly. This is because without it, stuff is gonna get hot, and then break.
Your voltage gauge is going to be above 12V when things are fine. Probably around 14V most of the time when the car is running. 12V minimum is what everything expects to run off of in a car, so you want it to be above that or electrical systems aren't going to work. When your car is running, it shows higher than 12V because the alternator puts out a higher voltage in order to charge the battery.
04-22-2011, 03:44 PM
#13
Super Moderator
MY350Z.COM
MY350Z.COM
04-22-2011, 03:50 PM
#14
Registered User
iTrader: (13)
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Dallas,TX
Posts: 517
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
and if the OP is researching BEFORE buying then i'm not bashing, but if you have the car already and have no idea about the car you just bought...makes me wonder...
04-22-2011, 03:57 PM
#15
Living in 350Z
iTrader: (30)
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Spartanburg(SparkleCity), SC
Posts: 4,293
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Also, there are plenty of people that own cars and have the dealership take care of them under warranty, etc. because they have higher priority things to occupy their time. They expect it to work, and if it doesn't, triple A will pick it up, the dealership will give them a loaner, and it will get fixed. They never care about the gauges.
Anyways, OP needed some help. He/she had already read their User's manual, which if you look at it, pretty much gives zero explanation of what's good/bad/expected for these two gauges in particular. When I realized that fact, I decided to help instead of flame.
04-22-2011, 05:00 PM
#16
Registered User
The gauges won't tell an ignoramus anything, but a knowledgeable person can glance at them and know two very important systems are (or aren't) functioning as they should.
04-22-2011, 05:06 PM
#17
Registered User
iTrader: (13)
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Dallas,TX
Posts: 517
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Not the direction I was going with it, I was feeding into the stereotype that hot girls know nothing about cars because they have someone else to take care of it for them.
Also, there are plenty of people that own cars and have the dealership take care of them under warranty, etc. because they have higher priority things to occupy their time. They expect it to work, and if it doesn't, triple A will pick it up, the dealership will give them a loaner, and it will get fixed. They never care about the gauges.
Anyways, OP needed some help. He/she had already read their User's manual, which if you look at it, pretty much gives zero explanation of what's good/bad/expected for these two gauges in particular. When I realized that fact, I decided to help instead of flame.
Also, there are plenty of people that own cars and have the dealership take care of them under warranty, etc. because they have higher priority things to occupy their time. They expect it to work, and if it doesn't, triple A will pick it up, the dealership will give them a loaner, and it will get fixed. They never care about the gauges.
Anyways, OP needed some help. He/she had already read their User's manual, which if you look at it, pretty much gives zero explanation of what's good/bad/expected for these two gauges in particular. When I realized that fact, I decided to help instead of flame.
i completely understand that there are MANY people that have cars and don't know the first thing about it...i'm not flaming any of them, everyone has their own thing...i guess what i was getting at is for people to do some research on their own and they will probably learn more from it instead of someone telling them. I know that their are questions that do need to be asked, this being not a typical newb question so to speak...i guess i'm just stubborn and hard headed about todays society used to having everything handed to them nowadays. And don't take this as i'm bashing the OP, which this is not meant to do.
04-22-2011, 05:49 PM
#18
Registered User
Thread Starter
Your oil pressure gauge will likely be around 40-60 at idle (middle) and will be higher when on the throttle and accelerating. The key is to make sure that you don't notice the pressure staying low. It's mainly there to let you know that you have enough oil in the car and that it's circulating properly.
also, thanks for explaining it. im slowly but surely learning a lot from being here
04-22-2011, 06:11 PM
#20
Living in 350Z
iTrader: (30)
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Spartanburg(SparkleCity), SC
Posts: 4,293
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
the battery needle is exactly where you describe it to be. when the car is warmed up, the oil pressure needle is just under the hash mark between 0 and 60, (so around 30). It does get higher as i accelerate. I havent noticed any oil leaks in the garage under the car chassis, so I can assume thats as good as being at 40?
also, thanks for explaining it. im slowly but surely learning a lot from being here
also, thanks for explaining it. im slowly but surely learning a lot from being here
Your oil may be a little low or your gauge may just read a little lower than mine, so it's worth checking the dipstick. Instructions are in the Owner's Manual that I posted earlier.
If you're a little low according to the dipstick, go ahead and get an oil change instead of just adding some more oil. This is since you're just now figuring out where your gauge is going to read when you're at the right level. Once you've had your oil change, see if the guage is reading a little higher and more in the 40-60 range. Regardless, the level right after your oil change is going to be your "good" range at idle. After that, you just keep an eye on it in case it gets lower (if your car burns oil or something bad happens).