I travel out of the country for work and have to "re-learn" the Z every time I come home. On my last return I saw something that I never noticed before....

When I first crank the car the Oil Pressure guage shows it at 25 to 30 psi until it warms up. When driving at normal speeds (40 to 60 MPH), it shows 60 to 70 psi. When you step on it to pass or just make a run, it can climb all the way to 120 psi.

After the car warms up the fluctuation is slighly less, varying from 40 to 100 psi.

I had my oil changed 700 miles ago and I'm wondering if they used a lesser viscosity oil or if there is a problem somewhere.

It never runs temperature hot so I don't feel there is a problem there.

Ideas?

plan_Z

 

This is normal. Our cars just have a lot more active (and accurate) gauge than the average car, I suspect. Most oil pressure gauges in cars are dampened a bit not to show as much fluctuation.