'03 with 146k miles. This pressure a cause for concern from DE owners? I know it's supposed to be >14 at idle but have seen other say don't worry. Pressure is fine while driving. Only gets to this point after driving a while. Gauge also moves with rpm and is not obviously faulty.

Debating on either letting it ride or biting the bullet and checking on timing gaskets. Thoughts?

 

you could replace the oil pressure sending unit which is fairly cheap and easy to do. That would at least clear up that one possible cause.

 

Are they known to ready low/incorrectly. I've heard people report they stick at like 120. Mine otherwise works, just unsure if reading is accurate.

 

I have tested pressure from cold idle and letting the car warm up at idle for around 40 minutes. That gets me to around 17-18PSI. The low drop only occurs after the car has been driven for a while to be clear

 

From the analog needle gauge, it's hard to tell the exact oil pressure. You are correct that it should be around 14 PSI at normal operating temperature at idle. Yours looks pretty close to, if not, that.

If you want to get a more accurate PSI reading, I would connect an external oil pressure gauge to the oil pressure sensor location and check it.

 

Yeah, was thinking of trying that this weekend. I did do this test earlier with the car just idling in my garage for a while and things looked good but think it would be more accurate to get the car to the point where its reading like this then take another measurement.

 

Def check the sensor first, way cheaper than a new pump.