

| Subject: | Re: oil pressure at idle |
| Date: | Mon, 12 Sep 94 15:28:14 EDT |
An oil pressure of 0 at idle would be very dangerous. The manual indicates that between 8 and 10 is normal. The oil light comes on at or around 5-8 psi ( I have tried to convert from the metric figures provided in Haynes). A general rule of thumb is 10 psi per 1000 revs. Haynes's says that pressure should be 40 psi at 4200 rpms and an oil temp of 80 degrees C. -- Meaning that they expect oil pressure to be lower when the oil is hotter. It would be interesting to hear what other manuals call for. The real concern is what the oil pressure should be at high speeds when the engine is working the hardest. There appears to be little consensus on this judging from discussion on other newsgroups covering various engines. My guess though is that oil pressure in VW's is generally lower than water-cooled engines perhaps because the distance between bearing surfaces are bigger and drill holes are larger. A secondary concern is if you are getting lousy oil pressure at startup when the engine is cold. This could signal lousy big end bearings, or a bad oil pump. Gauges are useful to the extent that they forewarn immanent disaster. If you note a precipitous decline in oil pressure this could save your engine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- David Carment School of International Affairs Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6 voice - (613) 788-2600-6662 fax - (613) 788-2889 Email address: dcarment@ccs.carleton.ca ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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