Hi I bought a cheap sunpro oil pressure gauge for $17 at VIP and Im just curious how accurate these gauges actually are? Are they lower?Are they higher? or do they just fluctuate?

Thanks

 

well what type of readings are you getting now? and what engine?

please provide:

cold start psi
warm idle psi
warm cruising psi

as long as they are within a decent range then it really doesnt matter how accurate the gauge is. you could always contact the manufactuer and ask. they have a pretty good website. www.sunpro.com

 

The car is a 91' Accord with a F22A1 engine with 172,000 miles.

Cold Start: 85-90

Warm Idle: 8-10

Warm Cruising: 40-50

 

i think this is normal... going around on different sites, ~10psi for every 1000 rpms...

so if the corresponding rpms is in the psi range is ok, it may just be a bad oil pressure switch or wiring

you confirmed that they oil pressure circuit is ok?

& there's no valve ticking or rod knocking?

 

yeah those readings are pretty normal for hondas. 8-10psi warm idle may be a bit low but it may just be the gauge.

 

There is valve ticking but these engines are just noisy to begin with. There is NO rod noise as I can tell. Yes the circuit is fine. I read in the manual that the oil light comes on at 3.4psi and thats about where it was before I added 10w40 oil.

 

thats a little scary. has the light ever actually come one? as long as its holding steady around 8-10 then going up as soon as you start moving, then im sure you will be fine.

my sister has ran her f22b2 with the light on a few times. she adds oil and keeps on truckin. im starting to think it doesnt even need oil to run...

 

Ya the light used to kind of flicker on and off at idle, but then would come on solid. I would shut the car off restart it then it would come on again, but only at idle, if tapped the gas it went out. It doesn't burn or leak any oil.

 

if it isnt burning or leaking, then it must be the pump or bearings. but with 172k you might as well go with the thicker oil and go about your business...

 

Im thinking bearings because it just doesn't keep pressure at idle. if it was the pump it wouldn't be able to keep pressure at all and it would most likely fluctuate, Im just going to use thicker oil. How do you feel about 5w-40. Im using 10w40, but it seems to thick at start-up. would 5w40 be the same as 10w40 when running at temp?

 

I sent an email to sunpro about how accurate the gauge is and this is what they sent me, I don't understand it.

Engineered as Class B (3-2-3)
0% - 25% span = 3% accuracy
25% - 75% span = 2% accuracy
75% - 100% span = 3% accuracy

wait a minute is it a 3% margin of error? 3psi either direction around the number it gives? Lets say at idle I have 8psi on the gauge does that mean it is anywhere from 5-14 psi?

 

in the bottom 25% of the pressure range it is 3% accurate and so on.
so if the gauge reads 0-100, then between 0-25% it is within 3%, so a measurement of 8 psi would be between 5-11 psi.

 

did you perform the valve lash adjustment lately? it's well overdue for a check if you have that many miles...

I did the 95's f22b2 a while back when we handed it over to the relative's friend & currently has 173,xxx miles on their vehicle since it also needed a valve cover gasket change anyways.

In our case the oil switch was leaking out as well... switching to a different brand ruled out that light too. (what's the brand of the aftermarket oil pressure switch?)
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i agree; try holding the gas pedal to read ~1000 rpm at the tachometer & then note if it's ~10psi+

 

Yeah when I have done a valve lash adjustment, but I think some of the rocker arms are bad because when you move them some are noisy and some aren't. But yeah If I hold the rpms at 1000 it is closer to 15 on the gauge.

As for the oil switch it was BWD

 

10w30 and 10w40 have the same thickness at cold start. 10 is the cold number and 30 (or 40) is the warm number, i wouldnt think about it too much. just keep driving

 

Ok I was only wondering because I don't have oil pressure for a couple of seconds on below zero mornings and we get a lot of them around here.

 

ok that's good to hear; plus the new switch isn't lighting up anymore...

 

I only have the gauge right now. I don't have a splitter. I think i'm going to go back to the light soon though.

 

why would you trust the dummy light over the aftermarket gauge?

 

I always find myself looking at it while im driving