Forged internal b18 vtec turbo bored to 84.5mm. Brand new engine. New oil pump and everything else is new . My oil pressure sits at about 90-95 psi at really anything over 2k rpm. I have maybe a half quart too much oil (5W-30)

recently developed a oil leak either at the head gasket or on the bottom of the vtec solenoid I’m assuming from too much pressure.

at operating temp at idle I have about 45-50 oil psi

what is causing it to be so high and how can I fix it?

 

First off, get the excess oil out, find the leak, and fix it.

If the oil pump has shims in it that would also result in higher pressure. Getting out the extra oil and finding the source of the leak comes first though.

 

Got the excess oil out of the car and changed the oil filter. I found the leak coming from the vtec solenoid and fixed that. However I still have 90 psi oil pressure almost all the time.

 

Do you have any other sensor/gauge to test with? Otherwise if that reading is accurate, I'd pull the pump and check for shims. Exactly what oil pump is in there right now?

 

I have the oem sending unit and an aftermarket one for a gauge hooked up to a block at the oem location by the filter, I never put any shims in the pump but it’s a new ACL pump for b series. The engine is brand new b18b1 with forged internals bored to 84.5mm so I’m thinking hopefully I just need to finish breaking it in to loosen things up but I’m just not sure.

 

The ACL Orbit pumps are advertised as having higher pressure output than OEM, so that could be a factor. I'm within a few weeks -> month of starting up my own engine and will also be using an ACL Orbit, so I'm curious to see if I run into the same issue.

What's your oil pressure at, say 5K RPM? You mention almost anything past 2K is already at 90-95PSI. Your numbers aren't astronomically bad unless you're hitting 100+PSI later in the RPMs, 40PSI at warm idle isn't bad. 50 is questionable unless that's before the engine is fully warmed up.

Not really a direct fix, but if you added an aftermarket oil cooler it would drop the pressure by a few PSI, just since that's more area of the oil to travel through.

Edit: IMO, and looking over it again, your numbers are definitely on the high side of things but I wouldn't necessarily say it's anything to worry about. As this is a fresh engine, inspect your first few oil changes for any metal shavings, but overall this isn't something I'd worry about.

 

thank you so much for the knowledgeable replies, you are right, the oil pump is supposed to be “high performance” so it could have higher than normal pressure, even at 6-7k rpm it never goes above 95psi and I haven’t discovered any new leaks. Just gonna let it be for now and see if it drops over time. Thanks!

 

wow...that's super high of pressure.

 

You mentioned the engine is built... Are the bearings clearanced properly? Do you have a build sheet? What weight oil? Oil pressure shouldn't drop with a break-in, all you're doing is seating rings.

Running a high volume pump without increased clearance could cause you to build excessive pressure too.

I would put a shop gauge on it and confirm your numbers ASAP.