i just notice that my oil gauge on my elco reads hi/60. when i 1st start it up. but it don't drop down when i feel it's warm'd up .this it the same reads i get when driving . so what's going on here bud's , i dont want to hurt my sweetheart!!! oil to thick/cheap or not warmed up enuff' :confused:

the oil pumps have a bypass valve in them to bypass any excess oil that it might pump up. should the valve stick I could see the pump putting out too much pressure if the engine is in good shape but I must say I have never seem that happen---it usually goes the other way----with the sring getting waek and opening at a lower pressure than it should but even that is rare.....I would rather suspect that either your gauge or sending unit for it is messing up. If it concerns you I would probably get a good quality mechanical gauge and hook it up to be sure..................Dan

Oil pressure is not directly related to engine temp in our generation crucks. RPM's dictate. So, when you first start it, the choke makes it run a little faster so the PSI is higher. You may already know this, but couldn't tell for sure.

My initial questions would be: What RPM is it idling at when warm? What type pump and equipment are you dealing with? Is it stock? How old is it? Is it possible there is a blockage in the system? How long since you flushed the oil system?

Take care.

When I first start up my elky it reads 40 at idle and 60 at normal speeds. When worm it reads 20 really worm 19 at idle and around 40 at normal speeds.

A good rule of thumb >>>> 10psi per 1,000 rpm. Any lower can create
damage to internal components.

You're not providing enough info to get the complete answer you want. It is quite possible you have no problem at all, but we don't even know what engine you have! You ignored the questions asked above, you asked if your oil is too thick, but won't even tell us what oil you're running.

Some of the ole pro's can speculate on diagnostics, but you're making it difficult. :P

For instance, on some small block engines, oil psi may drop to around 10-12 at idle and be within acceptable specs. On some, 30-55 at 2500 rpm is within normal limits and also a stock relief valve may start to bleed off pressure after 40 psi. You don't want us to guess on something like this, do you? :cry:

Take care.

let it warm up for 5 mins, at least you got oil pressure! In my elky it would read 60psi warming up, but once I was driving around it was a steady 35psi no matter what!

srry bowtie i got a 85 with stock 305 ,200r4 od trans .it always reads 60 on start up & still after the 2 minute warm-up . doesnt seem to drop untill a couple of miles on the road on idle it reads i little above 30 which i hope is good. the reason im asking is my old 84 elco had the idiot gages / stripped model . so i never used to look at them .my question is im i warming my car long enough ? thx again guys

Not to worry - a two min. warm up you should be good, unless it's -30 deg., or your on the start line for a 1/4 mile run. For normal driveing / operation, your ok with that. UNLESS your running gear lubricant (80/90) for oil. Don't laugh :::::::: :lol: seen that done before.

The 1986 owner's manual states that you should warm it up on choke for at least 30 secs with a cold engine. You will have to experiment with your Elco to see what works best. If it stalls out once you kick off the choke or if it stumbles when you accelerate away the engine is too cold, you need to let it warm up some more. I warm mine up for about 2 mins when the engine is cold, even though the coldest it gets here in the winter is in the low 60's.

You oil pressure is fine, mine does the same. Remember, the temperature of the oil has an effect on oil pressure. I run 10w-30 and its the same as yours at startup, despite the warmer weather here. When I lived in socal and had my '68, I would run 20w-50 in the summer and 10w-30 in the winter, to keep the oil pressure good in the varying temps.

Engine oil warms up a lot more slowly than the engine does, so it'll be more viscuous (and create higher pressures until it warms). Whether 30 seconds or a few minutes of warm-up makes little diff in oil temp.

What I do is refrain from any high RPMs (stay under 2,000 if you can) while the oil's still cold.

On the technical side, when the oil is cold, it takes more HP to turn the pump. That means more load on the cam to turn the pump. The more load on the cam, the more the cam wants to thrust toward the rear of the engine because of the angle on the distrib drive gear. The higher that rearward thrust is, the more the cam gear up front wants to rub against the block where it doesn't get much lube when it's cold causing excessive block/gear wear and your timing to wander.

Going down a notch in oil viscocity might help, but research that thoroughly before doing so.