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    #1

    Oil Pressure Issue

    I've put about ~1000 miles on my freshly rebuilt motor so far. I've ran an aftermarket Oil Pressure gauge (Autometer Ultra-lite short sweep) since the beginning mounted to an oil distribution block and It has always read 55psi at startup, and then goes down to about 10-15 psi at warm idle.

    This weekend I was at a stoplight and my oil pressure was below zero like the car was off, but no oil pressure light so I pulled into a parking lot and shut it down (at the same time got tailed by a cop for no front plate). I looked over my wiring, checked my dip stick for oil, opened the filler hole and could see that there was oil sitting on top of the head. I know its stupid, but I started my motor and threw a rev and noticed that my oil pressure jumps to 55, where it would normally be while driving.

    So, what I have noticed, is at idle when warm, it will show no pressure, but under any load, it will have pressure.

    What I have done so far is the first oil change, which seemed a little metallic, but no large metal flakes. I am not sure how it is suppose to look after an initial break-in. Can anybody chime in on this?

    I've also called Autometer to ask them if with the sending unit failures, if it would be the same symptoms as mine, and they said "No, it will either work, or not work at all."

    When the motor was rebuilt, it received all new bearings, I rebuilt the vanos using Beisan's kit, and all new seals. I do have a problem with my rear main seal leaking, but I don't think that would have anything to do with my oil pressure would it?

    Any help would be much appreciated.

    Thank you!
    Tags: None
    #2
    M50 has oils squirters, 6 of them. Oil pump is not spinning fast enough at idle to overcome a loss. But when you rev it up, the pressure goes up, so it is normal.

    Comment

      #3
      Originally posted by DesertBMW View Post
      M50 has oils squirters, 6 of them. Oil pump is not spinning fast enough at idle to overcome a loss. But when you rev it up, the pressure goes up, so it is normal.
      I purchased a new sending unit and it should be coming in the mail today, so I'm going to give that a try to see if the unit had gone bad.

      It's just weird to me that its going from below 0psi and spiking all the way to 55+psi, with nothing at all in between..

      Comment

        #4
        I bet its the sender..........could be gauge tho..

        my vdo did same..I called vdo..they said sender..it was.
        I love sitting down and just driving!

        Comment

          #5
          Originally posted by DesertBMW View Post
          M50 has oils squirters, 6 of them. Oil pump is not spinning fast enough at idle to overcome a loss. But when you rev it up, the pressure goes up, so it is normal.

          Been there, done that.....

          https://youtu.be/VJ-ZVl6I_Ao
          '87 325ic, powered by S50.

          Comment

            #6
            Originally posted by JRKOUPE View Post
            I bet its the sender..........could be gauge tho..

            my vdo did same..I called vdo..they said sender..it was.

            WOOOO I replaced my sending unit and it was it. Holy smokes that was a scare...

            Now I am going to have to have a talk with that CSR at Autometer.

            Comment

              #7
              Ive gone through TWO senders already on my VDO gauge setup. I would see about 5 lbs or less at idle, and sometimes the oil light would come on. I was scared too, I thought maybe I put the oil pickup gasket on wrong or something.. and really didnt want to drop the pan on my swap to find out (getrag trans, no oil pan bolt access)
              But yeah it ended up just being crappy senders, go figure

              Comment

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