the title says it all. i got my firebird in storage for the winter and i ocasionally go start it and let ti run for a while. when i start it cold my oil pressure junps right up to almost 80psi at idle but if i even hit the gas at all ti will jump right up to pegging 80psi. is that normal. and after ti warms up it will run at a hair over 40 at idle but if i run it hard for any length of time it jumps back up to almost pegging. why is that?

 

You say pressure.
I say pressure is good.
I say how many miles on engine?
I got 211,500 miles.
As long as ya got presure don't complain
When the engine dies, it'll die.
Look at it this way, seriously,
You now know you may have big trouble soon
Plan an engine swap very soon.
You only win in the end, but
ONLY IF YA LOVE YOUR RIDE.

 

i knew having more pressure was good but it gets pegged sometimes which i was questioning about thats all. the motor only has between 25-30,000 mi on it. it was just rebuilt 2 years ago.

 

Ah Sorry
Read the thread not the signature.
The pressure is normally up to 80 PSI
Even on my old Blazer 2.8, it was "like that".

One problem I did discover was that the oil pump screen had "Debris" on it from a poor reseal job I once did.
Meaning stuff floated to the screen & partially clogged it. When stopped, it floated down, start up & warm oil, it sucked to screen.
I hope you don't have that problem.
Yes, you know the only way to tell.
This was my situation.

 

Mine's always bouncing up to 60 when I start the car- and I'm a quart or so low on oil, too. It's all this f'ing unbelivably cold weather we've had lately on the east coast.. I can't remember it being this damn cold for a lonnnng time- if ever.

 

I think we need to invent a new word, cold does not describe it.

I would not be worried about high oil pressure unless you heard lifter ticking and it ran rough. then it could be a clog problem.

 

heard lifter ticking and it ran rough. then it could be a clog problem.

True, true.
BUT could be partial clog also.
That cold back there?
Been too warm out here.
We need rain.

 

My pressure is usually at 60-70 during driving and at idle it will go down to 50psi. I guess today was a perfect day it was 45* out and raining and I was finally to finish my week long project of washing my car.

 

yep mine goes backwards.

it could be milage related but when my oil pressure start to drop below 40 allot I put on a new oil filter and it goes back up.

 

i was just wondering the same thing.
when at idle i'm around 40
when i hit the gas it jumps to 60-80

 

My guage is all over place. Always bouncing. I heard GM has some of the worst oil sending units, hope thats all my problem is.

 

From latest Car Craft magazine
I quote:
Page 64 of article "Oiling System basics" by Steve Dulcich-
"The pressure level is controlled by bleeding off a portion of the excess volume either back to the feed side of the pump or to the sump. Under some circumstances, excess pressure can be produced if the bypass circuit has insufficent flow capacity. Often this is the case with a COLD ENGINE running thick heavy oil. The COLD OIL can't be bypassed fast enough to keep the pressure down, particulary as oil pump speed and output volume increase at high RPM."
Always give credit to an author and publication.

 

actually gm has a bulletin on this problem
#91-8-241 (oil pressure gauge flutters or reads high) it basically says to make sure you have good connections and grounds and to replace the oil pressure sender. i would give you the part number but it lists a whole bunch of them for all the cars with this problem. if you go to a GM dealer they will look up the part and it will show the new updated number for this problem.

 

Is there anything on the fuel gauges for our cars? Mine bounces around like the needles on a trampoline.

 

from what i've seen, every 3rdgen had the bouncy fuel gauge. it works awesome when your all the way full or empty tho

 

Under normal driving conditions, my psi is at 40.
After idling or stopping for a long time my psi is at 20
Under hard acceleration for prolonged periods my psi is at 50-60.


Basically, my psi reading depends on how hard I drive my car. My readings never go below 20 nor above 60.

 

might be the sending unit. on my 3.1L the oil pressure needle jumps around from min to max all the time and ive been told its the sending unit. yours doesnt sound as bad as mine but that might be it starting to go.

 

That would be my guess too. One time my oil guage was reading 0 psi, I was worried, but it just turned out to be a faulty sending unit. Mechanical guages are more accurate than the electronic ones.