Oil pressure problem

[Ruflyf]

Decided to change to the oil yesterday. If I remember correctly the oil pres. would be around 40ish at idle and 65-70ish at normal cruising speeds. After doing some research (and returning the brand new fram oil filter i bought..lol) I decided to sea foam it while changing the oil. I had intended to run the sea foam for 20-30 mins as I read was recommeded, however a few unavoidable issue arose and I wasnt able to drain the oil til the next day...and had to drive it maybe a hour or two longer than I intended to with the sea foam in it. Toward the end of the night I noticed the oil pressure started staying elevated even at lower rpm's. I had hoped greatly this would resolve itself after draining it and refilling with a new filter.

Now that I have drained, changed the oil (mobil 1 syn. 10w-30) and installed a purolator pure 1 filter the oil pressure, the oil pres. still idles at 90-95 and with some acceleration it can reach 100psi. I had thought that maybe the filter was clogged, everything still runs excellent and if I didnt have a oil pressure guage, I wouldnt have a clue that it was this high.

I haven't let the engine get to normal operating temp because the high pres. makes me uneasy. This car is still kinda new to me, so I may be overreacting, but would rather be safe than sorry.

Btw, there is no sludge in the pan at all.

maybe the oil pressure relief valve is faulty/clogged?

[Nazrat]

That may just be that gauge to be honest, or it may be 100% normal. I can remember it reading as high as 85 at idle when cold using Mobil 1. It would spike when cold and accelerating too. Sea Foam is a solvent (not a lubricant) and I'd expect that running it for too long would cause accelerated wear and thus lower than normal pressure. Honestly before you use that gauge for more than a "It's good" or "It'd bad" gauge I'd check the calibration. I'm not sure that it is wrong, but I don't know that is is correct either.

P.S. I talked to my dad, and his 98 Trooper with the 3.5 and factory oil pressure gauge reads somewhere around 85psi at cold idle.

-Tad

[Ruflyf]

Thx for the tip tad, actually i finally felt brave enough to drive it a bit til it warmed up and just as I was about to bring it home, it dropped back to what I was use to seeing it at....I guess it clogged up a bit or something. About the sea foam, as i was reading the can, I noticed it doesnt say anything about draining it or anything...it makes it sound as though it was designed to be left in the oil. Of course I didnt do that, but am I misreading it or do they actually want you to leave a solvent in the oil for an extended period of time?

[Nazrat]

Well, I just meant that seafoam is more of a solvent than an oil. Smell it, it smells to me like carb cleaner. It works as well as carb cleaner for cleaning parts too. It may do no harm being left in. Also see what the oil pressure is in the morning once it has cooled down. It should be high again. It also could have been a sticky relieve valve, or the drain back valve in the oil filter or.....

-Tad