Low oil pressure on cold starts?
 

Hello y'all!

I'm having some issues with low oil pressure/oil pressure light illuminating on cold starts. The car won't immediately build oil pressure, and the light will remain on for 5 or so seconds, followed by a light ticking sound that is audible until the light goes out, presumably knock. This first occured a few years ago, when I first installed my turbo kit + oil cooler, and chalked it up to the more viscous 5W-30. This was reinforced when I switched to 0W-30, and my oil pressure issue went away.

However, I recently did an oil change and the problem came back. Same Mobil 1 0W30 and OE Tokyo Roki filter, and triple checked oil levels. My theory is air trapped in the filter, or potentially cavitation? I would definitely appreciate some input on this one!

Thanks in Advance!

I don't have this issue but you could always build oil pressure after oil changes by jamming the gas pedal all the way down when starting the car. My understanding is this will let the car crank without actually starting. (I've never tried this, only read about and thought about lol)

This has happened to me on my last two engines. The oil pressure light flickers on for a second and then goes away. 5 seconds seems like something bad is happening. Have you always used this oil filter brand? Maybe try an OEM filter.


As Wally said, try cranking with gas pedal to the floor to build oil pressure before actually starting it. Has ANYTHING ELSE happened that necessitated the engine being taken apart on any level? Like taking the heads off, or a dealer replacing vale springs, etc?

Sounds like you might want to install gauges.

yeah do you have oil pressure gauges? my oil pressures on cold start are immediately 110ish psi, if you dont have the gauge I would recommend you to get one asap, it will help you see whats going on