Oil Pressure Range

[Tye300]

My oil pressure gauge is on the way. While I'm waiting, I'll be watching this thread to see how other peoples oil pressure fare.
Anybody with other subarus who has had track time with an oil pressure gauge? We can at least see how the EJ engines behave oil pressure wise.

[blackfireball5]

I think i'm going to propose a template for people to post their data to so that I can just quote the post and put it in the first post.

What should I include on it besides the following?

*Oil type and weight
*Mods such as oil cooler, boosted, or stock
*Sensor location
*PSI at 180F, 190F, 200F, 210F at idle
*PSI at each 1k RPM once car is warm
*Max PSI seen at redline once car is warm

Optional:
Pictures, videos, other.



Suggestions?

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by blackfireball5

I think i'm going to propose a template for people to post their data to so that I can just quote the post and put it in the first post.

What should I include on it besides the following?

*Oil type and weight
*Mods such as oil cooler, boosted, or stock
*Sensor location
*PSI at 180F, 190F, 200F, 210F at idle
*PSI at each 1k RPM once car is warm
*Max PSI seen at redline once car is warm

Optional:
Pictures, videos, other.



Suggestions?

I think that is perfect however:
ADD:

• location and ambient temps
• Pressure Gauge Brand and type

[blackfireball5]

Originally Posted by Dezoris

I think that is perfect however:
ADD:

• location and ambient temps
• Pressure Gauge Brand and type

Sounds good! I'll get this put together and added to the first post.

[blackfireball5]

Original post has been updated. As people add their results I'll add them to the first post.

Has anyone seen what their max psi is at warmed up temp (around 200F)? I haven't gone exactly to redline but around 6.5k rpms move was around 60psi. Seems kind low.

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[Element Tuning]

Originally Posted by HRTROB

Went to the track today. My oil temp reached 127C (260F). At that temperature, oil pressure was always less than 3.0 bar across the rev range till redline. I set my oil pressure gauge to beep when pressure drops below 3 bar. It was beeping almost the whole time while lapping. It would sometimes drop to 2.5 bar (36 psi) during gear changes or at the corners. Definitely not good. I'm already running 5w30.

I'm seeing pretty horrible oil pressures also when the oil is very hot but better than yours as I run much thicker oil. The bottom line is that NA cars really won't have an issue and in fact most cars that make linear power (NA or supercharger) don't have the same demands a turbocharged application will. I would say 50 psi is probably fine on a 200-250 hp car and 60 psi up to 300 hp but after that it should be higher.

A turbo car produces torque much sooner so the demand for oil pressure needs to happen earlier and from what I've seen with this oil pump the pressure increases linearly when the oil is hot (cold the pressure is fine).

I do go into more technical detail here if any of you are interested to see what we are working with.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63723

For now I've backed off my power and I'm testing a few things. I will tell you that the oil port at the top of the block (where the AC is) has less oil pressure. Guess what though? That's your crank and rod bearing feed!!!!!!

Thanks,
Phil Grabow

[blackfireball5]

Phil, thanks for chiming in! I will be watching your other thread for progress as well! It would be super helpful if you could include your results in this thread and I'll put it in the original post.

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[Element Tuning]

Originally Posted by blackfireball5

Phil, thanks for chiming in! I will be watching your other thread for progress as well! It would be super helpful if you could include your results in this thread and I'll put it in the original post.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I will but I'm still testing a lot. It's very important I solve this and get adequate oil pressure or there is no way we can build a reliable engine.

I just relocated my turbocharger oil feed and it actually made a difference at the bearings (AC pressure port). I run a journal bearing turbocharger which runs an unrestricted oil feed so to some extent it will effect oil pressure on a car with oil pressure issues. I moved it from the oil pressure sensor location to the top of the driver's head.

It was a minor improvement and won't solve the "problem." For the rest of you track guys, if the low oil pressure isn't proof enough, you need to run way heavier viscosity oil! Do not worry about cold flow issues if you are running a synthetic oil. I had very good reliability at 350 whp when I was racing on Redline 40w race oil (basically it's a 10w40).

With 440 whp and 9k RPM it was a different story. LOL!

I may be fitting a new, larger oil pump by the end of the week.

[blackfireball5]

Would I have anything to worry about at 291 hp turbod with an oil cooler and 5w30? What psi should be my minimum at redline based on what you've discovered? Mostly street (nothing to worry about) but occasional tracking

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[protpibe]

Has anyone blown up a motor due to what some may consider to be low oil pressure?

I think that's the point of this thread, to determine what is "normal" for the FA20.

I've read that 6psi per 1000rpm is normal and then gone over to the next google result that said 10psi per 1000rpm is normal. I know CSG runs 0w20 in their race car and have had no issue, and I can't imagine that would yield much more than 60psi or so at 7500rpm.

Not questioning anyones recommendations or opinions, just curious

[blackfireball5]

Originally Posted by protpibe

Has anyone blown up a motor due to what some may consider to be low oil pressure?

I think that's the point of this thread, to determine what is "normal" for the FA20.

I've read that 6psi per 1000rpm is normal and then gone over to the next google result that said 10psi per 1000rpm is normal. I know CSG runs 0w20 in their race car and have had no issue, and I can't imagine that would yield much more than 60psi or so at 7500rpm.

Not questioning anyones recommendations or opinions, just curious

Yes exactly, that was my intention with creating this thread. Determining a safe operating range.

This is our end goal. Hopefully as people start posting their data we can get a good feel for a baseline and what effect mods such as superchargers, turbos, oil coolers, ect have on pressures.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by Element Tuning

I'm seeing pretty horrible oil pressures also when the oil is very hot but better than yours as I run much thicker oil. The bottom line is that NA cars really won't have an issue and in fact most cars that make linear power (NA or supercharger) don't have the same demands a turbocharged application will. I would say 50 psi is probably fine on a 200-250 hp car and 60 psi up to 300 hp but after that it should be higher.

A turbo car produces torque much sooner so the demand for oil pressure needs to happen earlier and from what I've seen with this oil pump the pressure increases linearly when the oil is hot (cold the pressure is fine).

I do go into more technical detail here if any of you are interested to see what we are working with.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63723

For now I've backed off my power and I'm testing a few things. I will tell you that the oil port at the top of the block (where the AC is) has less oil pressure. Guess what though? That's your crank and rod bearing feed!!!!!!

Thanks,
Phil Grabow

I think its critical for people like yourself to be sharing data because you are at the extreme end of the limits. Based on what I have seen so far, even with conservative power levels, I just watch how the oil pressure has such a massive swing from high, medium low the hotter that oil gets.

I start seeing 60-65 PSI when oil is hitting 220F near 7200RPM and its worries me. However I have two UOA with zero wear material after track time so I think oil pressure is only one piece of the data.

Originally Posted by blackfireball5

Yes exactly, that was my intention with creating this thread. Determining a safe operating range.

This is our end goal. Hopefully as people start posting their data we can get a good feel for a baseline and what effect mods such as superchargers, turbos, oil coolers, ect have on pressures.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I am going to try and start posting my stuff this next week.
Thanks for starting thread.

[Tye300]

My oil pressure gauge arrived today. Will install it on Sunday. @Dezoris, I ordered the same mount! Mine has not arrived yet, how is it?

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by Tye300

My oil pressure gauge arrived today. Will install it on Sunday. @Dezoris, I ordered the same mount! Mine has not arrived yet, how is it?

I have to say, I like it and I rarely say that about aftermarket parts. I had to tigten the pod with the gauge in it on the dash with the allen key and I was getting super pissed off, because its tedious but I have no patience anymore.

There is nothing else like it aside from the Perrin mount.
Only room for improvement is they need to add some angle (toe) adjust ability to it. Or just curve the bracket a bit. You will see when you get it.