Guest livedrive Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Hey guys, this may sound stupid to everyone, but I'm a little concerned. I have a 73 240Z with a chevy small block v8, bored & stroked. Car runs great, but since this is my first car older than 5 or 6 years old I'm not sure if this is normal or not. In any cars I've owned in the past the oil pressure gauge read out stays pretty much dead center all the time and never varies. In this car; however, there can be some pretty significant variances in the oil pressure. At least according to the gauge. When I'm idling the oil pressure usually reads at dead center, but sometimes drops as low as 1/4. As I accelerate my oil pressure grows gradually until I'm at about 60 or 70 where the oil pressure is at about 90%. At first I didn't worry about it too much, but I'm starting to notice that I'm losing about 1/4 qt. of oil a week, if I'm driving the car extremely regularly. The oil isn't leaking anywhere, at least nowhere I'm parked, so I have to assume its burning it. But this engine is freshly rebuilt, only 4K miles on it now, so I wouldn't think it should be burning oil like that. Am I wrong?? So it comes down to: Is there a problem with my oil pressure? And should my newly rebuilt engine be burning 1/4 qt of oil a week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QWKDTSN Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Do you have a standard gauge or an Autometer/etc? On startup your gauge should read about 50psi (middle). As you drive it should rise to 70 or so. After a few minutes, the oil pressure might read about 25 psi because, as we all know, when oil gets hot it becomes much thinner. Oil pressure while driving while it's hot should read 50-70. In my car with an Autometer gauge, the oil pressure gauge works almost like a mini tach. Whenever revs rise, so does pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livedrive Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 OK, good deal. That sounds like exactly what is happening. I do have a standard gauge, but it is behaving exactly as you are describing below. I appreciate the clarification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livedrive Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Now my question comes back to, is it normal to expect a newly rebuild V8 to burn 1/4 qt of oil a week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Oil consumption depends heavily on how much you drive the car. Some standards say that up to a quart every 2000 miles or so is not excessive on an older engine, but since you just rebuilt yours, different rules apply. New engines typically burn a bit of oil at first as the rings seat properly in the bores so unless it's billowing smoke out the tailpipe, wait until it's fully broken in before evaluating it. Just my .02. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBC_400 Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 I agree, new engines will use oil, it is not necesarily a bad thing. so as long as you are aware of this just keep after it and make sure you keep it topped off. My brother got a brand new 2001 camaro ss a little while back, and he had to keep an eye on the oil level for a while untill the rings were seated, so I would not think there are any major issues with your engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Details - what weight oil are you using? Synthetic or regular? How many miles are you driving each week to use 1/4 quart? Regular driving or hard? At 4,000 miles your engine should be "broken in" enough to be burning less than a quart per 6,000 miles. Then again, if you've been using a 5W-30 synthetic for your "break-in" oil then maybe not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livedrive Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 I'm using Castrol GTX 10W 30 oil. I'd say I'm driving about 600 miles/week. Most of it not very hard, but its nice to use the extra power here and there. I'm definitely not running around racing everybody though. Given those facts what do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 That's just a quart every 2,400 miles (or roughly four quarts a YEAR with typical driving) so I'd say to live with it. This winter your consumption will probably go down quite a bit as your oil gets thicker and your rings continue to seat. Depending on the quality of your bore honing and your top end seals, it may never go down to zero between changes, but that's okay. Just make checking your oil a religious practice when you fill up, and carry a spare quart or two with you wherever you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livedrive Posted September 13, 2003 Share Posted September 13, 2003 Nice thanks guys! That was helpfull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nic-Rebel450CA Posted September 13, 2003 Share Posted September 13, 2003 also keep in mind that just because it is not puddling under the car when it is parked does not mean that the oil is getting burned. It is very possible to be leaking oil while driving but not when it is parked. If it has somewhere to squeek out while it is under pressure then it will leak while you are driving and stop when you turn the engine off. Check the block all the way around for any indication of the slightest leak. (especially your valve covers) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAFantaZ Posted September 14, 2003 Share Posted September 14, 2003 I've heard that many modern oil pressure guages are nothing more than idiot lights that are wired to stay "normal" unless something is REALLY wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nic-Rebel450CA Posted September 14, 2003 Share Posted September 14, 2003 I've heard that many modern oil pressure guages are nothing more than idiot lights that are wired to stay "normal" unless something is REALLY wrong. I've seen that too. I want my guage to be something other than Yes or No Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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