I forget where I had seen/read this, but I had heard the oil pressure for a
'healthy' TR6 engine is a warm idle pressure of around 30psi minimum, and a
steady 75 psi at 2,500 rpm. This is what my engine indicates with an
original 45,600-mile engine with no oil cooler and Castrol 20W-50 (although
not appreciably lower with 10W-40). At start-up, my gauge almost buries the
needle. I've had this car since 1979, and it has always been the same. The
oil gets changed in spring and in fall, without fail.
One sidebar about oil pressure: a club member recently had an oil cooler
hose (unfortunately rubber, not braided) rub through on the steering column
of his car while at 3,000 rpm in top gear. All he says he felt was a sudden
pulsing and then shudder from the engine, then he spied the '0' oil pressure
on the gauge, and he stopped as quickly as possible. Needless to say, it
didn't take long for the oil to vanish and the impending bottom end damage
to occur. His engine is now out and about to get torn down at a local
restoration shop, but he fears the worst. There's a lesson in there
somewhere, probably about checking ALL aspects of your engine's health on a
regular basis, including any lines (belts & other moving parts also).
Forewarned is forearmed! Cheers, JD
-----Original Message-----
From: DANMAS@aol.com [SMTP:DANMAS@aol.com]
Sent: May 21, 1999 10:55 AM
To: lukehart@mis.net; triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: under pressure
In a message dated 5/21/99 1:34:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
lukehart@mis.net
writes:
> I am wondering about the oil pressure gauge in my TR6. At
operating temp my
> car idles around 800 - 900 rpms and oil pressure is about 25.
When I run
> the rpms up near redline the oil pressure runs up into the 75
range. Is
> this normal. If not, does this mean something bad? what?
Eric,
I don't know if that's the way it should be or not, but my TR6
pressure gauge
reads approximately the same, and has for the 9 years that I've
owned it. The
engine was completely rebuilt about 2 years or so before I bought
it.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8
insertion - see:
http://members.aol.com/danmas/
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a
V8 soon
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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