Oil pressure?

[Brett Dikeman]

On Jan 22, 2008, at 3:40 PM, Matthew Barrett wrote:

> For the last two months, when I have turned the key to the "on"
> position, the oil pressure gauge would jump up to 5 bar, which as  
> far as
> my understanding takes me is normal.

Nope.  It should not display any pressure with the engine off, ever.   
If it indicates 5 bar with the ignition off, you have a wiring  
problem, dash/gauge problem, or a failing sensor.

> (It burns a quart every 500 miles)

That is astonishingly high oil consumption for a 3B.  Figure out where  
it is going.  If it's burning in the combustion chamber and leaving  
deposits, you're artificially increasing the compression ratio and  
'hot spots' for preignition.  This is also a great way to kill off the  
O2 sensor and the catalytic converters.

If you're filling it to the max line- don't.  It's marked "maximum",  
not "fill me to here" ;-)  Half-way between min and max should be  
plenty.

> Now the oil pressure gauge barely moves when I turn the key
> to the "on" position. As soon as I start her up, oil pressure jumps up
> to 5 bar

That's the correct behavior.

Brett