05 MCS Oil Pressure Guage

[jmoors]

I have a new MCS with the Chrono guage. I noticed this morning when I started it up that the oil pressure went right up to 70 and stayed ... as the car warmed up the reading would come down but as I went through 3k rpm it was back up to 70. As the car got warmer it would read normal at speed but was very low at idel. The guage would go from 10-60 psi as I went through the gears. It acts like today there is no pressure regulation at all. In the past the guage would stay in the middle and not move all over the place. I only have 200 miles on the car. Any ideas??? Is this normal???

Thanks,

John

[twouptons]

Quote: Originally Posted by jmoors

I have a new MCS with the Chrono guage. I noticed this morning when I started it up that the oil pressure went right up to 70 and stayed ... as the car warmed up the reading would come down but as I went through 3k rpm it was back up to 70. As the car got warmer it would read normal at speed but was very low at idel. The guage would go from 10-60 psi as I went through the gears. It acts like today there is no pressure regulation at all. In the past the guage would stay in the middle and not move all over the place. I only have 200 miles on the car. Any ideas??? Is this normal???

John,
That's normal. Our car does it, as has every other car I've had with an oil pressure gauge. In fact, what you're witnessing is probably the reason most car manufacturers don't put oil pressure gauges in cars anymore - too much stress on the driver

When you start the car cold, the oil is very thick and pressure builds to the point of needing relief to keep from going too high - hence the 70psi all the time when cold. As the oil warms, it thins out and behaves "normally". Since the oil pump on most cars is driven by the engine, the faster it spins, the more it pumps. This drives the pressure up (as you're jamming more oil into the same space in a given time). Your gauge will roughly follow rpm. The old rule of thumb was 10psi/1000rpm, though your car is new and modern, so it will do better than that. 10psi, though, is right on for idle.

Fortunately, MINI did not disconnect the warning light when they installed the Chrono Pack, so you will still get warning if something bad happens. I like knowing the oil pressure, but that comes mainly from driving old cars with worn engines - if the pressure is too low on the highway, their antiquated systems won't tell you there's a problem. Nowadays, for normal drivers, knowing the pressure is just "geeky" entertainment...

I've actually found the oil temperature to be more useful, as it gives me a very good indication of when the oil is warmed up and the car ready for more enthusiastic driving

-Eric

[jmoors]

Quote: Originally Posted by twouptons

John,
That's normal. Our car does it, as has every other car I've had with an oil pressure gauge. In fact, what you're witnessing is probably the reason most car manufacturers don't put oil pressure gauges in cars anymore - too much stress on the driver

When you start the car cold, the oil is very thick and pressure builds to the point of needing relief to keep from going too high - hence the 70psi all the time when cold. As the oil warms, it thins out and behaves "normally". Since the oil pump on most cars is driven by the engine, the faster it spins, the more it pumps. This drives the pressure up (as you're jamming more oil into the same space in a given time). Your gauge will roughly follow rpm. The old rule of thumb was 10psi/1000rpm, though your car is new and modern, so it will do better than that. 10psi, though, is right on for idle.

Fortunately, MINI did not disconnect the warning light when they installed the Chrono Pack, so you will still get warning if something bad happens. I like knowing the oil pressure, but that comes mainly from driving old cars with worn engines - if the pressure is too low on the highway, their antiquated systems won't tell you there's a problem. Nowadays, for normal drivers, knowing the pressure is just "geeky" entertainment...

I've actually found the oil temperature to be more useful, as it gives me a very good indication of when the oil is warmed up and the car ready for more enthusiastic driving

-Eric

Great thanks ... I too use to have cars back in the '70's with the pressure guage just never saw them change this much, and the strange thing is this one didn't do it until today, for the last four days it changed very little and stayed pretty much in the middle. But maybe it is working better now ... go figure. Thanks for the response.

Love my MCS!!!!

[retired00]

Feedback from another Chrono Pack owner.....FWIW, I used to follow a Mercedes Board before MB finally dropped the oil pressure gauges,and the rule of thumb was high pressure, when the engine was cold, is not an issue as described earlier, but if you have pressure below 15 psi then you ought to check level and get service. If high pressure when hot, then depending on where the sensor is you may have a plugged filter. Mine fluctuates as yours does, but so far I have not seen it much below the first of the 4 lines (17.5si) at idle even with oil temp near the 210 marker. I'm only at 360 miles, so things are still pretty tight, I expect. The MA told me that the MINI gauges are all direct-reading, and so don't have the non-linear properties of most US gauges. I expect the properties of synthetic oil with the 5W viscosity may produce fairly low pressures when hot but their lubricating properties should prevent any problems.