Hi All,
I'm trying to debug an issue where my oil pressure is adequate when the car initially warms (16psi @ 181F @ 950rpm), but when the car undergoes longer distance driving the pressure drops more then I think it should (12psi @205F @ 950rpm).
I know the oil is topped off. The oil temperature and pressure gauge are new enough to be reliably accurate. Pressures under load all look normal. The car is not leaking oil, at least any rate that could leave oil under the car when parked. Oil is 5W-30, about halfway through its 3K mile life. The car has 21K miles. Original parts, 2006 build.

Any ideas on where I can debug next? I would like this pressure to stay near 15psi. If the older wiser thread readers think this 12psi is a non issue, I'll ignore it. It may be worth noting that when my oil temp is at 205F the water temp stays glued at 181F, so the car is definitely cooling properly, I just have a 20 minute drive on the highway at 4000rpm to/from work which puts it at 205F in the hot summer.

 

I think your ok bro, fully warmed up I sit at 12-13psi at 950rpm and I don't leak or have ever had any issues even at 95C/205F. I have had it like that for over 2 years no problems since I put my gauges in. When you add gas does it jump up instantly to a reasonable psi?

 

Yeah it does. I think part of the reason I was concerned is I put my gauges in during the winter so I never saw it drop below 15PSI, so a few months later when summer turned around all of a sudden it looked like something had changed. I've read before that this behavior is exactly why the original gauge in our car is so useless, this is what Mazda is trying to hide, so I guess that is a more credible statement than I thought.
Thanks for sharing your numbers, lots of threads on here but I couldn't find many numbers in those threads

 

Yea man I wouldn't worry. I never seen the built in gauge move tbh lol. If everything sounds and feels normal I'd say it is. Like I said, I always sit at 12-13psi fully warmed up at idle. I wouldn't stress about it.