Oil Pressure

[aernan]

My ST is the first car I have had an oil pressure gauge. I have no real idea what it should be reading. These are my finding please tell me if they are normal.

Cold Start:
3/4 or above on the gage until warm

Warm Start:
Goes to 50% then comes down

Idle:
in the lower 1/4 area. Seems low to me

Driving:
around 50%

When the car had low milage the gage never went down to the lower 1/4 area. Now I have 2200 miles on the car it lives down there at idle. I'm guessing this is normal.

Questions:
Does the wear level of the oil change the oil pressure?
How much variation should I expect based on outside temp?
Does the now lower oil pressure at idle suggest the engine is now broken in?

[Sponsor]

[mikebontoft]

it's fine. (basic answer I know)

[KaputtEqu1pment]

One of the first questions i asked when I got my car. It'll be ok. Oil will be colder and this a little bit more dense and therefore more pressure. Basically, don't mash the throttle on a winter morning (or on a cold engine in general) and you'll be A-Ok

[vanace]

You have a new car. Your oil pressure is fine. Get used to it and don't bug the dealer about it. People who bug the dealer about oil pressure is why for many years we had a idiot oil pressure gage that didn't tell us the truth. Now they are coming with a true oil pressure reading. Don't ruin it for us gear heads by whining about oil pressure. If you have any oil pressure at idle you are fine. Quit worrying about it. Why do you think the idle oil pressure is low? Are you some kind of engineer? Do you know more than Ford's design engineers? Peoples opinions are over rated (mine included) so let the engineers do there job. low oil pressure at idle is normal. The oil pump isn't turning as fast as it would at crusing speed DUH!

[aernan]

like I said in my post. I don't know what's normal because I've never had an oil gage.

[shineboy]

My car runs basically the same: pegged when cold, normal cruise ~50% (~35lbs)... I agree idle looks alow 25% or ~16lbs when warm. I am at ~3000 miles and just about to do the first oil change

[aernan]

I have not looked in the manual. What is the oil change interval?

[shineboy]

Originally Posted by aernan

I have not looked in the manual. What is the oil change interval?

Supplment says see manual. Same as standard Focus but I will go by severe duty since its turbo

[acbauza]

Originally Posted by shineboy

Supplment says see manual. Same as standard Focus but I will go by severe duty since its turbo

For the sake of the turbo and all the high temp that's in there use the full synthetic. Having already done mine at 1200 miles after tracking the car I can say you will notice a difference in the oil press and oil temps.

I change mine every 3000 to 5000 miles under "normal" conditions, but under track conditions I will dump it every 3000 period.