So, I believe stock oil pressure ranges from 20-80psi. I'm sitting at like 14psi at 1k. Granted, my oil pressure gauge is a cheap mechanical autometer gauge, but it still worries me a little bit. Anybody running similar pressures and having issues (or no issues)?

My old sr5 would have almost NO pressure on hot days with 10w30. 15-40 was much better but would still dip low and 20-50 made it feel sluggish, and boarderline high pressure on start up, but had good pressure on the really hot days. When the 7ac went in, It had a different oil pump, and had ideal pressure on 10-40 at all temps, but traded it before the warm months...
I would suspect the gauge first.

The service manual says you should see at least 4.3 psi @ idle and 71 psi @ 3000 rpm with the engine at operation temperature.

However, I've found that service manual op specs aren't very conservative (probably for warranty purposes) so you'll definitely wanting to be seeing higher pressures, especially at idle, than Toyota spec. 4.3 psi @ warm idle seems really low to me, but I haven't observed real world 4age op before. I'd say 14 psi seems good considering what the service manual says. Based on past experience with other engines I usually like to see at least 18 psi at warm idle, but perhaps that's not in the cards for the stock 4age oil system.

Autometer is one of the best gauges on the market. Mechanical or not it should be about as reliable and accurate as you will find unless it is faulty or damaged.

I dunno about that Yoshi. The needle fell off. Does that sound like a reliable gauge? lol. I had to take it apart and re-install the needle.

Then the gauge was dropped or defective or something. Autometer gauges are run on baja cars, rally cars and race cars and are designed for that environment. They may not be the absolute top of the line but they are up there pretty close. Did you call them to see if they would warranty it?

autometer is pretty junky.

I'd love to hear where and why these opinions on Autometer are coming from. I mean they have been around for a very long time and are in fact run by many race teams in race cars.
If you search Autometer in Amazon you will find almost every gauge with reviews is 4.5-5 stars.
Sure there are more expensive gauges and I'm sure they have their advantages but does that mean that Autometer doesn't make a quality product? Maybe it's just me hanging out with the AW11 crowd too long or something but when most people that I come across are buying $20 gauges and many of them reasonably happy with their quality, it's hard to believe that one of the leading names in gauges are "junky". Sure Defi and a few others might have a slightly better reputation and may have some higher end products. but is it a benefit that will be worth the cost to most of us?

http://www.specialstage.com/forums/show ... =autometer

http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showth ... ght=gauges

Autometer makes some great gauges, but they also make some cheap gauges.

Here are my issues with my Autometer gauge:

1) it's cheap. Literally this one costs like $35 new. And, the needle fell off. I haven't dropped it.

2) It's mechanical. Slow to respond, which makes readings inaccurate. I don't like having to hold my rpms for 2 seconds while it catches up.

3) It has gotten stuck. I started my car, it stayed pegged at zero. I gave it a little tap and then it released and shot up to the proper reading.


Other than that, it's not a bad little gauge. Especially for the price. Autometer makes some higher end gauges, but they're still on the cheap side. Defi, Innovate, STRI, now those are some high quality gauges.

Other than that, no issues.

Have you talked to autometer about these problems? Any of the manufacturers you mentioned will have the occasional defective gauge. A good company will acknowledge the problem and try to fix it if it is possible it could be a workmanship issue. If you don't try to resolve the issue with the manufacturer it's hardly their fault you have a bad gauge.
And lol about Innovate. Read reviews for their WB failures and issues people have had with their products lol.

I have a few oil pressure up kits, bew spring for your oil pump and a brass oil return restrictor for the block..pm if interested i only have two spare kits

yoshi- no i haven't talked to them about it. I highly doubt it's still under any kind of warranty. This gauge has been kicking around in a garage for a verrryy long time. You're right, every manufacturer has a lemon every now and again. I'm just not a huge fan of autometer. I don't particularly like the look of the guages, and I'm not a huge fan of the seemingly cheap materials.

gaijin- pm sent.

minimum (OST spec) oil pressure @ idle, warm should be 8psi