GoHashiri Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 Hi all, i was trying my hardest to refrain from posting another low oil pressure thread but after scouring the internet, both this forum, the US forum and even reddit. I have turned up basically nothing. Now I know I'm going to be pointed in the direction of installing a mechanical gauge but here's to hoping someone has experience the same issue as me. Removing the old oil sensor seems to be a daunting task also, given the bugger seems to crack the housing so easily. Vehicle specs: 2002 JDM Fairlady Z VQ35DE 85k-ish miles Oil service history within spec - although this doesn't mean jack considering the real problems come from not maintaining the level. No notable noises from engine. Since owning the car I've had a problem where hot idle is basically at around 5-10psi - probably closer to the 5 mark. Throughout the rev range it's fine, it moves in sync with engine speed and is about 60psi at 3k. After doing some digging before, I kind of wrote off the possibility of it beng the oil galleys and put it down to a whack sensor. However, during a drift event on the weekend - slow skidpan practise at 1st/2nd gear - things got really hot and the PS fluid was boiling over. The oil ended up thinning out to the point where the pressure reading was 0 and the pressure light came on. Obviously i cr*ped my pants, came off track and let things cool down. I checked the oil (of course) and it was fine, so proceded to chuck 200ml in there anyway. Basically, this whole escapade has gotten me concerned about bearing wear and subsequently failure. I'm going to install a magnetic drain plug next weekend and run some thicker oil to see whether this has any impact on the idle pressure. This way, the following oil change - if i make it to that - should tell a story. What i experienced seems somewhat similar to: Along with what this guy is talking about on reddit: reddit dot com/r/350z/comments/6foudu/0_psi_at_idle/ So what I'm trying to figure out is if anyone has experienced this issue before? I'm getting in touch with my garage next week to get pricing on an engine swap - I'm gonna guestimate it's about £1,000, whilst engines - forunately plentiful - are around £500. A piccy from the event because everyone loves pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMANALEX Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 First thing that you must do is check out the oil pressure using a mechanical gauge. The oil pressure sensor is very easy to swop out and the mid sump casing will only crack if you overtighten the sensor which has a tapered thread. Talk about considering an engine swop is extreme and utter nonsense until you check out the true engine oil pressure. Do the simple basics first and come to an informed diagnoses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoHashiri Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 (edited) 56 minutes ago, ZMANALEX said: First thing that you must do is check out the oil pressure using a mechanical gauge. The oil pressure sensor is very easy to swop out and the mid sump casing will only crack if you overtighten the sensor which has a tapered thread. Talk about considering an engine swop is extreme and utter nonsense until you check out the true engine oil pressure. Do the simple basics first and come to an informed diagnoses. Appreciated ZMANALEX - I thought the cracking was on removal. I have a 1/4 drive torque wrench at hand. Presumably you just nip the pressure gauge adaptor in there and run the car? Edited May 10, 2020 by GoHashiri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMANALEX Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 2 minutes ago, GoHashiri said: Appreciated ZMANALEX - I thought the cracking was on removal. I have a 1/4 drive torque wrench at hand. Presumably you just nip the pressure gauge adaptor in there and run the car? It will only crack on removal if it has previously been overtightened and weakened, just make sure that you turn it anti-clock on removal. Yes just carefully nip up the gauge, the worse that can happen if to loose is an oil leak. Make sure that you use a good known calibrated gauge, other wise you will get a false psi reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoHashiri Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share Posted May 23, 2020 (edited) Performed the mechanical oil gauge test today and it more or less read the same as the internal gauge reading. The gauge wasn't confirmed as good but the oil that came from the sending unit hole produced a few metal particles, some silver, some copper. There's still no odd noises from the car but I'm pricing in a replacement engine now. I know the better route is a rebuild but seeing as engines over here are £300 - £500, it seems the more financially viable route. I'll probably drive it till it goes, will update here on how many miles i get out of it. Is there anything I should be thinking about replacing whilst the engine is out? headers perhaps... Edited May 23, 2020 by GoHashiri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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