So you probably remember one of your instructors telling you that for every 1000 RPMs, you need 10 PSI of oil. For today’s modern engines, that’s not required. Why? Well, it’s the clearances of the bearing. They’re a lot tighter now, so you don’t need as much oil pressure. Also, oil pumps have changed. In other words, you don’t have a pump that’s spinning at maximum pressure and then bleeding off that pressure with a pressure control valve. It is only pumping enough oil and volume of oil to make sure that the engine is being supplied properly, and this is critical if you have an engine with a variable valve timing system. In other words, you’ve got oil control valves, and you may have one of these also on the oil pump itself. This way, it can keep up with the volume by changing the geometry of the pump and not the pressure control valve.
So with this, if you decide, “I need more PSI,” and you decide, “I’m going to go to a heavier weight oil,” like this 20W50 from a 0W20 or 0W30, it’s not going to work because the oil pressure is being regulated on the engine with the pump and also other controls. So stick with the oil recommended by the manufacturer. Also, the filter matters even more now. If you have a restrictive filter, well, that’s going to cause issues for the oil pressure, no matter where it is, in the bearings, or in the valve train. So just keep these in mind when you’re looking at the oil pressure value with a scan tool or with a gauge itself. This way, you’re going to know that the oil pressure is right for the engine. I’m Andrew Markel. Thank you very much.
This video is sponsored by Auto Value & Bumper to Bumper.
