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Jim Grant's Tech Tips
89
Plymouth Voyager, High Oil Pressure
Q: What exactly does a high oil pressure
reading mean? I have an ‘89 Voyager with 70K+ miles that runs well, but
the oil pressure runs rather high while driving, at an idle it drops back
down to an average rate.
A: Inside
your vehicle’s engine is an oil pump which is connected to a maze of passages
that direct oil to every critical point. Critical point meaning where
lubrication by oil is needed. The oil pump is mechanically driven, so
as the engine turns the oil pump, it pumps oil. For the oil pump to move
oil it has to build some sort of pressure to do so. The result of this
pressure is referred to as oil pressure. There is good oil pressure and
there is bad oil pressure. Bad oil pressure can come two ways. Low oil
pressure, resulting in lack of enough oil getting to the critical points.
Then there is high oil pressure, which does things like blowing the oil
filter off, which results in low oil pressure and once again lack of oil
to critical points. I truly doubt that your Voyager is suffering from
dangerous high oil pressure. It’s likely that the pressure sensor on the
engine is lying and the gauge on the dash has joined in on the scheme.
To be sure, have your technician install a mechanical type oil pressure
gauge and compare the pressure readings to that of the gauge on the dash.
The fix will likely be a new oil pressure sensor.
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