lifespan of an oil pump

thepedster said:
looks cool, isn't useful.
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Sorry but what?

thepedster said:
yeah, if you jump through every hoop of getting the right oil quality, thickness, temperature, atmospheric conditions, and the if your gauge is at all accurate (which you'll never know)
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1) Oil Quality, not an issue why would you be using anything except what the manufactures specifies? Doesn't really matter on brand long as the viscosities are correct.

2) As point number 1

3) Temperature, you should have a cold and hot readings, long as the engine is working correctly and within the manufactures temperature range, this isn't an issue.

4) Atmospheric Conditions, what are you taking about here elevation above sea level? Otherwise it's as point 3.

5) Are you saying that an oil pressure gauge which is manufactured and tested before shipping to ensure an accurate reading to +/- whatever mb is going to be so far out you can't trust the readings, does this happen with all gauges, can i trust any of them ever, if not what should i use instead, guesswork, seems you like that?
 
As Firestar said, the oil pressure doesn't vary as much as you think, and it can vary more than you think without being a problem.

If you perform the test and manage to meet all the requirements together (pressure, temperature and RPM) you probably have nothing to worry about.

If not, then you do have something to worry about, it might be the pump, it might be the grade of oil, it might be the bearings, but the oil pressure is below the manufacturer's spec.
 
Firestar_3x said:
Sorry but what?
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The golf in question has done over 225,000 miles. What is the oil in the engine, exactly what the book says it should be? £5 says it isn't, with those miles its getting into the 'as long as its got something in there' category.

Again your cold and hot readings, without an additional oil temp probe mounted in the correct place and calibrated properly you don't know your oil temp so you don't know what pressure it should be.

Again, the golf has done over 225,000 miles, is buying some premium £130 Stack oil gauge/£175 Defi oil gauge really valid? that money is better spent on routine maintenance surely?

A £10 ebay oil pressure gauge is worth jack all.

But again, they look cool :)
 
The range in the book is wider than that. £20 says if the pump is working, even if it's a worn engine and not on exactly the right oil, it still makes the required pressure.

A further £20 says if it's more than 15% below the bottom threshold, VMax will kill it.
 
and therefore id like to know whats likely to kill it before i do kill it. not attempted vmax for a long old time in this car
 
I dont see how a gauge would be able to tell you if your oil pump is going to explode.

If you're worried, it would be better to replace the pump than buy some gauges.

You have an oil pressure switch. If that is not reporting a problem, then whats the problem.
 
because that basically tells you that its about to die.

id rather it not get to that stage and do something about it before hand and at the same time, id rather not bother doing the oil pump if i dont have to. so pressure gauge it is
 
Matt82 said:
because that basically tells you that its about to die.

id rather it not get to that stage and do something about it before hand and at the same time, id rather not bother doing the oil pump if i dont have to. so pressure gauge it is
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You can spend your eyes looking at the road not crashing, and your ears focused on what your engine is doing, or your eyes glued to a gauge on the dash that once in the next 100,000 *might* show you something akin to oil pump failure before it happens.

If you drive a car lots, you get a feeling of what its going to do, you'll feel the power come go through the rev range, you'll hear odd noises that weren't there 5 minutes ago etc, same way you can feel a puncture coming along.

I'm all for a gauge, but it won't stop the pump failing, it won't save your engine, lifting off before to much damage is done will though, which is exactly what your oil pressure light tells you. An oil pressure light is also 10 times more likely to be seen when on than a gauge 10% higher than it normally might be.

I love oil.
 
Bug One said:
I dont see how a gauge would be able to tell you if your oil pump is going to explode.

If you're worried, it would be better to replace the pump than buy some gauges.

You have an oil pressure switch. If that is not reporting a problem, then whats the problem.
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Once the oil pressure light comes on you have a serious issue, checking the pressure of the pump will tell you how much wear the pump has taken and how efficient the pump is working.

The oil pump could be working at 60% yet the dash light may not come on.
 
You could do the old rally trick of putting higher pressure switch in, oil light on at idle, but should dissapear with any revs.

Or you could do bangernomics right and not spend money where you probably don't need to.
 
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