Higher than normal oil pressure

[Bigmd]

Ok I’m sure i will take heat for this but a little back story. Two summers ago I had the oil light flicker on my 2002 3.4. I drove it home and was more than a quart low. I added oil but the engine to me seemed to make a different noise. A lot more clattering in my opinion . My mechanic looked at it and surmised no rod knock and deemed the motor ok. Since then i use high mileage synthetic with Lucas oil additive . The thick stuff. I have an auto meter oil gauge in cabin and she always reads between 4-6 lbs at idle and cats up to 30lb at 3000 rpm. It’s been fine for two years . Fast forward to last week , i find some droplets of oil under car .
Take the skids off and low and behold oil underneath. Looks like a possible rear main judging where it’s coming from. VC gaskets were done within last two years but i checked around and they are dry. Doesn’t seem to be too bad was 1/2 qt low . Sooooooo I read good things about ATP205 and decided to give it a go. I added as per instructions. Seems to have done nothing as it’s still leaking (lesson learned). What i did notice upon start up is oil pressure goes higher than normal . After driving it eventually comes down but at idle it stays between 6-8lbs . I’m gonna do an oil change and see what happens . Motor sounds the same too. Input welcome , thanks

 

[sleepydad]

Ok I’m sure i will take heat for this but a little back story. Two summers ago I had the oil light flicker on my 2002 3.4. I drove it home and was more than a quart low. I added oil but the engine to me seemed to make a different noise. A lot more clattering in my opinion . My mechanic looked at it and surmised no rod knock and deemed the motor ok. Since then i use high mileage synthetic with Lucas oil additive . The thick stuff. I have an auto meter oil gauge in cabin and she always reads between 4-6 lbs at idle and cats up to 30lb at 3000 rpm. It’s been fine for two years . Fast forward to last week , i find some droplets of oil under car .
Take the skids off and low and behold oil underneath. Looks like a possible rear main judging where it’s coming from. VC gaskets were done within last two years but i checked around and they are dry. Doesn’t seem to be too bad was 1/2 qt low . Sooooooo I read good things about ATP205 and decided to give it a go. I added as per instructions. Seems to have done nothing as it’s still leaking (lesson learned). What i did notice upon start up is oil pressure goes higher than normal . After driving it eventually comes down but at idle it stays between 6-8lbs . I’m gonna do an oil change and see what happens . Motor sounds the same too. Input welcome , thanks

have you ever checked compression? would be interested to know those numbers. also miles on it?

if your rear main seal is leaking, it's leaking. yes the only way to replace it is to remove the engine or transmission and yes that sucks.

if your motor is worn and has high millage IMO it's a bad idea to just start running thicker oil or start dropping in things to plug up the holes. keep running good quality oil of the 5w-30 type.

I have one truck that leaks a bit and I park it on a piece of cardboard and swap out the cardboard every once in a while.

The FSM indicates

Oil pressure At idle speed (normal operating temperature)
29 kPa (0.3 kgf/cm2, 4.3 psi) or more

At 3,000 rpm (normal operating temperature)
245 - 520 kPa (2.5 - 5.3 kgf/cm2, 36 - 75 psi)

I know exactly what mine was running last year and @ 3000 I was 75-80 psi with a brand new oil pump.

your oil pump is worn maybe? if your not getting good oil flow up to the top your main bearings will start wearing pretty quickly. oil cooler might have a restriction in it?

I have pulled 4 engines now and put 3 back in, it's not a hard job but you do need the a place to do it and an engine hoist.

 

[Bigmd]

Sleepy dad thanks . I have not checked compression and this is a JDM motor i had put in in 2016 spring. The result of a spun bearing. So there is less than 100,000 most likely. Worst case i will buy another motor and put on a stand and regasket everything while it’s out . Oddly enough I’m only driving this everyday right now because a deer smacked my other car . It’s currently in body shop. So i can afford to have it down for a while.