Oil Pressure concern on my new rig

[jmrwd3]

Hi all! I am up in Alaska for the summer, and I just bought a '95 Runner, which I am hoping to bring back home to Missouri so my '99 can have a friend until I get the body on the '95 fixed up and sold. I have a concern though....

The truck ended up on its side. It was previsouly owned by an older couple, who babied it its entire life, until it was recently sold to a 16 year old girl who immediatly tipped it. It was very slow, none of the glass broke, and the only body damage is the front fender and rear quarter panel. I notice when driving that the oil pressure gauge fluctuates a bit. It doesn't jump back and forth fast, just when engine speed changes. Here are two picts, one of idling, and one of reving the engine. The low pressure when idling is what concerns me. Is this unusual for this engine, or something inherent?

 

[fourwd1]

1. you didn't say what engine you have



2. it's normal

 

[jmrwd3]

Oh yeah I thought I forgot something! Its the 3.0 V6 SR5 w/ 4WD

 

[the_dingman]

Seems normal, though it might not hurt to have a tech look at it with a separate tool. The oil pressure gauges seem to fluctuate a lot based on the sending unit, and the mood of the engine as a whole.

 

[Tanner]

Yeah I have a similar problem. I just bought a '90 5spd V6 and I checked the oil level and it was full but when I drive it the tack goes below the quarter(?) line.

 

[jmrwd3]

While driving it is right in the middle, its just when idling, it seems dangerously low. I will get it checked at my next oil change by the pros with the diagnostics tools.

 

[Tanner]

While driving it is right in the middle, its just when idling, it seems dangerously low. I will get it checked at my next oil change by the pros with the diagnostics tools.

Yeah I think I'll do the same. I'm probably going to take it to Toyota and let them do a professional inspection of everything.

 

[90tr4]

my 90 4runner 3.0 does the same thing im starting to think its just a toyota thing

 

[RedApe]

my 90 4runner 3.0 does the same thing im starting to think its just a toyota thing

It is a Toyota thing (3.0L in particular), and it's normal.
I looked at 5 2nd gens before buying mine, and they all did the same.
Mine now, has better days than others...depending on how cranky it is.

 

[fishrod]

Mine does the same thing. V6 3.0.

I just thought that it was down to the heat of the Oil and also the speed of the engine.
ie, when the engine is cold (oil is thicker) the oil pressure is about in the middle. Once it warms up (oil gets hot and thins out) it drops to about 1/3 and usually sits at that point most of the time while running.
If im idling it goes way down to almost 1/5 but as soon as you rev the engine up a bit the oil pressure rises back to the normal 1/3.

As long as you got oil in the engine, I would think Low oil pressure would be better than high oil pressure!

 

[Slowrunner]

It is normal. my 94 with a 3.0 liter did it. my 87 with a 22re does it. while idling at aroun 750-1000 rpms the pressure doesn't need to be high. when the engine is running above 2000 rpms, it will require more pressure. the oil pump is driven by the crank shaft therefore when the crankshaft is turning it faster it will produce more pressure. if you'll notice the needle in the pictures is within the "normal" range, not at the "L" or the "H".

 

[1992YOTA4X4]

oil pressure

Mine does the same exact thing. Status quo for the YOTA. Just need to worry when it doesn't come back up though.