Oil pressure light on

[Intragration]

Well as for zinc additives i dont believe in them 99% of them are a waste of money in my opinion.

Anytime i drop a motor in a car even if its been brand new out the crate i always install an Oil pressure guage and a Temp gauge they are a must have in my opinion. And i think you can buy cluster of sunpro Temp, Volt, and OIl pressure for like $30 at Oreillys or Autozone i dont think Napa carrys sunpro

I agree with zinc additives being questionable, but on a flat tappet motor, you need oil with sufficient zinc. Modern motors with roller lifters don't need it. Flat tappets do. I use VR1 because the zinc is engineered into the oil.

I couldn't agree more on the gauges though. Expensive? MOTORS are expensive. Gauges are cheap. I have Auto Meters electrics on all my cars. Probably about $150 for oil and temp, and an extra $50 or so for volts, which I use now since my alternator went out one time and left me stranded. Keeping yourself in the dark about your motor's most important vital signs because you feel like a slave being informed about them...this doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[oranGekrate]

I ordered some autometer mechanical gauges oil/water for the pontiac. I knew I would eventually anyhow. For my oil what should I use as far as viscosity goes. I was thinking of getting my gauge hooked up and run it with the 10w-30 I currently have in it now to get a base line. Since the oil change is only 500mi or less then add the lucas additive and see where it goes using that combo. ORRR, should I just change it out and run say 10w-40(or thicker)and the lucas. Just thinking out loud :lol:

 

[jacobdavis1979]

I run 10w30 and just the one quart of lucas. Find what your pressure is first if you wanna see changes with the lucas.

But truth be told i bet your motor is fine and that light is being well an idiot lol

 

[oranGekrate]

I run 10w30 and just the one quart of lucas. Find what your pressure is first if you wanna see changes with the lucas.

But truth be told i bet your motor is fine and that light is being well an idiot lol

I sure hope your right about the motor being fine. I was at the point of saving enough money for some new shoes for the pontiac and this cropped up. If this works out I'll be getting those rims.

 

[Intragration]

I also run 10W30. If you really want to blow your mind, check out bobistheoilguy.com and read his motor oil university section.

 

[jacobdavis1979]

Cool i hope you get your wheels too. Its always a pain when an unexpected problem shows up. I just got done charging the A/C on my truck this morning and the factory welds on the compresser are leaking lol looks like i gotta buy a compresser. So no interior touch up for me this weekend lol

 

[oranGekrate]

Cool i hope you get your wheels too. Its always a pain when an unexpected problem shows up. I just got done charging the A/C on my truck this morning and the factory welds on the compresser are leaking lol looks like i gotta buy a compresser. So no interior touch up for me this weekend lol

That's the way life is, we go from one obstacle to another, some are good some not so good, but we keep on chuggin along. Thanks everyone for the comments, I'll update the thread when I get the gauges installed.

 

[Longroof79]

Charlie,
Try going back to fossil oil. I'd stick to the 20-50 wt...or 10-40. I noticed in my old Porsche, I had been running Mobil 1 synthetic and always noticed when it warmed up at idle, the oil light would flicker and the(VDO) oil pressure gauge would read around 10+psi.
I ended up going back to fossil oil using Valvoline VR1 20-50 wt and the oil light no longer comes on and the oil pressure at idle is slightly higher. Just my observation. Is it a coincidence...I don't think so.

I also used to run Amsoil and Mobil 1 in my wagon, but also went back to using Shell Rotella. 10-40 wt.

Don't get me wrong, I like synthetic oils. Oil changes are at longer intervals and oil circulation seems better with synthetics. Synthetics allegedly don't break down like fossil oils do. So as you see, there's pros and cons on both sides.

As for gauges, I'm a firm believer in them. Currently my wagon is using the stock Pontiac gauges which suck. I was using an Autometer temp gauge and a cheapo Suntune oil pressure gauge. They both both got the job done.

I also used a T-fitting for for the oil pressure sending light and mechanical gauge. It's easy.

BTW, SW gauges have been around when I was a kid. I always seen them in all the Hot Rods. They were the standard of the day.
So you can't go wrong with SW, VDO, Autometer. Equis gauges look good, but they're garbage. The quality just isn't there.

 

[oranGekrate]

Jack, been wondering where you've been lately. Hope all is well for you and yours. As far as dino, that's what I'm running now, went from syn to dino 10w-30. The light never came on until the other day. So now I'm going to get the autometers mechanical and see where it's really at. I may or may not tee the two. I looked at the Stewart Warners but couldn't find anything that my poor old eyes would see easily at a glance. I ordered some autometer phantoms because the white face black numbers and orange needle are great for contrast. I know, white face gauges, but I want to see them...I've been thinking to use the rotella also, I believe it has a higher zinc level for the flat tap user.

 

[Longroof79]

Hi Charlie,
I've been here, but not as often. Thanks man, hope everything and everyone is well at your end. I haven't heard back how your steering component upgrade went.

Yeah, the Autometers Phantoms are quite visible...easy to read. You won't regret installing them. So you're going with a mechanical oil pressure gauge. I think they're pretty accurate for the most part. You'll just have to run the copper tubing thru the firewall to a fitting. Using good gauges really helps keep you mindful on what the engine is doing. I know what you mean about being neurotic, always checking the gauges. They sure beat relying on idiot lights.

Regarding the use of Rotella. I've heard that they've actually cut down the amount of zinc in the formula. The Valvoline VR1 has a higher rate of zinc. The last time I used to see it in the parts store it was around $6.00 + per quart.
Rotella is about $13.00 per gallon at Wally world.

Talk to you soon buddy. 🙂