Can anyone tell me what kind oil pressure I should be getting with the high volume oil pump in my 3.4 The old 2.8 was running between 30 and 55 on the gauge depending on enging RPM. Now (when it works that is, I think I have a bad connection, I havn't had a chance to check the connection) with the new high vol pump and the 3.4 the gauge reads 110 could be more, that's as high as it goes. Is this normal for the higher volume pump? the higher the better on oil pressure? If not could this hurt anything, could it damage the gauge, could this be the reason the gauge works sporadically.

First guess would be bad sender, connection, or bad gauge.

2nd, high volume does not mean high pressure. High volume just means that there is more oil flowing during a specific period than "normal" volume.

3rd, no, on the higher the pressure the better. Higher pressure isn't necessarily a good thing. With too much pressure, you can start blowing seals out or at least causing them to leak. Also with too much pressure, if you don't have the volume behind it, you can starve critical engine parts of oil and lead to a catastrophic failure.

My guess is that you've more than likely got something wrong with your gauge. Best to play it safe and hook up an actual gauge and see what it's reading. Remember, the factory oil pressure gauge is no more than a glorified idiot light really.

Richard <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Also, a good rule of thumb for oil pressure is roughly 10 psi for every 1000 rpm.

Richard <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you increase the volume wouldn't that naturally increase the pressure because the oil passages and holes are stll the same size. And can anyone tell me which sending unit is for the gauge and which one is for the idiot light. I disconnected both the wires for the two below the filter, the single wire to the big round diaphram type sender and the 3 pin plug to the smaller black one just off to the side of it. Neither one caused the idiot light to come one. The gauge not working at all now and I'm sure it's not a bad connection, I checked both connections so it must be the gauge or the sending unit. I suppose it could be a wire in the wiring harness, all the wires on the drivers side that go to the the three sending units below the power steering pump are in pretty bad shape, I thought I had them repaired well enought to work, it's certainly not an obvious problem with the wires. Any information or ideas on this would be greatly appreciated. I've also still got the starter drilling jug for the 3.4 if anyone is intrested in buying it. Thanks