Green

What should my oil pressure be at about.. at Idle... WOT ?

I think mine is a little low... It runs at about 10-15 at idle... Is that low? or am I just worrying for no reason?

IF that is low.. what could be my problem perhaps ?

86' Base model.. Just rebuilt engine.. that is major reason why I am worrying... SOMETHING has to be wrong!

Thank you..

HAILERS

Hi Green. I'll bet big bucks its the the "o"ring on the front cover. Go to the Mazdatrix.com site and look under Frequently Asked Questions. There is an article on the front cover and the o'ring. I had the same problem. I eliminated the cover gasket and used plain ole RTV and the o'ring of course. It will work. Does not take excessive amounts of rtv. Watch for a needle size hole on the cover, on the left hand side. Keep the rtv out of it. I have no leaks and the oil pressure recovered. They have graphic pictures on the Mazdatrix site. OOOps. Its a pain to pull the front cover with the engine installed. Pans gotta go. Radiator off etc. Better you than me. Of course it could be something else. Big bucks on the cover gasket being the wrong one.

HAILERS

Here's the URL http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/oring.htm

cymfc3s

are you getting that reading from the stock oil pressure gauge? The pressure sending units go bad and are innacurate at best. Please, dont pull the front cover.

Green

ARG =( I doubt it's the pressure sender.... If you have several possibilities with my car... it ALWAYS ends up the worst =( haha

Is it safe to drive it like this ?

Can't I perhaps take the front cover off without taking off the oil pan ? Just drain the oil... take off the oil pan screws holding it to the front cover.... pop off the front cover and do my work.... and put it back on? I know it would be a **** IF possible, but I really don't want to remove the engine AGAIN =(

For the meantime I will purchase a new oil pressure sender... But I don't have a clue which to get or where... Any ideas? Any How-To's webpages?

Thank you so much guys..

HAILERS

Maybe I did go in the Panic Mode suggesting the front cover gasket. Should have said check the pressure with a mechanical gauge first. The reason I suggested the cover gasket is that I am familiar with your previous posts on the rebuild. Remember the *o'ring installed not quite right?* problem. I assume you went to the Mazdatrix site and viewed the FAQ? The gasket sets from Mazda do NOT sell you the correct part. I've been down this road. Its just like the FAQ site demonstrates. Unfortunatly I knew not about this and swapped out another oil pump prior to finding the correct fix. And yes, you do not have to pull the engine, but look at the stuff that has to be removed: water pump, fan. radiator, altenator. The hard part was getting at the front bolts that hold the pan on. There is an obstruction in the way, but it can be done one half a turn at a time on the bolts. Your problem sounds and resonates so similar to the same problem I had. You could get a mechanical gauge . Take the banjo bolt out of the rear oil hose. Drill and tap a hole the size of the aftermarket gauge. reinstall. I reccomend that before spending money on a new sender. I still think its the cover gasket.

HAILERS

One other thing, the mechanical gauge I can guarantee will read five to ten lbs higher than the stock unit. Do not let that mislead you. Also I doubt that the pressure you have has done any damage. I doubt that you've been red lining the car every chance you get on a brand new rebuild.

HAILERS

Oh Green. I just re-read your post. No the cover will not come off without pulling the pan. Mazda engeneers (you know the ones, the ones who gave you the logicon, wiper switch etc) decided that they would put what I think is a oil pressure regulator on the bottom of the front cover that will prevent the cover from coming straight forward off the eccentric shaft. Lucky us. Oh shucks, it'll probably just be the sender unit. Right?

Green

DOH! I forgot about the ecc shaft! haha... I was thinking the front cover could be unbolted on bottom and front... then pulled upward off... HAHA MAYBE I could take the ecc shaft out first and then the front cover! Yea =) that's it!

Maybe I should just sell it and buy a TII ? I want boost hehe..

My oil goes up great when I'm pushing it at all... just at idle is at like 15ish... I will have to get a mech guage and check it...

Today I recieved my new oil cooler line bolt (the one on the rear bottom of the engine..) my old one is stipped good, and I don't think I have it tight enough.. but I've only seen it drip 1 drop of oil so far... and I check my oil every day... who knows.. maybe this will solve my problem (not!)

Thanks again guys!

Phungus

My oils pressure starts off fine (20-30lbs) with the engine cold but goes dead or not as responsive when it gets hot. How bad is this? If it's the sending unit how much of a bitch is it to replace? Still on original engine w/140k.

HAILERS

Phungugs.......The sending unit located below the oil filter is not hard to remove. Its got wrench flats, 14mm I think. Not a lot of room to work but not that difficult. Like cymfc3s said, try a mechanical gauge to find out what the real pressure is. The factory sender unit is ungodly costly. On Mr Green's car, the thing is he just did a rebuild, and on most of the gaskets sets made by Mazda, there is a fairly good chance they supplied the wrong fron t cover gasket. Going to the MAZDATRIX URL in one of the above post you'll see why and how the o'ring in the front cover gets blowen out , does not seat properly etc. I've been there and done that and it sounded just like what happen to Green. When hot the engine has very little pressure on the factory gauge and if a mechanical gauge is put on it will indeed show a liittle higher but still low when hot. At 3000 rpm if I remember the mech gauge read 35 plus or minus. It was all due to the o'ring in the cover and the oil spraying by it and around it. Thats why Mazdatrix put that article on their site. I doubt if Green hurt his car, but the low pressure does no good. Just a humble opinion from one who has screwed this up before. Well, really Mazda Company who supplied the wrong gasket.

Felix Wankel

You can buy a metric to SAE adapter so that you don't have to drill on your housing, if you decide to run a mechanical gauge.

copandengr

The front cover can be removed with the engine still in the car. The bolts from the oil pan to the front cover are a bit of trouble but they are accessible with a decent wrench. The regulator valve referred to earlier does not interfere with removing the front cover.

The eccentric shaft will not interfere because the front pulley hub must be removed first. This leaves a large hole where the oil seal is. The seal rides on the hub, not the shaft. You therefore have room to tilt the front cover away from the engine at the top to break the seal on the oil pan gasket then pull the front cover forward. It will come off easily. Do not pry with too much force, remember there are locating dowels in the front end housing that the front cover must slid off. Patience is a virtue here.

I speak from experience. Shortly after a complete overhaul I had to remove the front cover to replace the expansion plugs in the front end housing.

Just be sure to measure the distance from the eccentric shaft hub face to the eccentric shaft after removing the bolt but BEFORE you remove the hub. When you reinstall the hub (press it on by hand) this measurement should not be different by more than a few thousandths greater. A difference of 50 thou or more than the original measurement indicates the end play needle bearing(s) have slipped out of their place and this must be remedied before continuing. The factory shop manual addresses this as well as the Mazdatrix web site.

Felix Wankel

If you wedge the clutch pedal down, the needle bearings should not move.

Green

I replaced my oil cooler line bolt .. The old one (which was stripped and not on TOO tight) DIDN'T have washer (I forgot or lost em.. so shoot me =) I put the new one on with new washers... and didn't see any change (like I thought) in oil pressure..

I looked at the pressure in more depth.. it's at around 10-15 psi at idle. (750ish rpm, my idle is reallly bouncy right now.. no clue why..) If I ride it up to about 6000 rpm, it's nearly max psi on the oil pressure gauge (110 PSI I think?)

I've been driving this to work and whatnot.. I am just going to say screw it for now ... I've been taking that engine out and putting it back in so much.. I'm getting anoyed haha.. and I don't think I want to attempt the front cover removal with the engine still in, I will most likely pinch my torrington bearing again...

Do you guys really think this is a big problem ? how high does your oil pressure get to at redline on yer 2nd Gen?? (7k or 8k...)

I am, however, going out tommorow and removing that pressure sender... and putting it on again, Maybe it's not on tight enough and leaking pressure there showing a low pressure? (yea right!) I can wish right? Maybe while I'm doing that, I'll pop on a Turbo =)

Thanks a lot guys!

HAILERS

Copandenger.... thanks for the insite on the pan not having to be removed. Perhaps I should have studied the thing a little more before I removed the pan. Ann Green, it sounds like you have good oil pressure on the high end. I get only 60-65 on the factory gauge at 3000rpm. The mechanical runs around 75. Hot idle around 35-40.

Six Rotors

iTrader: (17)

You should also be aware that oil pressure at idle is dependant on the weight of oil used,eg if you use 20W50 you normally have higher oil pressure than if you use 10W30.At higher rpm there is no difference because of the oil pressure control system.You should also be aware that Mazda do not quote an idle oil pressure,their specification is 64-78 psi at 3000rpm (everything hot).
If you are really concerned the best advice is to put a mechanical gauge on and check what you have.