VDO Oil Pressure Gauge Accuracy Options

[yeahmag]

I'm starting to gather that my new VDO oil pressure gauge might not be all that great. Tonight (first time out at night) it was reading near 0lbs at idle, but the idiot light was not coming on (dual pole sender). Normally I see somewhere between 7-10lbs on the gauge when hot. My suspicion is that the voltage was lower (at idle) to the gauge because the headlights and what not were on.

I seem to remember RatWell saying these gauges weren't all that accurate, but being off by 10lbs is just silly. Gauge perked right up off idle and gave me well over 10lbs per 1K rpm. Are there any gauges that might be more accurate at the lower rpms than these? Aircraft Spruce is my favorite vendor for this stuff, but nothing they sell has any low PSI resolution in an electric gauge.

[a914622]

I ran into almost the same thing on my little diesel. When Hot the light would come on. I figured it was the sender,changed it and had the same problem. I read the vdo senders came on at 7.5 lbs and stock came on at 5?

So I tested the engine with a manual gage and holly crap 6lbs at idle hot. Not good for a turbo motor. I ended up adding an oil cooler with thermal plate and blue printing the oil pump. (oil temp was in the 230-240 range)

I would recommend seeing if a local hydraulic shop can loan you a manual gage and check at idle. the one i used was like 6 inch dia and only went to 30lbs.


jcl