M42 Just Rebuilt: Oil Pressure question

[Gerta318is]

Ralph -

Yeah.  I think I will run the lighter oil (still dino) and then switch to Royal Purple Synthetic which I have in the garage.  I have a magnetic drain plug so I will be able to see if any particulate is ending up in the oil.  I work from home so I almost never drive my daily (the son's 325e) and my 318 has been sitting in the garage.

I need to fix a power steering leak and then give her a wash ... then drive the snot out of her.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Kevin

[Warsteiner]

Sounds like a plan Kevin!!

Good Luck...

Cheers,
~Ralph

[Gerta318is]

Ralph - I got busy and am finally getting back to this.  I had my machinist come over today and he brought an external pump (oil) which we used to back flow the engine through the filterhousing. The system with car off held a rock solid 50 PSI throughout the fill. Once finished we reconnected the oil pressure tester and got the above results. It appears that I had air in the system which was forced out by the back pressure. Car is running normally now.  Oil pressure is 20 at first turn of key and goes to 65-68 quickly. Engine oil light went out immediately.

I think I am good now ... I learned a lot in the diagnostic process.  FWIW, I changed the oil three times (30wt, 10/40, and back to 20/50) and the car seems happiest with the 20/50.  I'm going to drive the car tomorrow and will let you know how it goes.

Cheers, K.

[Darky]

Great to hear you found the problem!

[Warsteiner]

Awesome!! Keep an eye on it.


Cheers,
~Ralph

[Beeker1972]

I'm trying Shell Rotella T 15w-40 in my E30 to see how it goes.  Going to change it every 3 months so about 3900 miles intervals.  In my wife's 95 e36 325i I use 20w-50 Castrol GTX every 2000 miles, but I think I'm going to extend it to every 4000 miles or 3 months.  In AZ it's hard to find 20w-50 Castrol GTX at your local Wally World, but Shell Rotella T 15w-40 is easy to find.