Friday, August 14, 2009 - 09:58 am, by: Frank Csapo(264ttr)
I am concerned about my oil pressure level, mainly on startup and a few minutes afterward. I am also experiencing a leak from my rear main seal, not the first time either so I'm wondering if it's related.
On immediate startup my oil pressure gauge reads 120PSI. This seems to vary with ambient temperature, the warmer it is outside, the less pressure. I have seen it peak at just over 130PSI when travelling not long after startup.
Is this a normal thing? Should it be lower? Once the engine heats up to operating temperature, oil pressure at idle sits around 40-60PSI, but can go back to over 90PSI on boost.
I use Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 oil. My sump and pickup have been modified to clear my Volvo's crossmember, and capacity has increased slightly. I use a Prosport electric oil pressure gauge with the sender mounted on a sandwich plate at the oil filter.
Any feedback is much appreciated.
Ben Lipman Goo Roo NSW Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car
Friday, August 14, 2009 - 03:00 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Search! LOL
There have been a few of us (Me included) who fitted an oil pressure gauge and subsequently panicked when it went off the scale.
I run 5W30 oil and my oil pressure is around 60psi at idle and over 100psi once even a small amount of throttle is applied, and at startup. My gauge only goes to 100psi, so it really only acts as a warning that something major has let go. I really should get around to buying another one.
Friday, August 14, 2009 - 03:20 pm, by: Frank Csapo(264ttr)
I did search with a few different search terms but couldn't find anything
Basically I'm just trying to determine why my rear main seal keeps leaking, and my first stop in the investigation has been the possibility of excess pressure somewhere causing the seal to blow out.
Peter Nitschke Junk Filterer South Australia UZZ30 UZZ31
Friday, August 14, 2009 - 03:40 pm, by: Frank Csapo(264ttr)
Yes, it was replaced when I did my engine conversion in late 2006. It was replaced again when I had to change my clutch about 10 months later. Was fine for a while and now it's been leaking again for the last 4 or 5 months - only very gradually, but it's been enough to put oil on my clutch and now it will slip in 3rd, 4th and 5th under WOT and full boost.
Ben Lipman Goo Roo NSW Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car
Friday, August 14, 2009 - 06:10 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Frank Csapo wrote on Friday, August 14, 2009 - 03:20 pm:
I did search with a few different search terms but couldn't find anything
Yes. I have difficulty finding relevant information with the search function on here, but I have difficulty with anything other than Google. I am certainly not a Boolean expert. It doesn't help that most posts have titles that in no way reflect the question raised or general gist of a thread. The second issue is there is often good information that comes up further down the thread, but isn't really "on topic".
I believe I may have a small leak in my rear main seal also. The track car slips in third and fourth for the first lap or two of every session. Seeing as i need to get everything else up to temperature it isn't really an issue. I will eventually have to look at it though.
Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 04:32 pm, by: Frank Csapo(264ttr)
The PCV is my next port of call, I want to try that before having to remove the gearbox to get to the rear main. Though I think it's inevitable anyway as my clutch plate is now oil soaked.
Sunday, August 16, 2009 - 06:47 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
I replaced mine recently after my rear main was leaking. It kept leaking for a week (must have been residual oil) but has now stopped, which was a huge relief. Valve was pretty pricey though, $100 NZ paesos - better than taking the transmission out I guess.
Sunday, August 16, 2009 - 11:09 pm, by: Frank Csapo(264ttr)
Sounds like I should jump on it then. I think the previous Japanese owner of my 1JZ engine wasn't too friendly with it so there's every chance the PCV is blocked up to all buggery. Didn't get a chance to have a look this weekend but hopefully one day after work this week I can sus it out.
By the way, is the PCV valve something that needs to be bought from Toyota? Or are they a generic thing that you can just pick up from Auto 1 or Repco? Probably a n00bish question, but since my last motor was a Volvo K-Jet affair, I'm still learning the ropes of these more complex motors.
Monday, August 17, 2009 - 06:25 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
Not sure, I got mine from Toyota, and it didn't have any signs of being made by anyone else on it. The old one broke off while I was removing it so I couldn't tell if it was still working at all, but it did have a bit of grunge in it.
Monday, August 17, 2009 - 08:07 am, by: Robert Day(Lexsmaz)
Its as you say a good idea to look at the PCV, but i would not replace it unless its gunged up & you cant clean it, carby clean etc should work fine, but i would be mainly looking at the breather pipe that runs off the other cam cover & breathes to the intake side of the turbo's again unlikely to clog up but certainly under boost i would imagine it would flow a hell of a lot more than the pcv side of things ..
Whats it like inside the cam covers are they clean are all gunged up, if gunged up it will certainly restrict the breather side of things as they try to vent out excess fumes ..
How tight is the seal when it was fitted into the housing ? Does it actually blow out or just leak ? if it blows out its loose or as you said to much crankcase pressure .. if it leaks you need to look as to how its fitted as in damage ? Did you lube the seal lips when fitted etc .. Was it fitted flush & not cockeyed etc, etc ..
On another note is this the Volvo that was written up on that guy's web site ( cant think of his name at the moment )Do you have any Photos, I'm toying with the idea of doing the same to my 242GT ...
Monday, August 17, 2009 - 03:50 pm, by: Frank Csapo(264ttr)
Robert, Haven't taken the cam covers off, though inspection of the underside of the oil cap showed a bit of gunk so I'd imagine it to be similar inside.
The rear main was fitted by a mechanic, and I'm not sure if it just leaks or blows out entirely. The leak is minimal, but enough to wet the bottom of the bellhousing and drip small patches onto the ground. I assume the seals were all fitted correctly at the time, and now I've had two of them die so I'm thinking the cause lies elsewhere other than the seal.
I possibly am the Volvo guy you mention, I did a write up of my car online. Check it out here:
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 - 08:38 am, by: Frank Csapo(264ttr)
Rob, The car weighs 1360kg without me in it. I had it weighed as part of the process for the engineering certificate. Suprisingly it's not that much of a difference between the old configuration and the new. One of the biggest differences was gearbox weight, with my R154 coming in at 52kg, over the Volvo M45 at around 35kg or so. The engine is made of lighter materials as well, and the radiator is now all aluminium. So there's been a trade off between lighter materials vs more heavy duty parts, but yes, overall the car is a bit heavier.
The 1JZ fits in nicely now, but it wasn't without considerable shoe-horning with modifications to the sump, floorpan and transmission tunnel.
And yep....seeing people's faces when they lose to a Swedish tissue box does make it all worthwhile!