I was wondering if my oil pump is going bad?

First we would need to know when this occurs. Assuming the oil level is at the full mark!. If the pressure goes up during acceleration and down at idle when engine is fully warmed up, then this is normal. An engine requires 10 psi of oil pressure per 1,000 rpm (ex. 20 psi at 2,000 rpm, 25 psi at 2,500 rpm, and so on). If the gauge is moving back and forth erratically at idle, i would say the gauge is bad. If it drops to 0 while accelerating I would say your oil pump is bad. If from time to time it seems to work and other times it seems not to work, I would say the oil pressure sending unit for the gauge is bad.

If the pump failed you would start to here a Knocking noise from the engine in a short period of time. Use the above scenario's to narrow down what it may be.


Oil Pump Troubleshooting:

  1. Check oil level
  2. Check gauge operation
  3. Check oil pressure sending unit
  4. Check wiring to pressure switch and gauge

oil pump bad
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