Last year I am pretty certain the Oil Pressure gauge stayed in the 40 to 60 PSI range whenver we operated in the 3,000 ~ 3,400 RPM range. The gauge tops out at 80.
This year I get the boat out on the water, start'er up, immediately 40 PSI while idle. Engage the drive, maybe 1,000 ~ 1,500 RPM's and pressure hits 60 PSI.
When I reached 3,000 ~ 3,200 RPM (typically the speed we cruise at) the gauge hit 80 - MAXED OUT.
I checked the oil level, and it was WELL ABOVE the "ok" level on the stick. So I proceeded to drain some oil - I drained nearly 3/4 of a gallon of oil before I finally got into the "ok" range on the stick.
Put boat back in water, and while letting oil out seemed to have an initial benefit - the overall experience was still the same - once I hit 3,000 ~ 3,200 RPM, oil pressure was "maxing out" at 80 PSI.
Now if I happened to push past 3,400 RPM, about 4,000 ~ 4,200, I noticed the oil pressure was only hitting about 70 PSI.
OK - first question - what the hell was the service shop doing last winter that I had nearly 3/4 gallon EXTRA oil?
Is my oil pressure gauge possibly faulty, and there really isn't an issue with the oil pressure?
The oil doesn't look milky, and I am pretty certain there isn't any water in there either.
Should I do a full oil change "just to be sure"?
Keeping in mind I have very limited resources - what "easy" steps could I take to find out why the gauge is reaching 80 PSI at 3,000 ~ 3,400 PSI?
Thanks!
This year I get the boat out on the water, start'er up, immediately 40 PSI while idle. Engage the drive, maybe 1,000 ~ 1,500 RPM's and pressure hits 60 PSI.
When I reached 3,000 ~ 3,200 RPM (typically the speed we cruise at) the gauge hit 80 - MAXED OUT.
I checked the oil level, and it was WELL ABOVE the "ok" level on the stick. So I proceeded to drain some oil - I drained nearly 3/4 of a gallon of oil before I finally got into the "ok" range on the stick.
Put boat back in water, and while letting oil out seemed to have an initial benefit - the overall experience was still the same - once I hit 3,000 ~ 3,200 RPM, oil pressure was "maxing out" at 80 PSI.
Now if I happened to push past 3,400 RPM, about 4,000 ~ 4,200, I noticed the oil pressure was only hitting about 70 PSI.
OK - first question - what the hell was the service shop doing last winter that I had nearly 3/4 gallon EXTRA oil?
Is my oil pressure gauge possibly faulty, and there really isn't an issue with the oil pressure?
The oil doesn't look milky, and I am pretty certain there isn't any water in there either.
Should I do a full oil change "just to be sure"?
Keeping in mind I have very limited resources - what "easy" steps could I take to find out why the gauge is reaching 80 PSI at 3,000 ~ 3,400 PSI?
Thanks!
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