Oil pressure more important than temperature?
 

I'm in the process of the tripple gauge swap. I've shredded the tripple gauge but due to an issue Im having I was only able to install on of the Defi gauges right away (the other two will go in soon). I chose oil pressure so I'm current without an oil temp gauge. It's cold here right now, so the oil takes a long time to reach what most here are calling the min. acceptable temperature. I always assumed that basing this on temperature was because we don't have an oil pressure gauge, and we're using temperature to estimate pressure. I'm noticing that when I cold start my pressure is between 90-100, but the pressure drops to a more acceptable level long before the oil comes up to temp. With a pressure gauge is there any reason to be overly concerned with oil temp for cold starts? (NOT talking about track use here). I'm thinking that as long as the pressure is ok, the oil is fine being a little colder than most people like.

I think both are important, but if I had to pick one, I would choose pressure. Cold oil will heat up, assuming there are no issues with the engine and you aren't using an oil cooler without a thermostatic plate. If you have improper or no pressure, that can and will be the end of your engine. It will be a very quick death.

Just my $0.02.

Oil Pressure and Oil Temp Redux
 

Oil Pressure is Extremely more important. Loss of Oil Pressure is like a Heart Attack, it will kill your engine in a matter of minutes. Oil Temp is important, however, it is a long term "illness" that could damage your engine over time. Simply put, if Oil Temps do not consistently reach upwards of 200°F in order that any water residue from the Internal Combustion Reaction evaporate out of the oil (boiling Point of Water is at 212°F), then the oil will become contaminated which results in corrosion of internal parts and a host of "bad things" happening to your engine as a result. Keep in mind, our VQ Engines will suck almost every drop of oil in the sump upon Hard Acceleration to deliver it to all the critical parts of the engine. Contaminated oil is the last thing you want being used to try and protect these Critical Components, especially at engine stressful events like Hard Acceleration. Also, at Oil Temps below 140°F and above 260°F, the computer will restrict engine power to the point that extreme hot temps will result in a condition called "Limp Mode" in which the engine will not rev above 3500RPM's until the Oil Temp drops back below 260°F.



So, in short - Definite on an Oil Pressure Gauge, but then, maybe an Oil Temp gauge as well...

Oil pressure is determined by oil viscosity. Oil viscosity is determined by oil temperature. Your oil pressure is a reasonably accurate indication of oil temperature. With multi-vis oils, the relationship is not going to be linear, but it will be repeatable. Prepend "All other things being equal" to those statements.

Thanks for the replies guys. My main concern was driving before the oil hits that magical 180 degrees if the pressure is ok. The oil does come to temperature

Here's a thread I started on oil pressure that you might find interesting.

http://www.the370z.com/engine-drivet...ure-gauge.html

I saw that a while back, there's a lot of good info there. I will contribute once I actually have all three gauges installed

What stand alone pressure gauges that closely match OE has anyone had good luck with?

I'm reading negatives about STRI's on multiple enthusiast pages.

Thanks

I'm getting ready to install an AEM 30-4407. I've heard a lot of good things about it, which is why I decided on it.

What ever gauge you get. Make sure it goes to 150. Because a 100 gauge will get pegged.

Defi Advance BF looks almost stock. The JDM versions (in metric) have different colors, USDM are all amber. I just finished my install yesterday, I'll post some proper pics later

Aren't AEM and Defi part of a system with a controller?

Not wanting that. Looking at Prosport JDM's now.

I'm not sure about AEM, but Defi has a few different lines. The ones I have are the Advance BF line and they do require a controller. It's nice though; the controller provides some nice features. Plus, it allows you to daisy-chain the actual gauges. So, in my case, I have the controller mounted under the dash, and I have all my probe lines running into the engine bay (this you obviously have to do even with gauges that don't use a controller). But with the Advance system, I have one 6 foot cord that goes from the controller to gauge A, then there is a six inch cord from gauge A to gauge B, and another 6 inch cord from gauge B to gauge C. They say you can daisychain 8 gauges on a line like this, and there are two lines available. It's like an extra $130, but well worth it in my opinion.

Having said that, I believe that the Defi Racer series does not use a controller, and they look similar to stock also (but not as much IMO).

I have the Defi Racer, no controller needed. Itll be a stupid amount of wires if you're running three Racer gauges tho.



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That's why I happily paid a little more for the controller version. There's not a ton of space behind the dash.