oil level dropping....

[mavis cruet]

on a recent long hot motorway trip (55mph) the oil pressure on my mk camper dropped gradually by about 15psi. when left to cool it increased a bit. now, on short runs to work it seams to be still dropping but only a small amount. its hovering round the 45psi mark. could this be the oil pump? is this a major job? there seems to be no increase in the amount of oil used, and what is used seems to leak from various gaskets and some out of the oil filler cap, as always. any advice apreciated. karl.

[Ollie]

I'm presuming V4? are you measuring pressure with the dash guage? My V4 allways dropped to the point of warning light flashing after a long motorway run and its still going! so long as pressure goes back up when its revving I wouldn't worry too much.
If the oil is recent and good quality then I'd just leave it alone, if youre using a modern 10w40 or such like the get some good old 15w 50 or even 15w 60 and give it a change which can't do any harm.

The oil pump is driven by the distributor drive through a little hex shaft and when these where new they were prone to rounding off so if you feel like it you could tweak that out and check its driving ok.
Ollie

[mavis cruet]

yes its a v4. its got 20/50w oil in. ive an oil pressure guage fitted and the drop in pressure mentioned is at 50mph or there abouts. im going to try a new guage and see what happens.....

[transitandy]

let us know what happens

[Chaz&Saz]

The oil pressure dropping when hot is normally a sign of general wear. As the bearings loose there thickness the gap between them and the crank journal get larger causing less restriction and a drop in pressure. As the oil get hot it gets thinner hence the higher pressure when cold.
As suggested take a look at the drive shaft for preventive maintainance. Would also be worth looking at the pump pick up as it may be blocked by years of sludge.
Hope this helps

[mavis cruet]

cheers. will have a nose when i get the chance....