Psi oil gauge moving a lot, is that normal?
Asked by Ben Feb 26, 2024 at 10:10 PM about the 2012 Cadillac CTS
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I have a 2012 Cadillac CTS and my psi oil gauge
goes up when I accelerate to about 75 then when I
get to my speed it will go down to 25 to 35 then idle
at 50 but it constantly moves up and down. Is that
normal?
3 Answers
I would have the oil pressure checked with a manual gauge first, some gauge swing is normal for electronic gauges but yours sounds excessive.
I'd expect pressure at idle to be around 30 psi, when accelerating, around 60, and at highway speed about 40. So yours seems close to that and on a car that age, it's pretty normal. You might have a mechanic analyze that. With the ranges you have you could have something going out, like cam/crank bearings or oil pressure resistor or switch. Or maybe the car has high miles and it needs a rebuild.
The oil pump is driven by the engine. So when you accelerate the oil pump speeds up too and pumps more oil so the pressure goes up. Oil pressure will also be higher when the engine is cold because the oil is thicker. Hope that helps! Jim