I'm not much of a mechanic, so can someone please give me a little overview of the purpose of my oil pressure gauge, and what the proper reading should be?

Thanks...

 

The purpose of an oil pressure gauge is to show the pressure the engine oil is operating under inside the oil passages of the engine. It is to be considered an averaged reading since it is actually the pressure at the sending unitat that moment. The old 'rule of thumb' is a minimum of 10 pounds per square inch (psi) for each 1,000 rpm's of the engine. Chevy considers 8 psi to be the minimum psi allowed at idle. In practice, most of our engines will have ~20psi minumum at idle, ~40psi cruising, and 60-70psi under acceleration. This varies from engine to engine as mine has ~40psi at idle and ~60psi at cruising speed. Bear in mind that factory gauges are not the most accurate in the world. A mechanical guage hooked to the sending unit is more accurate.

 

^^Exactly^^