When I blew a heater hose the other day I limped home, maybe 10 minutes with the temp needle pegged. The oil pressure had risen from a usual 11:30 to maybe 1:00, around 50 psi or more.

Now when I run the engine, cold or hot,, pressure remains high st 55. If I raise the rpm it rises to 60.
I guess I can live with it if the sender is messed up. Surely the oil has not turned to molasses. recommendations?

 

Strangely, after 20 miles of driving, the oil pressure indicator has pretty much returned to normal. It could have been the electronics but it seems more logical that the oil, when overheated, gobbed up somehow and plugged off some passages, giving me the high pressure reading. Now, and after driving it around, it loosened up.

 

Thanks for the update. I suspect your conclusions are correct.

 

I have synthetic in there and is only 1,000 miles old but if it got sludged up enough to raise the pressure, maybe a flush and oil change would be a good idea.

 

Have you checked the oil since the incident?

 

No, what should I be looking for?

 

Discoloration and a burnt smell more than anything, roll some of it off the dipstick on your fingers and feel if the viscosity seems off, it's possible that the oil thinned out and as a result the pump is sending it through the system "faster", resulting in a higher pressure. Also possible that the oil got hot and cooked the pressure sensor. Either way in the past whenever I've overheated a vehicle, an oil change followed soon after.

 

hmm..

 

Sure, change the oil! If further pressure anomalies, then put a real mechanics oil pressure test gauge on it. Good luck!

 

What Les said. Be very careful with oil flushes in a high mileage engine.

George