2012 Toyota Tundra oil pressure guage

So I did some research on this site and had trouble weeding through all the posts so I thought I would post my own. I never noticed my oil pressure guage to move before today and I coincidentally noticed it AFTER changing my spark plugs for the first time.

I always noticed it to stay in the middle and today I notice it actually goes up a little (not quit 3/4) when getting up to speed then back to normal operating pressure in the middle. No noticeable issues with the truck, no apparent misfires, no check engine light etc. needle never drops below half and it just goes up a little before returning. Am I just being paranoid or is that an issue?

 

That behavior is completely normal.

 

Normal, the oil pressure will be higher when cold or at higher engine speeds.

 

Beautiful. Thats why I love this site. Ive visited it for years but never became a member because i never had to post a question. Thanks again.

 

Yes I searched, hence why I'm revitilizing an old thread. I noticed this weekend when towing my trailer and 4 wheeler to camp, up and down through PA 'mountains' in tow/haul, my oil pressure gauge would rise when engine braking kicked in going down steeper grades. Truck felt great, pressure would return to the middle when engine braking stopped. Is this normal?

 

Yup, when the engine RPMs go up, so does the oil pressure. Kinda like when our heart rate goes up, so does our blood pressure.

 

Oil Pressure rises with rpms. It’s supposed to move.

 

What a great analogy. Totally understandable. Now, like our blood pressure and heart rate, there are certain maximum numbers we want to avoid, if you care to live longer. Where do you start getting concerned and call the doctor on that oil pressure level?

 

The only information that I can find at the moment is at operating temperature:
Idle pressure: 10.2 psi or more
At 2500 rpm: 32 psi or more
I suppose that your viscosity choice can influence this. Cold starts are going to as well. I might speculate that 50-75 psi at operating temperature might be worrisome. Something that my father told me when I first started driving was to not rev a cold engine (one of the many reasons) as there could be a chance of bursting the oil filter or the filter gasket. I've never heard this elsewhere, but it seems like it's something that could happen, or maybe it just happened to him once. This was in the 80s though and was mentioned when he first started letting my drive his Corvette. Now there are bypass valves in the filters or as part of the system itself, as in the Tundra. If you were to see an indication on the gauge at the very maximum, I might be concerned but would be more suspect of the gauge or some related reading error rather than dangerously excessive actual pressure.

 

I've heard that old adage to not rev a cold engine. Piggybacking off blood pressure, it's best to warm up the body before going full throttle. I didn't know about the oil filter pressure thing. I use the recommended velocity of 0W-20 (mobil 1 full synth) which works well because that's what's also called for in the wife's Forester. Now I just need a lift and larger garage.