Hello all, I have a 2003 Discovery SE with 75,763mi. One day it started making this kind of muffled ticking noise and since my VIN is within the recall range for the oil pump failure, I got a little nervous, so I installed an oil pressure gauge today, however when idling the PSI drops to 5-PSI but between 2000 and 2500 it is 46 to 51 PSI. Is the 5 PSI a problem for me, enough to cause me to consider replacing the oil pump now?

Thanks

Round Hill Rover

 

is you oil preasure light going off? if your gauge is correct your light should have light up when the oil dropped below 8psi? Is you oil preasure guage you installed digital or mechanical?

 

The oil gauge is digital, the light didn’t go off, I will check to make sure it’s not broken.

Thanks

 

5 PSI seems a bit too low. Factory light should of came ON. Maybe inaccurate digital gauge???

 

that is kind of what i was getting too, I have seen a lot of gauges that were only accurate at one end of the scale or the other.

 

5 PSI is way to low.... I would bet that your oil pump is probably cracked and starting to loose its "umpff". If you could replace it now before it becomes a complete engine replacement I would. OR at least keep the RPMS up high when your driving in the city and get a dreaded red light...

 

IMHO you would be wise to verify digital gauge with another mechanical gauge. Plus change out oil and filter. If cold where you are, switch to 5W40 Rotella and you will probably see an improvement. Oil change is about the cheapest repair out there...

 

The light doesn't come on until 3-8.5 psi. Minimum at idle should be 10psi, minimum.

By 2K you should have steady pressure at 50 give or take a little because of pressure relief valve tolerances but steady.

The light is pretty worthless, the sound of the engine tells you you've an issue before the light pops on. Generally by the time the light's on it's all over.

It could be the gauge though, generally unless it's a very top quality gauge the accuracy falls way way off at the low and high ends. Either way it needs looking into.

 

Do i have to remove the oil pan to get the timing cover off my 03?

 

Sure do and you'll have to remove the transmission cooler stays so you can move the lines out of the way to get to a few of the bolts. If the pan doesn't easily drop, you've missed a bolt or two. Also don't forget about the oil pickup, it can be easily bent if you're not careful.

The up-side is you don't have to worry about fooling with oil cooler lines.

It's not that terrible of a job but I'd verify pressure with another gauge if you haven't already, could save you some hassle. If you installed a mechanical gauge make sure there aren't any kinks in the line etc.