Low Oil Pressure Observed with a Gauge

rclarkbow

Hi everyone,

So I installed an AEM oil pressure gauge following this guide:

DIY: Oil Pressure Gauge

Basically the method is to create a three way adapter attached onto the OEM oil pressure sensor (which activates the red oil light on the stock car).

My oil pressure was down to about 13-14 psi at 180 degrees f temp at idle with AC turned off. Nissan states the minimum is 14 psi at this temp, but many members of this forum I've noticed have higher pressure at idle (like 20 plus psi)

So I replaced the gallery gaskets, along with the timing chain and components and a number of other preventative items. I was thinking that worn gallery gaskets were the cause of the issue and needed to be replaced immediately.

After all that the pressure only went up like 1-2 psi and now at idle at 180 degrees I'm just barely hovering around 15, it drops to 10 psi when the car gets pretty hot like 225 degrees f (I have a 34 row oil cooler installed also, but it still gets hot when I track the car).

I'm not sure if this is normal and others are reading from an oil pressure gauge with a different sensor location, or if it was something other than the gallery gaskets causing the pressure.

Interestingly, I had the metal gaskets installed from the factory on my late 2011 build 2012 model car (which forums suggested would be the paper kind until like 2013, I guess it varies). I doubt they've ever been replaced as I bought the car CPO in 2016 with low mileage.

My question is should I do something about upgrading the oil pump gears or possibly something else? My engine is higher mileage (160k) but I've already put so much into insuring the engine is ready for track days and auto cross I want to make sure the oil gear seizing issue doesn't brick the engine after all the money I've already spent on it.

I've also read that it's much more labor efficient to just reach in and replace the gears versus replacing the whole oil pump (front cover alone just has to come off again?)

Any input would be appreciated, I could also just leave it alone and hope for the best, yes I realize I should have done the oil pump gears when I did the gallery gaskets / timing components. Hindsight is 20/20