72 Scout II 304 Oil Pressure Drops as it get to normal operating temp.

L

LutzCoyote

Member
Good Day,

The Oil pressure at startup is around 40 and remains there even at idle until the engine comes up to normal operating temperature. Once at Temp it'll remain between 35-40 while driving but once I'm stopped at a light or idling it'll drop below 20 and sometimes lower.

Engine oil level is good with no visible signs of anything out of the ordinary so I'm hoping some of you more experienced folks can give me some idea of possible causes or fixes.

Thanks,
Sam
 
Sounds normal to me. Heated oil is naturally going display a lower pressure than cold oil. As long as you have a minimum of 10psi per thousand engine revs at all times, you're safe. These IH engines are more about flow volume than pressure. One thing you do need to do if you're not now is to run one quart over your full Mark to prevent starvation during extended high rpm cruising. This is not a wives' tale. IH issued a service bulletin about this back in the day. It won't hurt anything to be one quart over.
 
SB74,

Thanks for the reply and as someone new to the IH family and their engines I'm very appreciative of the information.

Thanks,
Sam
 
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