Hey guys, I recently installed a oil pressure and oil temps gauge, just to keep an eye on how the motor is performing, I've looked on the net n carnt get a clear answer, I guess every motor is different, with mine at idle warmed sits around 40psi,when pushing it I'm seeing numbers around 80psi n but no more than 90psi, I am unsure if these figures are good or bad, hopefully someone can clear this up.

Also my oil temps sit around 40deg at idle but can reach up to 70deg when pushed

Cheers

i dont know ca18 specifics but in general they sound good to me

mine dead cold on idle is around 75-80psi. dead cold with any revs goes to 100psi

hot idle is about 25-30psi, goes to 50psi just off idle, about 75psi anything above 2000rpm when warm

dont know the temps though

Sounds like mine sounds about right, though having a wee bit more psi warmed idle than ^ 30psi would that be a good thing or bad thing?

More pressure at idle is better than less pressure?

From reading the info of experienced CAdet owners over the years it seems 40 psi is good for idle. What supposedly helps is an oil pressure restrictor on the head as the pump feeds too much to the head. Also good drainage to your sump from your exhaust side helps for performance Cadets.
Its not necessary for normal use but an abused engine gets too much oil at the head starving the mains as the oil supposedly doesnt drain from the head fast enough. Some1 else w/ more knowledge on this could fill in.

thanks D, i usuall add 3.5L of oil to the motor, soon i will be going the small oil cooler path if funds are avalible, if i added 4L of oil would that help with starvation?

just to put it in perspective. i think the rated oil pressure for a holden 5 litre at idle is around 10psi or something stupidly low like that

my L series was the same. it had a brand new high flow pump on it and it was about 25psi when hot on idle. it only managed to get to that point once when i was at the drags, sitting in line with the engine running for ages. so well and truely warmed up

both engines went straight above 50psi with any kind of increase in engine speed, eg. go from 800rpm to 1200-1500

my ca also was sitting on the minimum bearing clearance for the big ends and mains so was told it would have really good oil pressure

They seem to have more oil pressure than most engines still there seems to be many on the silvia forums that complain of the dreaded big end knock been common in these engines.

Mine is:

40psi cold

30psi warm

25psi after a 7 lap sprint

All of the above are at idle.

Temps are 60-70 degrees celcius on the street.

95 to 105 degrees on the track.

I run a winged sump, oil cooler and have the oil catch can tapped back into the sump (as D suggested).

im pretty sure in the s13 manual at 3000rpm your oil pressure should be around 80psi
D is correct the ca18 is pretty much a mini rb motor and they have the same issue as rb series engines with to much oil flowing to the head and not leaving much in the sump during high rpm. I have just fully buit my ca and tap a drain into the back of the head which feeds back to the sump just as a extra drain for when im really giving it a hiding just like they do on rb series motors. Unless you have solid lifters restricters will wear the hydrulic ones out quicker than usual but lewis engines do make a restricter thats safe for hydrulic lifters