21 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHOil pressure issue + Oil Pressure Relief Valve
Leading reported evidence
Replace oil pressure sender
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Leading evidence: 'Replace oil pressure sender' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Check roughness or galling' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
If the installed piston sticks, check for roughness or galling.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion · Original poster
Goal is to get a CLEAN container to catch anything and put it back in as the oil has about 100 miles on it.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
Do you need to drain / replace the oil when replacing the oil presure spring and piston.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
Do you need to drain / replace the oil when replacing the oil presure spring and piston.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
21 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261026T200546Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
I have been seeing some funky oil pressure values while driving, especially while at higher revs and/or WOT. At start up the gauge will shoot up to 5 bar and slowly lower to about 1.25 - 1.5 bar as the oil comes to temperature. This seems correct, however, once at speed, in higher rev range (above 4-5k rpm), it seems like I'm struggling to get to 4 bar and above. As I understood it the pressure should be at 5 bar or close to it. From some reading on here it seems like the oil pressure relief valve might be a culprit. Some other details that might be helpful:
- Fresh oil change with Motul Xcess 5w-40 and Napa spin on filter
- Oil pressure sender was replaced this summer. I think it's starting to fail again as sometimes it will jump up to 1bar with just ignition on. I may reclean the connectors.
- I removed the sump cover at previous oil change and pick up screen was clean. Magnetic plug is installed.
It sounds like the oil pressure relief valves are known for going bad and causing oil pressure issues so at under $50 I think this might be the best next step but open to feedback. I haven't seen a DIY on this but I believe the valve is located as in the photo below:
It seems like a fairly simple swap, however, I had 3 questions for those who did this: 1) What is the torque value when replacing this with a new unit? 2) Is there an upgraded version of this? I thought I read that there might have been a revision. Looking to get this (
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/por...vD_BwE#fitment
) 3) I believe I might loose some oil once removing the valve. Any idea on how much and if it will pour out in similar fashion as from the sump or just a slow drip or stream? Goal is to get a CLEAN container to catch anything and put it back in as the oil has about 100 miles on it.
Very simple job with minimal oil lost, also get crush washer with spring and valve. inspect old valve surface and make sure new valve moves in the bore smoothly. sorry don't remember the torque spec.
Thank John! I think the kit from FCP comes with everything, including the washer so I'm good there. I might do the tightening by feel but would prefer to do it to a correct value.
I'm willing to bet you don't have an oil pressure relief valve issue and you have a cooling issue. Clean out your radiators and make sure all fans are working.
Cannot remember the torque but it's relatively low 38ft-lbs or something. Search the forum, that's where I found the answer
The part numbers supersede to a 997 unit which is the upgrade
you only lose a very minimal amount of oil. 1/8 of a quart would be my guess. Put a pan down to catch and just top off as needed after
Pipete- 18 lb/ft or 25 Nm. Bevel points to sky. If the installed piston sticks, check for roughness or galling. If there is, this can cause pressure problems.
Thanks, that's not a bad guess but I'm fairly confident it's not cooling. Temps are rock solid in the middle. Around spring time, I believe, I pulled the bumper separated the radiators and cleaned everything out so we are all good there. I also have protective screens to prevent more junk from flying in. My 40AE car also came with Turbo radiators and bumper so the cooling is quite effective. I may consider adding a center radiator at some point though....
The pressure relief valve and spring is simple to replace and doesn't cost much, so doesn't hurt a thing to replace it, but my instincts tells me it will not usually fix your problem.
As far as the sender goes, they are made by VDO and are a wiper type rheostat that usually lasts about 10 years. VDO has been making the same sender for about 40 years and are pretty accurate and fairly reliable when fresh.
The more likely suspect is the Factory dash unit, it is crappy at best and the accuracy is terrible. If you want to see how in-accurate they are, just temporarily install a cheap manual test gauge in the port on the opposite head and compare. Even the cheapest manual gauge is 20x more accurate than the factory dash unit.
BTW the thread size for the adapter to temporarily install a manual gauge is 14mm.
Thanks Skip! Funny you mention the gauge.... I'm pretty sure I came across a thread where a failing gauge was the culprit in the end so definitely possible. At less than $50 bucks I'll give this valve a try and will report back. You'd think that such a critical gauge in a car would have a bit more accuracy to it...
"I also have protective screens to prevent more junk from flying in."
Did you notice any difference in temps when you installed the "protective screens"?
I know a lot has been said about these and everyone has their own opinions but in my case - no negative effects at all. Living in DC we had our share of 100F humid days and the gauge always stayed in normal range, even after some back road fooling around or in traffic on I-495. I had the bumper off last month and it was still very clean. In my mind I'd take the screens over dirty radiators that will probably have a greater negative impact.
Had a chance to swap out the oil pressure relieve valve. Super easy job although be ready to catch about 3 quarts of oil. My kit came with the updated 997 cylinder. The original one looked fine although I could see the spring has compressed a bit and was a bit shorter than the new one. No changes seen yet although my oil pressure sensor seems to be on its way out...again. Will probably get the Porsche one this time and hope it lives longer than 10 months!
2003 6 speed; I changed mine out last week to see if it would address a slight pressure level fluctuation. I still have the fluctuation in pressure. Its not much but I do want to address it.
Stupid question, and sorry for digging up an old thread here but do you have to have the block drained of oil to change out the pressure relief valve and spring? I just did an oil change and totally forgot I purchased a new spring and 997 style plunger 6 months ago to upgrade during this oil change. I'm fine with losing a quart or two but not drain all 9 out.
That's exactly what I did. Actually, if you're quick with it you can probably loose less oil than I did. I just took my sweet time comparing the two parts so 3 quarts came out. If you do a quick swap it can be less. Most of the oil will come out once the cylinder comes out.
