Just installed my auto meter oil pressure guage. Here is what I found:

Upon startup with cold engine/oil (80deg outside temp) idles at 75psi while Dodges stock guage shows just over 40psi.

Upon warmup, at normal driving conditions (80deg temp) the cummins will idle in gear at just a hair over 25psi which is the low side of normal on the stock guage.

Cruising at 40mph autometer shows 55-60psi while stock guage shows just under 40psi.

This is with the auto meter sender located on top of the oil filter mount. Had to install 2 - 1/8"npt male/female couplers (brass) to get the install correctly (lift the sender above the obstruction).

 

those numbers sound good. i am currently measuring my oil pressure from the main gallery [same one the factory oil pressure switch is in]. with the 0w40 xd-3 in the sump, hot engine at idle is about 18psi until the oil cooler does its job and then it will settle at around 20-22psi... the difference in pressure between the filter pad and the main lube oil gallery is about 1 psi... i want to measure off the main gallery as when i get the gauges i have on order, the oil temp gauge will go on the filter pad.

 

Nick, I was thinking about getting an oil temp guage also. I was thinking about using a "t" before the pressure sender I just installed but that probably wouldn't be very accurate. Where is the "stock" location of the factory sender?

 

trik396,

You're pressures are right on. Direct from the Cummins Representative at the North American Truck Show in Louisville....

Idle: no less than 25psi
Operating: Oil pressure should be governed at 60psi, but will spike above 60psi on cold startups. Best to let pressure settle at or below 60psi before operating.


I have no idea why DC uses an idiot gauge for oil pressure on our trucks. The information is available on the DRB scan tool so why not put a real gauge in the dash cluster?

 

the stock switch is in the main gallery. you can see it through your left front wheel well, below the fuel filter pad behind the ecm. look for the green connector like in this pic... the stock switch is a M14x1.5 o-ring boss type fitting. but on the same gallery, there are 2 M10x1.0 plugs, one under the cp3, one above the ecm... take your pic.. both are accessable from above laying on top of the coolent & windshield washer resovoirs.


not a chance that is visiable on a 3rd gen with the scan tool. there is no variable capacatance device measuring actual pressure. only the switch

 

Because Ford and GM were using the oil pressure switch already, its cheaper, and there was a lot of warranty on the old sensor. If someone could make a sensor that would be reliable (not even that accurate), they might go back, as I know a lot of people don't like it.

I'm not sure where or how you can read the info on the DRB scan tool from, as there is no sensor on the engine to read from.

Maybe you're reading the output of the ECM "virtual sensor" map?