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[pscocoa]

The Phaeton has an oil pressure gauge. What surprised me is the time it takes for a car to reach normal operating oil pressure - say 10 to 15 minutes. Broadly in line with reaching operating temperature uin cold weather I supppose. Message is obviously drive carefully until it warms up to protect your engine. Never really appreciated this in the past although it is a long time since I had oil pressure gauge on a car.

If I used Phaeton for station it would never reach normal oil pressure by time I reached destination.

[Kevin Wood]

Yep, it can easily take 15 minutes for the oil to come up to "normal" temperature and, of course, the grade of the oil changes as it heats up, and this affects pressure to a degree.

Normally, you see higher oil pressure when cold as the oil is more viscous. What it means is that you actually have less oil flow. Certainly not advisable to give the engine too much grief until it's properly warmed up.

[pscocoa]

It was just the amount of time that was surprising - normally considered steady speed down local by pass for 3 minutes as sufficient!! Obviously not.

[aaronjb]

Precisely the reason the Omega (and others) have an 'oil warmer' sitting in coolant flow, to give the oil all the help it can get at warming up quickly

But yes, surprising.. though a friend of mine has always worked on the premise of "It'll be warm after I've pushed 12psi of boost for the entire half mile after leaving my road" 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Is it measuring oil temp or oil pressure?

Oil pressure should be higher when cold?

[pscocoa]

Good point - it must be oil temperature then - will check - does this amount to the same thing in terms of working out when it is safe to put your foot though?

[Elite Pete]

MGFs have an oil temp gauge and as you say it can take a good 15 mins to get up to temp

[aaronjb]

Good point - it must be oil temperature then - will check - does this amount to the same thing in terms of working out when it is safe to put your foot though?

Yep. With a temp gauge you want the temp gauge to be warm (well, 'normal', probably around 80C) before you hoof it.. With a pressure gauge you're waiting for the pressure to stop being a steady 'max' and start variating with RPM (which shows the viscosity has dropped to the point you're no longer just pumping against the pressure relief valve).

IMHO, etc.

[TheBoy]

Oh sh sh sh sh sugar. I give the MV6 until the downhill section just past the BP (about 2-2.5m from home) before all bets are off

Still, its survived the last 90k like that