So, I've had low oil pressure on this engine since I bought it. It is a 2006 MXS prefix ACERT. It has a fresh rebuild on it and before I bought it it all seemed normal to me being as I was used to the ISX that I'd been driving for the previous eight years that run lower oil pressure than the Cats. I learned after I bought it that what I was seeing was below what it should have been. My fault and a definite learning moment. So what I see is at hot idle it's only around 20 psi, maybe a bit higher. At 1500 rpms it only gets to around 55 psi, never over 60 unless it is cold. I took it to my mechanic who is really experienced with the Cat engines and he did a bunch of diagnostics before finally suggesting that it may need a new oil pump. I've attached a picture of the writeup he did so you all can see what all has been looked at. After he replaced it it basically made no difference. I gained maybe 5 psi at first but it has since dropped and held right where it was before. He was confident that as long as it doesn't drop further that I will be ok as it is technically within Cats specifications. I am very uncomfortable with it though. Maybe I don't need to be but I wanted to put it to the collective here and hopefully get some thoughts. Thanks for any input!
C15 Low Oil Pressure
Discussion in 'Heavy Duty Diesel Truck Mechanics Forum' started by bighog85, Mar 21, 2021.
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If its within Caterpillar's specs don't worry about it. The imagineers are smarter than most of us. They designed it and they know what is required to run it.
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Just for giggles, at the next oil change, switch brands, it won’t hurt to keep switching brands. Some engines, for some reason, will ‘like’ a certain brand over another.
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Did the shop test oil pressure with a mechanical gauge or just relaying on the ecm/dash gauge? If not thats the absolute first thing to do when chasing an oil pressure problem.
lester Thanks this. -
Roberts450 Thanks this.
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Running a 5w-40 is most likely your problem as its too thin when hot. Switch to a 15w-40 and your pressure will come up. I run delo 400 15w-40 in my 3406E and never see it below 30 at idle and 60-75 when over 1200rpm.
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Delo is engineered for the newer emission engine now. I had more blow by on my 3406E using it. I couldn’t realize why until a local oil distributor told me about it. So I switched to Guardol ECT 15-40. It stopped the blow by, oil pressure pick up slightly and didn’t drop much when pulling hard. And also it was cheaper in price compare to Delo and Rotela.
Roberts450 Thanks this. -
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Honestly I think you're trying to find a solution to a problem that isn't there. Cat puts a spec range there for a reason.
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