[AT] High oil pressure a bad thing?

[Dean Vinson]

Dudley wrote:

> But if by high oil pressure you really do mean high oil pressure as in
> you've measured it with a couple of different gauges both of which give
> the same high reading) then I would suspect that the tractor might have
> a clogged oil artery somewhere.

Danny wrote:

> I have always been told if on a diesel engine the oil pressure was too 
> high it would result in leaky seals and gaskets.. As well as it is 
> reducing the life of you oil pump as its working harder than it needs too.
> http://lubricants.s5.com/oil_pressure.htm

John wrote:

> FWIW, about 2 seconds after it fires up, the M here pegs the oil 
> pressure gauge. Motor was last torn down in the mid '60s and the gauge 
> is the original. Maybe this is typical of M's?

Thanks, gentlemen--good comments all, and that's a good website.  I haven't
measured the pressure in my tractor, other than to observe the normal oil
pressure gauge (new replacement gauge from OEM, no numbers, just an
operating range). I suspect John's right that a high reading is typical of
Ms, but it also wouldn't surprise me at all if some of the oil galleries are
somewhat gunked up.

The engine has good compression and I don't hardly do anything with the
tractor anyway, so I don't plan to tear the engine down unless I run out of
other projects some winter and decide to do it just for the fun and
education.  I changed the oil and filter when I bought the tractor last
year, but I didn't do anything with the oil pan or pump.  But it drips some
oil from around the oil pan, so I've been thinking I ought to pull that off,
clean everything up, replace the gasket, and change the oil again anyway.
Whatever may be going on in the galleries, clean oil would be better.

Somebody just mentioned in another thread that before changing oil, they
used to pour some kerosene in on top of the oil and then run the tractor at
idle for a few minutes.  I like the idea of really flushing everything clean
every time, but since I'm not starting with a freshly rebuilt (and known to
be clean) engine I'd worry that rinsing kerosene or diesel or something
through it now might cause more problems than it fixes.  Anyone have any
success trying this?

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
www.vinsonfarm.net