High Oil Pressure / Oil Temp. below 120 deg. F

[Marlin Nussbaum]

With a cold engine (IO-360) if Oil temp. is below 120 deg. on take-off oil pressure will go to 96 or 97psi. (Max 95psi). Is this normal for a Lycoming or should I be concerned? Oil temp. At cruise runs nicely at 180 and pressure around 68psi

[dan]

I have my oil pressure adjusted so that it's about 80 psi when the oil temp is 180F and there are 7 quarts in the sump. Hotter, pressure goes below 80, down to mid 60s if the oil gets really hot (i.e. 220+). Less oil in the sump, pressure dips very slightly.

I always wait until my oil (A/S 15W50) reaches 100F before taking off. On takeoff on a cold day I will see 110 psi on the meter. Highest I've ever seen on a cold takeoff is 114 psi.

My point is that at 100F I regularly see oil pressures over 100 psi. I'm not worried about that, and I definitely wouldn't be worried about 95 psi. If anything, you might consider raising your oil pressure for 180F cruise. I aimed at 80 psi as per a recommendation from Bart LaLonde at Aerosport Power, for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect.

[fodrv7]

From the Lycoming Manual that Bart supplied with my IO-360.
Page 3-13
Oil Pressure limits Page 3-13
Minimum 55psi
Maximum 95psi
Idle 25 psi
Start-up, Warm-up, Taxi and Take-off 115psi

Page 3-12B
Oil Temperature should not be below 140F (60C) during contiuous operation.

Pete.