The five main causes of high oil pressure include:
⚠️ If It's Broken, Don't Fix It - Get Paid Cash for Your Vehicle ⚠️
- Clogged oil filter
- Malfunctioning pressure relief valve
- Dirty oil
- Clogged oil passage
- Damaged sending unit
Your vehicle oil is one of the most critical fluids that you must maintain all the time. Many problems could face your vehicle's oil, most of which are related to very low oil pressure scenarios. However, did you know that if you have too much hot oil pressure, it is still bad?!
This article provides all you need to know to understand why it's not good to have very high oil pressure beyond what's recommended in your vehicle owner's manual.
Also, it highlights the main causes of high oil pressure and the different symptoms you should keep an eye for.
Why is it bad to have very high oil pressure?
You must have the right quantity and quality of oil inside your engine. This oil is responsible for lubricating the internal components and ensuring they don't overheat.
When there is too much oil pressure, the internal components in your engine can wear out quickly, resulting in the negative and the opposite outcome you are hoping for.
There have been some scenarios where drivers had to deal with significant complications because they had a lot of oil. The oil pressure was beyond what was recommended in their vehicle owner's manual.
Therefore, it is critical for you as a driver to understand the main causes and the different symptoms of high oil pressure.
5 Causes of high oil pressure
The good thing is that automotive experts understand that high oil pressure is a significant problem. Therefore, they investigated all potential causes of high oil pressure.
Let's see if I can also look at the five most common causes of high oil pressure:
1. Clogged oil filter
The oil filter is responsible for preventing any contaminants or debris from getting inside the engine because they could damage the internal sensitive components. Unfortunately, overtime of views, this filter can get clogged partially or completely.
A clogged oil filter can easily result in situations where you have very high oil pressure in your vehicle. Therefore, drivers must understand how often they should change the oil filter.
Typically, all your vehicle owner's manuals recommend changing the oil filter every time you perform an oil change.
However, there are scenarios where you might be working with an inexperienced mechanic who might probably forget to replace the oil filter. For example, it could be that the oil filter got clogged earlier than it should because of the quality of oil you're using for your car.
Whatever the culprit, you must resolve the problem as soon as possible to prevent internal engine damage, which could cost you a lot of money.
2. Malfunctioning pressure relief valve
If you confirm that your oil filter is new and has no problem, the next step is to check on the pressure relief valve.
As the name suggests, this valve is responsible for maintaining the right printer throughout your engine system and the different pathways where the oil runs.
It's not rare to deal with situations where this sensor might break out, and that's why it will not be able to transfer the right information to your vehicle's engine. Therefore, your vehicle might think that you have less pressure than you should, or the valve might not even open when you need to release more pressure from your system.
When your mechanic confirms that your problem is due to a bad pressure relief valve, you must immediately check on it and replace it. Otherwise, you can deal with further complications that could be extremely expensive and even a bad engine.
3. Dirty oil
Many people think they must maintain the right oil inside their vehicle for the engine to operate properly. However, you must also maintain the oil quality and confirm that it's not dirty or contaminated.
Like any other fluids in your vehicle, oil can get dirty over time, and that's why you have to do with the oil changes regularly as specified in your vehicle's owner's manual.
There are some instances where you might be past due for an oil change, or your oil is not as good as it should be. There are many scenarios where some people might have vehicles requiring synthetic oil, but they go ahead and save on oil change costs by going with a lower quality oil which can be a huge problem.
4. Clogged oil passage
Oil runs through many pathways to get to the internal components of your engine. Unfortunately, many of these pathways can collect debris or contaminants. When this happens, oil cannot run smoothly, which will start clogging and producing more pressure in the whole system, which will appear in very high oil pressure on your car.
This is critical because it can be difficult for your mechanic to detect exactly where the clogging is.
That's why it might be a more advanced job requiring certain Mechanical skillsets and tools to determine where the problems are happening and how they need to be fixed.
5. Damaged sending unit
Finally, there might be a problem with your vehicle sending in it, which is the unit that communicates with the engine and translates how much pressure you have on your engine oil. This unit could go bad for various reasons, and when it does, you must inspect and fix it immediately.
You don't want to keep your computer confused with the wrong information, and once you resolve and fix these components, you should be able to get rid of the higher oil pressure problem.
Symptoms of high oil pressure
Not every driver can immediately understand whether the vehicle has low or high oil pressure. Therefore, in addition to understanding the main causes behind high oil pressure, it is also essential to understand the main symptoms of high oil pressure.
Let's take let's look at these symptoms:
1. High oil pressure reading
The first and most common symptom you will immediately notice is that the oil pressure gauge on the dashboard is reading very high. This should be an accurate and direct way off your vehicle to communicate with you and pay regular attention to internal problems.
You must never ignore this high reading because the more you wait on it, the more complicated it gets and the more you need to invest in repair costs.
2. Clear oil leaks
You will also notice that fluid drops come underneath the vehicle when the oil pressure is extremely high. This is not a good situation because you will end up with a very low oil level that will kill your engine in no time.
When too much pressure is on the different pathways for oil inside the engine, some weak seals can break down immediately, where oil can escape and run outside that system.
3. High-temperature gauge reading
Also, as we look at the dashboard, we realize that the temperature gauge is reading very high. The temperature gauge is responsible for communicating with your engine and telling your vehicle's computer about the current temperature of your engine.
Suppose the engine temperature gauge reads very high. In that case, it means that the engine is overheating, and that's not a good situation because, in some scenarios, your vehicle might fail in just minutes.
As we mentioned earlier, you'll notice a very high-temperature gauge reading, which can also translate to high heat in your car overall. So therefore, if it's not very hot outside and you feel that your car is super hot, it could indicate engine overheating that you should be careful about.
4. Vehicle smoking
In some severe scenarios and when your vehicle is extremely hot, you might notice some clouds of smoke coming out of the engine compartment. This is a very scary and dangerous situation, and if you're driving and this happens, you got to pull over and stop your vehicle immediately.
After you stop your car cannot do not attempt to check on the engine compartment because everything could be extremely hot, and there are chances that you might get burned.
Instead, allow your vehicle to cool down for some time, about 30 minutes before you start touching things.
In the meantime, you can converse with your mechanic and describe the situation carefully.
Your mechanic should be able to tell you whether you can continue driving your car or whether you should tow it to the nearest repair shop.
5. Engine failure
Unfortunately, if you don't pay close attention to the previously mentioned symptoms, you can easily end up in a situation where your engine fails.
We always say that temperature is one of your car's worst enemies because if it exceeds a certain threshold, major components like the engine can die immediately.
Therefore, whenever you deal with engine overheating signs, you have to talk to your mechanic and check with him if he can continue driving your car or if you should take it to the nearest repair shop.
How much does it cost to fix high oil pressure?
It depends. Depending on the route culprits, the repair cost can differ significantly. For example, if you must replace the oil pressure sensor, you would expect to pay somewhere close to $120. However, repair costs might be extremely high if some other problems impact the whole engine.
Check with your mechanic because he should be able to provide you with an accurate estimate of how much to expect for fixing this problem.
Final thoughts
Every driver knows they need to maintain the right quantity and quality of oil inside the engine. However, there are some other things that you should focus on, such as the oil pressure that different internal and external factors could impact.
Driving with a very low oil pressure is not good, but driving with a very high oil pressure is also very bad and might result in internal damage to your engine.
This article highlighted the main causes of high oil pressure. In addition, it's indicated where these causes could be happening and what needs to be done to eliminate them.
As we mentioned earlier, there are plenty of causes for the high oil pressure, and resolving them might not always be cheap. However, if you end up with a situation where you must replace major components, which requires thousands of dollars for a repair, that's not the end because you could always sell your vehicle and buy a better one.
Are you looking for someone to buy your car? Why don't you reach out to Cash Cars Buyer?
Cash Cars Buyer is one of the top-rated car removal companies in the nation that guarantees to pay you the top dollars and provide you with free towing despite your living location around the United States.
Our process is very straightforward and doesn't take more than a couple of days to get your car removed safely and for the most money.
All it takes you is to:
- Describe your car's type and condition
- Receive our instant free quote
- Accept the quote
- Get your car removed and receive your cash payment on the spot!
To learn more about our process and our team, you can reach out to us by calling us at (866) 924-4608 or by visiting our home page click on the free instant online offer.