How accurate is the Pantera's stock oil pressure gauge?
Original Post
Convential wisdom is "not very".
Jack DeRyke goes so far as to say that it is basically a calibrated idiot light, ie if it is reading *something*, then you have oil pressure. If not, then you don't.
Personally, I believe that it is of limited accuracy, but the truly important thing is to monitor it for *changes* in pressure. IE, if you always had 40 lbs of pressure on the highway and suddenly it drops, then you know you have a problem.
The only way to know for sure is to hook up a mechanical pressure gauge, which is easy enough to do. Otherwise, realize that the calibration may be way off, therefore the absolute value is probably not accurate but the relative value is important.
Jack DeRyke goes so far as to say that it is basically a calibrated idiot light, ie if it is reading *something*, then you have oil pressure. If not, then you don't.
Personally, I believe that it is of limited accuracy, but the truly important thing is to monitor it for *changes* in pressure. IE, if you always had 40 lbs of pressure on the highway and suddenly it drops, then you know you have a problem.
The only way to know for sure is to hook up a mechanical pressure gauge, which is easy enough to do. Otherwise, realize that the calibration may be way off, therefore the absolute value is probably not accurate but the relative value is important.