Know Your Dashboard: Oil Gauge

Oil Gauge on a vehicle dashboard

The oil gauge on your vehicle dashboard tells you the pressure of the oil running through your engine.This gauge is always different depending on the temperature of the engine, oil type and weight, outside temperature, working of the engine, and the design of the oil pump in the vehicle.

The lowest oil pressure will be at idle, and the highest oil pressure will be when the engine's RPMs are up.

You should never see the oil pressure below 10 psi. If the oil pressure is low, it means that there is no oil pressure in the engine, so no oil is moving through the engine.

You need to know what zero is on your gauge. The best way is to turn the key on with the engine off and monitor were zero is.

A Dura Max diesel truck will go over 80 when it's cold. That specific oil filter is made to handle more pressure. The gauge pictured above only goes to 80. It all goes back to knowing what is normal on your vehicle.