Advice on removing & cleaning the oil pressure relief valve on Gen III? (80 PSI)

[Frank P]

Was told by SRT engineer that the likely cause of high oil pressure would be a clogged oil pressure relieft valve located behind the A/C compressor in the front cover. Has anyone else tackled this repair and if so how did it go?

 

[JoelW]

Was told by SRT engineer that the likely cause of high oil pressure would be a clogged oil pressure relieft valve located behind the A/C compressor in the front cover. Has anyone else tackled this repair and if so how did it go?

Maybe I don't understand your problem but my '03 has 80 psi when I start it. After warming up, it still has about 75 psi with Mobil 1 0W40 and a Viper oil filter. At idle warm it will drop to about 50 psi but as soon as I get over 1000 rpm the oil pressure goes back to 75 psi. In really cool weather, it stays higher all the time. Are you sure you have a problem?

 

[TowDawg]

Exactly what Joel said. I'm not sure what year yours is our what year they may have changed it to either a lower pressure or a gauge that reads to higher pressure, but my '03 reads really high (in relation to how high the gauge goes) and it freaked me out when I first got the car, but then learned that it's completely normal.

 

[Frank P]

Actually the engineer at the SRT event here said the pressure should run 55-60 psi and that he didn't think 80 would hurt anything except maybe the oil filter. He suggested cleaning the oil pressure relief valve. I asked the question because I bought an 06 coupe and found it running in the 55-60 range, which is why I asked the question. Additionally, after 10 miles in 50-ish degree weather this morning on the highway the pressure never came down from 80 psi which is the top number on the pressure gauge AND the oil temp never registered on the gauge, i.e. never exceeded the 180 degree bottom of that gauge. The coolant temp was fine.

 

[bluesrt]

I would leave it alone frank.

 

[Nader]

Strange that the oil temp gauge is not registering. What temp is the engine running at?

 

[Leojmcca]

Maybe I don't understand your problem but my '03 has 80 psi when I start it. After warming up, it still has about 75 psi with Mobil 1 0W40 and a Viper oil filter. At idle warm it will drop to about 50 psi but as soon as I get over 1000 rpm the oil pressure goes back to 75 psi. In really cool weather, it stays higher all the time. Are you sure you have a problem?

Same here with my 03

 

[Martin]

If it were me, I'd manually check the oil pressure and the oil temp before digging into the pressure relief valve - those don't often fail in the "closed" position - they usually fail in the "open" position (get crud stuck in them) where you'll have really horrible idle oil pressure. Did you check the gauge electricals? From what you're describing, you might have an issue with that.

The other possible option (and this is unlikely) is that you have a faulty oil cooler thermostat. If that is stuck open, your oil could be staying cool enough to keep the pressure in the 80 psi range. It's supposed to bypass the cooler until the oil reaches 180 degrees, and then it should open to allow the oil to flow through the cooler. If it's stuck in the full open position, then your oil may be getting over-cooled. Not very likely, but a possibility. If you want to do a hillbilly test on that, just cover your oil cooler with some tinfoil and see if your oil temp goes up.

 

[ViperGeorge]

My Gen 3s and Gen4s have always had high oil pressure, even when new. I think the SRT oil filter for the Viper has a bypass valve set up for the higher pressure. At least I think I remember reading that here somewhere. My vote would be to leave it alone.