This cold weather has already claimed a few failures on my Suburban...so it has me wondering about some basics. With the thermometer at 5 degrees this morning, I started my '00 XJ, and noticed that the dash gauge took 5 seconds to build pressure. I generally drive like a Gramma for the first few miles, but worry the cold starts are slowly taking their toll on my XJ. It has already taken its toll on my sanity!

I have a WIX 51085, Wally World SuperTech 10W-30 with almost exactly 3000 miles since last change.

 

Seems perfectly normal to me.. continue to drive it like a granny till it warms up. Yes cold starts do cause a bit of wear, but whatcha gonna do?

 

I just went and started my 2000 and its been out in 15f and blowing 10mps winds all night, and it took about the same time for my needle . I have Shell Rotella T6 5W-40 Full Synthetic. you could change the oil to 5w30 that might help for those kind of temps your dealing with.

 

Switch to 0W30.

 

Yes.

 

No, use T6 5W-40, or straight 5W-30.

 

I really, honestly, truly, did NOT intend to create a new "what's the best oil?" debate!

But, thanks everyone for making me feel a little better that I do not have anything fundamentally wrong.

 

 

Your oil pressure climb look pretty normal.

 

you might put a mechanical gauge on it and see if it really takes that long to build pressure. seems like an abnormally long time. out of curiosity I'll record mine tomorrow, but I'm fairly certain it doesn't take near that long.

 

-1 here this morning and mine didn't take that long. But I don't think it's abnormally long. If you're worried about it you could always drop the pan and make sure the pickup is clean.

 

This. You might just need a new sending unit.

 

Or pull the engine and have it rebuilt.

 

Yea because that has anything to do with anything. Have seen plenty of times where a dirty pickup will cause initial low pressure.

 

Do a little reading, then u'll be able to make your own educated call.

http://www.supramania.com/aehaas/