Excessive oil pressure

[Tech guy]

Good morning all,
I am looking for advice. I have a 1972 MG Midget 1275 with a newly rebuilt motor that has excessive oil pressure 80 pounds at idle. any ideas or thoughts that may be causing this? I would like to bring the oil pressure down. I am running 20 / 50 oil. The motor now has 600 miles on it and still running 80 pounds at idle. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[BobHaskell]

Pressure relief valve stuck?

 

[Tech guy]

Just got back from a 50 mile run this morning, it seems as if I am getting improvement, now idling about 45 psi when at normal operating temperature which seems to be about 160 degrees for this car. running highway speeds. I am at 60 to 70 psi which seems normal. I will take the pressure valve and spring apart to check. I read somewhere where you can sand the valve with Emery cloth. What are your thoughts? Thanks

 

[Bayless]

Wait for an answer form someone with more experience then me but that 45 and 70 sounds about right to me.

 

[Scargo]

In my experience, those numbers (45-70) are perfectly normal so I would leave it as-is.

 

[Desert Rat]

That’s not excessive, perfectly fine. My 948 that I rebuilt in 2019 is 75psi cold and around 50 when hot.

 

[Tech guy]

I would like to thank everyone for their comments and advice, it’s nice to have the forum to discuss these matters. Thanks again.