Hey all, I'm new to the forum and Miatas in general, I just bought a boosted 93 Miata that had a few issues with it that I've been slowly resolving. I recently changed the oil after hearing a ticking sound coming from the head. The oil pressure was around 30lbs before the oil change and the oil was extremely low. I put in about a gallon of 5w/40 t6 rotella in and since then it's been running at about 60lbs and drops to 30lbs at idle. Is this normal?

 

30psi at hot idle sounds fine bordering on excellent.

 

And if it's running at 60 under load should I be concerned? What possible issues could that be?

 

I wouldn't be concerned if i car was running at 60psi.

 

Joey, what you have described here, 30 at idle and 60 at cruise, is the most optimal oil pressure imaginable.

Also, just fyi, that lifter tick is pretty common on the 1.6 engines. It's not going to hurt anything, it's just your engine's way of letting you know that it's time for an oil change. When I owned a 1.6, I didn't even bother writing down the mileage at oil changes, I just waited for the ticking sound to return.

 

And it's a good job you asked us, because there's no way you could have found the answer anywhere else.