I am pretty new here and I have an easy question. Does the oil press gage ever move. I drove the car home the dealer( about 20 miles ) and didn't notice any movement. Yesterday I got in a nice 175 mile ride though the country and the needle sits between 12 and 1 oclock position at idle up 4000 rpm, still breaking in. I have 252 miles it her and I am very happy. Compared to the AudiTT the RX seem much more nimble and smooth. Plus a sunroof is cool.
Any help would be great.

 

Nope. Doesn't move unless you're out of oil. Actual oil pressure varies considerably with engine temperature and activity, so it would drive most people batty (and dealers, trying to explain it to people) if the gauge actually moved with the oil pressure.

 

No, it doesn't move.
Unfortunately, the 8 doesn't have a real oil pressure gauge—it's really just an "idiot light" in gauge form. If there's no oil pressure the gauge will read zero, like when the car is off—any acceptable oil pressure will read exactly where you see it, fixed around 1 o'clock. Mazda replaced the "real" oil pressure gauge with this "fake" one around 1994 in the Miata. Apparently too many people who didn't understand oil pressure would complain about how the gauge would read differently under various conditions—as it should. Rather than adding an explanation in the Owner's Manual, they simply switched to a "gauge" that always reads the same. This no doubt also saved Mazda a few pennies on every car.

It's a shame because, ironically, we now have the disadvantages of both an idiot light and a guage: like an idiot light, we don't know what the oil pressure is—only if there is a problem. And, while a "real" gauge would constantly show us changing oil pressure, our "fake" one probably won't alert us to a problem—the fixed "gauge" slowly teaches most of us to never look at it.

 

Thanks I was afraid of that. It was a good indicator when the oil was at normal operating temp.

 

But it drives anyone who has a clue about engines batty,..

 

True, but most people don't know much about engines...

 

mine moves. 1/4 to 3/8ths of an inch depending upon the amount of oil in the car.
When it moves to 3/8ths I need about a quart of oil.

 

^^ placebo effect
I fell for it too, but the needle works from a on/off signal from the ECU.
Having it move partially would be like trying to use a regular wall light switch as a dimmer switch by trying to hold it half way- it won't work

 

The oil pressure seems to stay just as constant with an external analog gauge. Its a high flow system so it's probably pumping so much that the bypass is regulating pressure from sub-idle on.

There is an off ramp I sit in and creep up at about 300 RPM. Below 250 it stalls. The oil pressure drops to about half when it creeps up the hill.