Ive never seen a pressure gauge move like this car! It's consistently pegged at 3 bar on acceleration (even average acceleration). Is this normal?

3 bar = 45 psi ...... not really that much pressure. My truck runs 35 ish at idle and up to 80 at WOT. I am not sure why they put the limits of the gauge so low.

__________________
2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins - Georend fully built trans, Banks Big Hoss Bundle, Smarty Tuner, 5" turbo back exhaust. 500 HP and 1100 ft/lbs to the ground.
1979 Mercedes-Benz 300CD - Lost to a four car pile up on 275, Thank You Michigan Drivers.
1986 Mercedes-Benz 300D - Sold, Euro non-turbo car.

oh, but yes 3 bar is normal for that car. a better measure is how fast does it build when you start it.

__________________
2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins - Georend fully built trans, Banks Big Hoss Bundle, Smarty Tuner, 5" turbo back exhaust. 500 HP and 1100 ft/lbs to the ground.
1979 Mercedes-Benz 300CD - Lost to a four car pile up on 275, Thank You Michigan Drivers.
1986 Mercedes-Benz 300D - Sold, Euro non-turbo car.

on start up it seems normal, middle of the gauge, but just a little throttle really pumps up the pressure. Diesels are new, and strange

Mine is a 92 300D 2.5L I5 and does the same thing. At idle its around 2. As soon as I accelerate its at 3.

According to the owners manual:

" OIL PRESSURE GAUGE The oil pressure at idle speed may drop to 4.4 psi (0.3 bar) if the engine is at operating temperature. This will not jeopardize its operational reliability. Pressure must, however, rise immediately upon acceleration. "

__________________
92 300D 2.5L OM602 OBK #59

Usualy the hot idle is somewhere between 1-2 bar, and it should rise to 3 when its off idle. On the turbo charged engines it needs to be their by 3k rpm at the latest because of the oil coolers in the pistons.

My friends S320 has a constently pegged guage as well, I did a bit of research and supposibly their is a short somewhere. Thats what I'd suspect in your case.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I've heard that when the oil pressure senders in these cars fail, the gauge constantly reads 3 bar. You might be able to test by looking at the gauge while pre-glowing. If the gauge reads 3 with the engine off but the key in the run position, your sender is probably bad.

__________________
Dale

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g1...MG_2277sig.jpg

1990 300D 2.5 Turbo -155k
2000 E430 - 103k
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Ecodiesel 4x4 - 11k
2014 VW Passat TDI SE - 7k Bro's Diesel
2006 E320 CDI - 128k Pop's Benz

Pre-glow - A moment of silence in honor of Rudolph Diesel

When my sender was failing it read low....and would jitter when slowing down/pressure decreased, and sat at just about 0 with a warm engine. Replaced it, worked fine for a day, failed completely and sat on 0. Replaced with a VDO sender and it worked perfectly. 2 bar at normal idle, 1.8 at hot off the freeway idle, and immediate to 3 bar on acceleration.

If replacing the sender, get the good one. (VDO)

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)