Going down steep hills and oil pressure

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shDK

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Being Danish.. we are used to very very flat roads, but currently we are on a car vacation to southern France, and driving on steep hills is rather new to me.. today I drove down a 30% downhill driveway so steep my front bumber scraped a bit at the bottom.

It made me wonder how steep a road a normal car can go down before the engine will suffer oil starvation. ? Our car is a toyota auris with a 1zr-fae engine. And the oil light stayed off. But I am still worried for my engine.

What are people experience? Is 30 % too extreme?

Thanks

Søren
 
The engine manual for my tractor (Mitsubishi K3A) suggests 25 degrees (not 25 percent) max for continuous use, and 30 degrees for less than 30 minutes of operation.
 
Originally Posted by Wheel
The engine manual for my tractor (Mitsubishi K3A) suggests 25 degrees (not 25 percent) max for continuous use, and 30 degrees for less than 30 minutes of operation.

Sounds impressive, but that is after all a tractor engine. Not a passenger car.
 
Vehicles are qualified to 32% grade. This is the steepest grade a vehicle should encounter on public roads -- at least in the US. This steepest road is in San Francisco.
 
Originally Posted by Kestas
Vehicles are qualified to 32% grade. This is the steepest grade a vehicle should encounter on public roads -- at least in the US. This steepest road is in San Francisco.


I assume it should be fine then 🙂
 
Originally Posted by shDK
Originally Posted by Kestas
Vehicles are qualified to 32% grade. This is the steepest grade a vehicle should encounter on public roads -- at least in the US. This steepest road is in San Francisco.


I assume it should be fine then 🙂


There is quite a difference between %(grade) and degrees

a 30degree road is 58% grade for example.

assuming you were indeed talking about a "30%" slope while steep that is well within normal operation for vehicles.
 
Originally Posted by Rand
Originally Posted by shDK
Originally Posted by Kestas
Vehicles are qualified to 32% grade. This is the steepest grade a vehicle should encounter on public roads -- at least in the US. This steepest road is in San Francisco.


I assume it should be fine then 🙂


There is quite a difference between %(grade) and degrees

a 30degree road is 58% grade for example.

assuming you were indeed talking about a "30%" slope while steep that is well within normal operation for vehicles.


It was a 30% sign for sure. Not degrees 🙂
 
I routinely have my jeep pointed almost straight up or down on trails. And I have have had a few mishaps over the years where it has been tipped over on each side at least once. Never lost oil pressure or had any oiling issues.
 
You'll be fine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvVK6neQ4q4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv53RbvgfGc

These are called "tilt rig dynos" around these parts and are used to validate that the lubrication system works at extreme angles, as well as simulating "exuberant" driving such as on a race track, shown in the videos. You going down a steep driveway, unless you are pretending to be a rally driver, will be no problem. I would be more concerned with hitting some piece of the car than the engine starving for oil.
 
Originally Posted by MichiganMadMan
You'll be fine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvVK6neQ4q4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv53RbvgfGc

These are called "tilt rig dynos" around these parts and are used to validate that the lubrication system works at extreme angles, as well as simulating "exuberant" driving such as on a race track, shown in the videos. You going down a steep driveway, unless you are pretending to be a rally driver, will be no problem. I would be more concerned with hitting some piece of the car than the engine starving for oil.


Thanks...unfortunately I did manage to scrape the front bumber a bit. But nothing you can see.
 
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