pimpinpaco

I have a concern about my oil pressure. I recently did an ls6 intake swap on my car so I went ahead and replace the knock sensors and my oil pressure sending unit my last one was bad because it would go just up to 20psi and at idle it would drop all the way down to 0 and the check gauges light would come on but once I hit the throttle the pressure would jump up to 20 and the light would come off. So now with this new sensor at full throttle it would go as high as 42 psi BUT at idle it would sit at a little under 20 and still drop all the way to 0 and this worries me. I got my engine rebuilt 7,000 miles ago so I know it got a new oil pump put on it but the sensor was bad since just reading up to 20. I just did the oil change also about 4 days ago put 4 1/2 quarts 5w-30 syntactic blend Valvoline and a quart or Lucas oil treatment with a fram oil filter if that's helpful info. Thanks for any response in advance.

luigiandme

iTrader: (2)

Install a mechanical gauge. My guess is the engine was rebuilt by Ray Charles.

pimpinpaco

So that would replace the original oil pressure sending unit right. No it wasn't a friend of mine had bought a 98 Camaro with a spun bearing and took it to these guys that work out of their house and did a good job on it so I took mine to him also

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

What kind of pressure sender was installed? Do you have the brand/model number. Not all are the same quality...

https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...ding-unit.html

Spartan7

iTrader: (7)

Well, that Lucas and Fram crap isn't helping. What you're describing sounds more like an internal oiling issue rather than a sending unit issue. Put a mechanical gauge on there, and that will tell you for sure.

pimpinpaco

I don't have the model number at the moment but I got it at autozone I believe the brand was duralast

pimpinpaco

I'm afraid of that being the problem but the car runs good with no problems or knocks. If the problem is internal what can I do to fix it and how?

Roarin_8

iTrader: (5)

First things first, put the mechanical gauge on it.

Cajun ELESS-ONE

not to jack your thread but my gauge reads bout 20-30 at idle and vibrates some. Is that the OPSU as well?

flattusmaximus78

iTrader: (1)

This wont cause a pressure drop at all most likely, but your about 1 quart to 1.5 to low depending on who you ask.

Cajun ELESS-ONE

so i can just add the correct amount? i havent bought the car yet. it was doing that when i test drove it

WS6nTX

iTrader: (1)

My electric oil pressure (JDM Swoosh style I think it was) gauge was acting up quite a bit. i tried two different sending units, same results. Was fluctuating all over, barely ever saw anything higher than 0).
I used a different factory location on the head (this is of my L61 engine - s/c cavalier) and put in a mechanical one (1.5" gauge from Auto Zone) for testing purposes. It works flawlessly now. So the location of the sending unit can also make all the difference. Some locations just dont see pressure well. I actually am replacing my $60 one Im using with a $200 AEM gauge, and Im sure the quality of the sending unit itself is much better too.

Try a different location.

Cajun ELESS-ONE

where/how would i mount the mechanical at?

lt1pwr1

iTrader: (1)

You would take your OPSU out and screw in the mechanical gauge there. Don't buy that car until you get a mechanical gauge on it no matter what they say.

pimpinpaco

Well I just installed the mechanical gauge and I have verified that it does drop down to 0 and will go as high as 34 psi so I'm guessing my oil pump is out....

lt1pwr1

iTrader: (1)

Guess again. That would be too easy. More like you have worn bearings (most likely cam bearings). Motor needs to be gone through again.

pimpinpaco

Ok so I just finish tearing apart my engine the oil pump was replace when the engine was redone (the same lettering and number are the same as this Mellin oil pump I purchased) BUT the builder did use the black o-ring and on some researched I've done it says to put the green o-ring..... Should I replace the hole oil pump n install with the green o-ring just would it be fine to put the same oil pump n just replace the o-ring on it?

LilJayV10

iTrader: (39)

Most F bodies use the blue o-ring, I haven't seen a green one.

Any idea how many miles are on the engine since it was redone. I have a bad feeling you will be tearing back into the engine again, but probably further than just the oil pump.

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Just reread your post and saw it has 7,000 miles on it. Has the oil pressure been this low since it was rebuild?

pimpinpaco

Just finished putting everything back together including some new longtube ceramic coated BBK headers and off road ypipe (have hooker cat back not installed yet) did replace new oil pump and installed the green o-ring on. When 1st came on I had no oil pressure but it slowly stated to go up, left the car on and the oil pressure slowly keeped going down till it hit zero (and this is all on a mechanical gauge) so where is my problem? Car idles good already opened my last oil filter and did not find any metal particles in the filter...

poltergeist 02

iTrader: (65)

I wonder if it's an issue with the barbell/plunger.