No oil pressure at startup, then 30 seconds later pressure kicks in?
10-30-2013, 01:01 AM
#1
No oil pressure at startup, then 30 seconds later pressure kicks in? My car (00 SS, lid/cb only) developed this strange symptom basically overnight. When I start it, my oil pressure gauge is pinned to 0. 30 or so seconds later pressure suddenly appears, and the car drives perfectly normal. Starts fine on the first try every time. I just changed the oil and filter and there was just one tiny metal shaving on the drain plug, the oil did not contain anything metallic, and the filter didn't have metal in it.
The only other change is the oil pressure while driving. Normally I see 40 psi idle and 50-70 on the throttle, 70+ WOT. Now it's more like 25 psi idle and 45-55 psi on the throttle, WOT I don't know because I'm babying it until I figure this out.
It is not leaking oil and it consumes oil like a normal LS1.
Does this sound like a bad pressure relief spring in the oil pump? Or is this a bad OPSU?
The only other change is the oil pressure while driving. Normally I see 40 psi idle and 50-70 on the throttle, 70+ WOT. Now it's more like 25 psi idle and 45-55 psi on the throttle, WOT I don't know because I'm babying it until I figure this out.
It is not leaking oil and it consumes oil like a normal LS1.
Does this sound like a bad pressure relief spring in the oil pump? Or is this a bad OPSU?
10-30-2013, 11:37 AM
#4
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My first feeling on this is a dying OPSU.
10-30-2013, 12:33 PM
#5
I really hope so. The only thing stopping me from going with that is the fact that the valvetrain sounds just a tiny tiny bit more sewing-machine-like than usual while the gauge reads 0. No knocks, ticks, clunks, squeaks, or anything scary like that, but a little bit more noise. I read a thread where someone had similar but not identical symptoms and it turned out that oil pump replacement solved it, likely due to a failed or failing pressure relief spring in the stock pump.
It can't hurt to try OPSU though.
It can't hurt to try OPSU though.
10-30-2013, 08:28 PM
#6
change the opsu, cheap part for peace of mind on that front. Other thing may be the BRAND of filter you are using. I was told no matter the mileage of my swap that I needed to stick with the AC delco brand filter for the H3 pan swap I did.
I have had no issues with pressure or rattling from the engine.
Even with 6000 RPM burnouts before drag racing.
I have had no issues with pressure or rattling from the engine.
Even with 6000 RPM burnouts before drag racing.
Last edited by BigEd_72455; 10-31-2013 at 05:38 PM.
10-30-2013, 09:46 PM
#7
change the opus, cheap part for peace of mind on that front. Other thing may be the BRAND of filter you are using. I was told no matter the mileage of my swap that I needed to stick with the AC delco brand filter for the H3 pan swap I did.
I have had no issues with pressure or rattling from the engine.
Even with 6000 RPM burnouts before drag racing.
I have had no issues with pressure or rattling from the engine.
Even with 6000 RPM burnouts before drag racing.
Any chance this is a clogged oil galley issue preventing drainback while the car is off or idling? I am seeing mostly normal pressure while on the throttle (45-70) but 20-25 psi idling, which is not normal for my car. I'm hesitant to go down that road because my car only has 53k miles on it and they weren't especially hard.
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10-30-2013, 11:12 PM
#9
Whether you want to do it or not the place to start on this is checking the oil pressure with a mechanical gauge. You will know where you stand after that. If its not the OPSU then you will need to start by pulling the balancer off and inspecting the oil pump and oring on the pickup tube.
I want to warn you about a few basic things most people overlook. 1st is ALWAYS carefully inspect the new oil filter before you install it. Something could be loose or someone may have dropped something inside the oil filter that will certainly cause crazy trouble if installed.
Pull the oil filter off and look inside the engine holes where it attaches to see if anything could be stuck in there.
Its also very possible the oil pump pressure valve is jammed, it happens. Something could be blocking the pickup screen, piece of paper towel etc
There are also a thous other things that could be wrong but you need to start logically and move forward.
You probably don't want to know my opinion on delco filters but i'll give it anyway....JUNK! buy anything else!
hint Purolator, or anygood filter WITHOUT the POS plastic ecore frame inside. They can fail quickly and damage the engine. Are you sure the filter you replaced the 1st wasn't ECORE and failed?
pssst the real brand Delco is long dead....stay far away from them if you can.
I want to warn you about a few basic things most people overlook. 1st is ALWAYS carefully inspect the new oil filter before you install it. Something could be loose or someone may have dropped something inside the oil filter that will certainly cause crazy trouble if installed.
Pull the oil filter off and look inside the engine holes where it attaches to see if anything could be stuck in there.
Its also very possible the oil pump pressure valve is jammed, it happens. Something could be blocking the pickup screen, piece of paper towel etc
There are also a thous other things that could be wrong but you need to start logically and move forward.
You probably don't want to know my opinion on delco filters but i'll give it anyway....JUNK! buy anything else!
hint Purolator, or anygood filter WITHOUT the POS plastic ecore frame inside. They can fail quickly and damage the engine. Are you sure the filter you replaced the 1st wasn't ECORE and failed?
pssst the real brand Delco is long dead....stay far away from them if you can.
Last edited by RockinWs6; 10-30-2013 at 11:32 PM.
10-31-2013, 02:41 PM
#10
Just read up on new Delcos and turns out they're now a shitty filter. The Mobil 1 I was using when the problem started is a non-Ecore filter, as is the K&N I have now. The K&N is apparently just a rebranded Mobil 1 anyway.
I did perform a cursory inspection of the old filter... the oil was black, but it was right at the end of its life and was about to be changed anyway. I didn't see anything too out of the ordinary in the filter; there was a tiny bit of sludge at the bottom but no visible debris. The lighting wasn't great so I'll take another look at it today and I'll cut the filter open, but I'm thinking it has to be something else because my oil pressure is basically fine while driving once it has kicked in... it's only the first 30 seconds after startup that it's bad and then it's low at idle. I'm also not entirely sure how the pump pressure relief works, so I'm not sure it could be doing it. If the spring were stuck and it were trying to relieve pressure all the time, why would my pressure while driving be able reach normal-ish levels?
I did perform a cursory inspection of the old filter... the oil was black, but it was right at the end of its life and was about to be changed anyway. I didn't see anything too out of the ordinary in the filter; there was a tiny bit of sludge at the bottom but no visible debris. The lighting wasn't great so I'll take another look at it today and I'll cut the filter open, but I'm thinking it has to be something else because my oil pressure is basically fine while driving once it has kicked in... it's only the first 30 seconds after startup that it's bad and then it's low at idle. I'm also not entirely sure how the pump pressure relief works, so I'm not sure it could be doing it. If the spring were stuck and it were trying to relieve pressure all the time, why would my pressure while driving be able reach normal-ish levels?
10-31-2013, 05:03 PM
#11
Sorry I meant you should pull off the filter and look in the holes in the block, not the filter. Its possible the relief valve is stuck partially open........at this point it could be a lot of things you to start someplace.
07-14-2020, 12:59 PM
#13
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Just read up on new Delcos and turns out they're now a shitty filter. The Mobil 1 I was using when the problem started is a non-Ecore filter, as is the K&N I have now. The K&N is apparently just a rebranded Mobil 1 anyway.
I did perform a cursory inspection of the old filter... the oil was black, but it was right at the end of its life and was about to be changed anyway. I didn't see anything too out of the ordinary in the filter; there was a tiny bit of sludge at the bottom but no visible debris. The lighting wasn't great so I'll take another look at it today and I'll cut the filter open, but I'm thinking it has to be something else because my oil pressure is basically fine while driving once it has kicked in... it's only the first 30 seconds after startup that it's bad and then it's low at idle. I'm also not entirely sure how the pump pressure relief works, so I'm not sure it could be doing it. If the spring were stuck and it were trying to relieve pressure all the time, why would my pressure while driving be able reach normal-ish levels?
I did perform a cursory inspection of the old filter... the oil was black, but it was right at the end of its life and was about to be changed anyway. I didn't see anything too out of the ordinary in the filter; there was a tiny bit of sludge at the bottom but no visible debris. The lighting wasn't great so I'll take another look at it today and I'll cut the filter open, but I'm thinking it has to be something else because my oil pressure is basically fine while driving once it has kicked in... it's only the first 30 seconds after startup that it's bad and then it's low at idle. I'm also not entirely sure how the pump pressure relief works, so I'm not sure it could be doing it. If the spring were stuck and it were trying to relieve pressure all the time, why would my pressure while driving be able reach normal-ish levels?
