2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

New engine.....388 all bore.......5W-30 oil....

I have not run it much (just one full heat up in the garage to check for leaks/noise/etc....) but watched the oil pressure. At idle when its "cold" I'm seeing 34psi (digital oil pressure gauge) but once the engine heats up (oil reaches 180 degrees on a digital oil temp gauge) the pressure drops to 25psi (again....digital gauge). Part of this has got to be from the fact that at 180 my oil thermostat opens up and starts sending oil through the oil cooler (instead of bypassing the cooler). The oil pressure comes up into the high 30s (37-39psi) by 2000 (have not gone past 3000 yet) and I'm getting oil pressure when the starter is cranking (3-4 psi) so I'm confident that the oil pump and O-ring are both good.

To me the idle pressure seems low but I keep seeing that people tend to have mid 20s PSI at idle with loose built larger CI engines. The guy that did the machine work on my engine said 5W is WAY too thin and I need to go up to something thicker (he said he uses 20W-50 which seems thick to me but then again this guy has sent engines into the high 7s/low 8s that run for many years so.....) which I can do as AZ never gets below 50 degrees even on the "coldest" winter night.

Thoughts?

2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

ttt.......I know its not a topic that has been rehashed 54,732,432 times like "what does the TR224 idle like?" but come on now....somebody must have some input.......

pekkaz

Did he say what the clearances are ? I have ~.0022 crank and ~.0018 rod ... 58psi at cold start @1000 rpm or so and ~35 hot @800 rpm using mobil 0W-40. I'll probably try 5W-40

crainholio

iTrader: (2)

Bondurant at their Phoenix, AZ track runs 15W-50 in their C5s. I've gotten good oil analysis results on my LS1 with Mobil Delvac-1 5W-40 and Mobil-1 15W-50, but it was mostly road course useage w/ sustained high oil temps.

I'd go with Mobil's new Truck & SUV 5W-40 which should be available at Wal-Mart and whatnot. If not, Mobil-1 0W-40 seems to get good results also.

MyLS1Hauls

iTrader: (2)

I believe that Truck and SUV oil IS Delvac1, except its sold in quarts...it carries the same specs per Mobils website. Anyway, with looser tolerances, 5W30 is TOO thin. With looser tolerances, you need thicker oil to keep the pressure up. You should be good using Delvac1 or if you want to use regular oil, try a 15W40 such as Shell RotellaT or Delvac1300, which are a little better at carrying heavy loads vs. a regular motor oil. I noticed very little pressure increase by using M1 0W40 in my stock shortblock...it is a decent amount thicker than 5W30 though.

stealth

Your car should run 60 to 70 lbs. Sounds like it might be bearing clearance issues.

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

My car, 427 CID with a 0.125" shimmed oil pump relief spring runs about 23-26 PSI HOT idle.

I get 60 PSI on cold starts.

Country Boy

iTrader: (24)

I tried 10W30 on my new forged motor, but thats too thin. Non stock motors dont have the same tight clearences as a stock motor. I have to run a 20W50 here. At cold, I see ~70-80 PSI and hot idle is ~40 PSI. Go to a thicker oil.

2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

thanks guys......I'll try a thicker oil.

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

How thick are you gonna go, 2001CamaroGuy?

TTtop

iTrader: (6)

Cannibal, I'm not 2001CamaroGuy, but I have a MTI built 383 that with Mobil 1 5W-30 was seeing 40psi at startup. then would go down to 25 psi when engine reached operating temp.

I recently changed my oil/filter and changed oil to Castrol 10W-40 (the part synthetic kind), not sure of the name. Well, anyway startup is at about 60psi now and reduces to 40psi at operating temp.

So far that seems to be consistent, have not seen it go lower than 40 psi even out in the 90s+ we're having here in the Houston area!...Randy

2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

I'm going to try finding a 5W-50. If that won't work then I will just go with the 15W-50.

crainholio

iTrader: (2)

I've been running Mobil-1 15W-50 since June on my stock shortblock, no complaints here. It's quiet on startup, quiet when I'm thrashing it. I'll be going back to 5W-40 after the racing season is over.

Not sure what oil filter you like, but I'm really happy with Baldwin and generally the plain old Delco PF-whatever.

2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

I use the Napa Gold (Wix) filters but not an LS1 filter. I have a remote twin filter bracket and run two large Ford truck filters (each holds a quart). With the oil pan (6 quarts), all the lines (~1), the oil cooler (just under 1), and the filters filled (2), my system holds about 9 quarts.

2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

I'll be running a 20W-50 for a while. Its the only thing I can get my hands on local. That shouldn't cause any problems as its never below 65 degrees even in the morning (before sun up) out here. Once I get through the first 5K I'll switch over to Mobil 1 15W-50.

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

How did you construct that cooler? Could you give me a parts list? That sounds bad ***, that setup.

2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

I'll dig up the parts list tomorrow

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

Are you gonna run a 20W-50 synthetic or conventional oil?

2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

The 20W-50 is a convetional that I will run for first 5K of this engines life. Once that is over with I will go to the 15W-50 Mobil 1.

2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

This is the thread I posted all the info in. It does not have part numbers but if someone needed them I could dig them up (its been a long time).

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...ght=oil+cooler