General Maintenance & Repairs - Normal oil pressure?

I just did an engine swap from on 01 corvette into a 98 transam... both LS1s. My oil pressure when warm is sitting at 20psi at idle. Is this normal. Under a little throttle it goes to 40 and so on... Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Did you use 98 oil sensor ?

Did you use 98 oil sensor ?What's the difference?

I don't know exactly but the pn is different for 98 vs. 99-02

Pretty sure my engine was at 60psi at idle if memory serves me correct.
Does this sound too high?

Mine has an idle oil pressure of about 28psi, and at 70mph it's around 45psi. This is with the oil at 200F. When the oil is colder it reads higher obviously.

Yes, I used the oil pressure sending unit (back of the intake) from my 98 onto the new motor. I also used the oil level sensor (has nothing to do with pressure) off of the 98 as well. Can I drive under these conditions? Are they normal?

The pressure is lowish but within specs and OK if you get ~60 psi or more at wot. You can try a tad heavier oil like 10w40 or 10w50 to get idle pressure to low 30s to play safe.

It won't go much over 40psi at WOT.

You better check that with a mechanical gauge using high RPM. If the pressure is around 40 there is a problem.

GM Service Manual for the LS1 says 7PSI of oil pressure per 1000 RPM.

I think your pressure is low for a stock LS1/6 setup. Verify the pressure with a mechanical gauge and go from there.

Cool thanks a lot. What could the problem be? The pump has only 5k miles on it (lke the rest of the engine). If the oil pressure sending unit broke, would I still be getting pressure?

Cool thanks a lot. What could the problem be? The pump has only 5k miles on it (lke the rest of the engine). If the oil pressure sending unit broke, would I still be getting pressure?
Yes, you could still get pressure if the oil pressure sending unit was not completely broken off, say it was cracked.

would it just be shitty? Like what I have now, for example...?

im actually around 60-75 most of the time. Mti ported zo6 pump

I have around the same pressure in mine, around 20 at idle but i get to around 60 at wot, so i'd be interested in if this is ok or not aswell

mine is 20 at idle and 40 at WOT. I shook the oil pressure sending unit and it felt sturdy. Could it still be broken? Is there any other place to put a mechanical guage, besides right there?

The shop manual indicates you can buy an adapter that plugs into the spot where the oil filter screws on, then you plug a gauge into that. Much easier than trying to mess with the sender on the top of the block. Only problem is finding them and paying for them (I was quoted about $185 for the pair).

J-21867 - Pressure gauge and hose assembly
J-42907 - Oil pressure testing tool


-Mike

How much is just the tool? I already have a mechanical guage. Thanks!!!

I don't think 7psi/1000 rpm makes sense. That would be like 5 psi at idle... I assume that only means for above idle pressure... Mine is about 50 psi idle, 80 at WOT.

60+ psi at cold idle, 42 psi at hot idle, over 60 psi from 4000 rpms on up.

I don't think 7psi/1000 rpm makes sense. That would be like 5 psi at idle... I assume that only means for above idle pressure... Mine is about 50 psi idle, 80 at WOT.
That's what GM dictates in the service manual, 7 PSI per 1000 RPM, so at 7000 RPM you should have at least 49 PSI.

i live in florida..my car runs at 60 psi or so cold and a 35 psi or a below when warm.. Ive always used Mobile 1 syn 10w30 since i owned the car (3yrs).When it is real hot i have infamous ticking sound..Is it ok to use 10w-40 syn catrol ? do u think this would help with noise and oil pressure??>My car has about 49000 miles, stock except for loudmouth exhaust and K@N filter........

Castrol is a piece of shit when it comes to synthetics. All but mobil 1 aren't truly synthetic.

What about 15w mobil 1 ?or what full syn would u suggest?

i live in florida..my car runs at 60 psi or so cold and a 35 psi or a below when warm.. Ive always used Mobile 1 syn 10w30 since i owned the car (3yrs).When it is real hot i have infamous ticking sound..Is it ok to use 10w-40 syn catrol ? do u think this would help with noise and oil pressure??>My car has about 49000 miles, stock except for loudmouth exhaust and K@N filter........

same here

i live in florida..my car runs at 60 psi or so cold and a 35 psi or a below when warm.. Ive always used Mobile 1 syn 10w30 since i owned the car (3yrs).When it is real hot i have infamous ticking sound..Is it ok to use 10w-40 syn catrol ? do u think this would help with noise and oil pressure??>My car has about 49000 miles, stock except for loudmouth exhaust and K@N filter........

Me too! I added about 2.5 quarts of Mobil w50 oil to my 5w30 and the valvetrain sounds smoother and more quiet.

I'd stick to Mobile 1. If you are getting a tick, that can't be good. Are you in a 98? Sounds like your oil pump is going to shit. Has it always been like that?

my stock oil pump took a dump. It was showing about 21psi idle hot, and 54 at redline (6500 ls6). I had it replaced with a brand new, ported pump and I'm getting 52psi idle and over 80 at WOT (pegging analog guage and showing 83 on the digital).

can you have too much psi?? oil is redline 1030 and filter is a k&n

I don't think their is such a thing as too much psi, unless the numbers are ridiculously high.

I don't think their is such a thing as too much psi, unless the numbers are ridiculously high.
If you have too much oil psi you can pop out the oil galley plugs and thus have significantly decreased oil pressure.

If you have too much oil psi you can pop out the oil galley plugs and thus have significantly decreased oil pressure.

I was afraid of that

ok, so what's "too much"? this is on a basically stock LS6 block with around 23K miles on it.