xtinctbird

So in a matter of about a month my cars oil pressure when warm has dropped from around 40 at idle then to 30-35 at idle and now it is down around 20 at idle. Motor isn't knocking or ticking revs smooth and pulls up to 6000 rpm easily what could cause this drop?

DONAIMIAN

iTrader: (18)

Dont know what can cause it, but my motor started going through the same thing. Now 6 months later its sitting on my garage floor.

xtinctbird

I'm kinda fearful that's where I'm heading trying to find out if there is some means of prevention.

LSWon00

iTrader: (3)

2000 and earlier LS1's had oiling problems. The pumps would begin to fail as both of you described. At start up with low oil temps the oil pressure is normal then as the oil heats up and thins out the pressure drops. This isn't uncommon and has happened to many of us. Mine occured long ago and then after a cam install and an attempt to port and shim the pump to build more pressure to support the load of the Comp 921 springs the stock LS1 pump wasn't up to the task, and the lifters started collaspsing. To solve my issues I did hours upon hours of research on this very subject and then decided to go with a Melling High Volume LS1 pump. Since switching to this pump I have experienced 45psi being the lowest oil pressure and that was after a few high RPM runs in warm weather and about 2 hours of driving non-stop. When the oil is cold I've pegged the gauge at 80psi. There are two springs that come with the pump, the red spring is installed and is the high pressure spring (50 psi hot idle) and the blue spring (40 psi hot idle) it was reccomended to me by several people to use the blue spring. I reccomend you also switch to a new pump, I'm a big advocate of the Melling High Volume unit available at Summit, Jeggs, and other local sponsors on here Speed Inc I believe sells it. In my situation I also changed the pick up tube to avoid any possible problems later on. Also be sure to change the o-ring on the pump and never reuse it this goes without saying. Good luck.
~Brad

lt1formula2000

iTrader: (10)

mine is doing the same(20-30 hot idle), until I change the oil then the pressure returned(45 hot idle). but slowly went back to 20 at hot idle not sure how many miles it took didn't pay attention. So last week I changed just the filter with the same results, its been 150mi and still good so far. do you think this is symptons of a bad pump. I haven't found anything unusual on my drain bolt during changes

LSWon00

iTrader: (3)

Yes this is the same thing mine would do. Heat over time combined with contaminates break down the oil and this is why you loose oil pressure over time. Synthetic oil will take longer to break down than conventional but the end result is the pump is bad. You can trying running a thicker viscoity oil in the mean time between now and when you chage the pump. For a while I ran 20w-50 AmsOil to bide my time. Your pump needs to be changed.

sscamaro1384

iTrader: (163)

would a new oil pump solve this problem, or could it be the rings? how big of a job is it to change the oil pump?

Specialized

iTrader: (15)

Gotta pull the harmonic balancer, if that helps you at all. Its no walk in the park, but by no means does it REQUIRE (obviously, it would be easier with it out) pulling the motor.

vader99

iTrader: (4)

Is it just the pressure spring that weakens or what actually goes bad in the pump....since there is not really much to them???