LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

oil pressure still acting funny...

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Old 09-15-2012, 12:01 AM
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Default oil pressure still acting funny...

About a month ago my oil pressure was fluctuating badly, and over 3500 rpm the pressure would fall off. First I put a manual oil press gauge on it and it did the same thing. So I dropped the pan and pulled the oil pump and had my dad(machinist/engine builder) inspect everything and the only thing he could find was the check valve in the oil pump seemed to be hanging up a little bit. So we put a new pump in it. Now it seems to be doing the same thing. When you slowly rev it up the pressure stays at 40 until its hits 3500rpm and then drops to 30 and then will slowly climb back up. I noticed that the oil press gauge line has air in it, is that normal? Could something be messed up with the oil port my gauge is connected to?
Old 09-15-2012, 12:43 AM
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Could be sucking the oilpan dry if it's a high volume pump. Throw an extra quart in and see if it continues to drop above 3500.
Old 09-15-2012, 01:46 AM
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Collapsed oil filter? Did you change the filter? What brand?
Old 09-15-2012, 03:22 AM
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I'm with 93 vette on that one. With my meldon that thing really moves the oil also. I run extra quart in mine also. I have stock pan. When I put my aftermarket K member in I'm going with bigger oil pan also.
Old 09-15-2012, 07:09 AM
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Could be windage if it's a stock/standard volume pump. How many quarts of oil are you using?
Old 09-15-2012, 08:13 AM
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Need to know if it is an SV or HV pump.
Old 09-15-2012, 09:20 AM
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The pump is a HV and im running a 7qt pan with 7 qts of oil in it. Already changed the oil filter, its a mobil 1. And Im not running a windage tray. Ive been running this exact same setup for several years and it just now doing this.
Old 09-15-2012, 09:21 AM
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And it only does this when its fully warmed up
Old 09-15-2012, 09:44 AM
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run a extra 1/2 qt and see what happens
Old 09-15-2012, 10:00 AM
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When u changed the oil pump im assuming the problem went away, and now its back?
Old 09-15-2012, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by FAD2BLK93
When u changed the oil pump im assuming the problem went away, and now its back?
Well, when it did it the first time I changed the pump and while I had the pan off I said screw it and put my 24x conversion on it. I took it to the tuner and told them to watch the oil pressure, and they said it was fine the whole time on the dyno. Then I get it back home and I notice it doing it again. Its got me baffled as to what it is. Thats why I wonder if it has anything to do with the oil port that the gauge taps into?
Old 09-15-2012, 12:38 PM
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i seem to remember a BIG thread on a guy having issues with the oil pressure dipping. It was probably over a year ago tho...
Old 09-15-2012, 02:44 PM
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How high is the oil pickup off the bottom of the pan?
Old 09-22-2012, 01:52 PM
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Did you ever figure out your problem? Did you ever change the oil filter? I had a similar problem, and it ended up being a collapsed AC Delco oil filter. Now, I run nothing but KN oil filters.
Old 09-22-2012, 02:12 PM
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It was doing this with a ac delco a while back then I switched to a Mobil 1 and did the same thing. so now I switched back to a ac delco and put a thicker oil it and the problem went away, I dont know if it fixed it or the thicker oil just masked the problem. But I haven't lost oil press since I did that.
Old 09-22-2012, 02:16 PM
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Has the oil pump drive been inspected? The HV pumps tend to be hard on it.

On the dyno the car was probably a couple inches high in the rear from being on the rollers, as opposed to level on the ground or nose up accelerating.

Few years back I had some pressure issues at high rpm and I think it ended up being my slightly uphill curved street test spot. I put a different windage tray and a pan baffle in. The pan baffle I did because it was an extra $5 and I figured I was going to do all I could while I was there. This was a stock pan and all. I think the "issue" was the curve/incline of where I was testing combined with taking the stock oiling to near 7000rpm which is way beyond what GM designed it for.

HV pumps tend to have cavitation and such issues at higher rpm but since you say it starts at 3500 I don't think it is that yet.

Edit,
A HV pump and thicker oil is begging for oilpump drive issues.
Old 09-22-2012, 02:23 PM
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Originally Posted by 96capricemgr
Has the oil pump drive been inspected? The HV pumps tend to be hard on it.

On the dyno the car was probably a couple inches high in the rear from being on the rollers, as opposed to level on the ground or nose up accelerating.

Few years back I had some pressure issues at high rpm and I think it ended up being my slightly uphill curved street test spot. I put a different windage tray and a pan baffle in. The pan baffle I did because it was an extra $5 and I figured I was going to do all I could while I was there. This was a stock pan and all. I think the "issue" was the curve/incline of where I was testing combined with taking the stock oiling to near 7000rpm which is way beyond what GM designed it for.

HV pumps tend to have cavitation and such issues at higher rpm but since you say it starts at 3500 I don't think it is that yet.

Edit,
A HV pump and thicker oil is begging for oilpump drive issues.
Oil pump drive looked to be fine when I changed the oil pump, I had my dad/engine builder once over it for me and everything checked out. Hopefully I can get by till winter, then I can dig into it and see if we can find the problem.
Old 09-22-2012, 02:36 PM
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What weight oil are you using now? The factory oil cooler is known to be a restriction although the black Moroso manufactured one is better in this regard than the later one. I took my oil cooler off and use a 1060 Napa Gold (Wix) filter. Wix makes a nice filter.
Old 09-23-2012, 08:49 AM
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Originally Posted by ReggieWarrenJr
Oil pump drive looked to be fine when I changed the oil pump, I had my dad/engine builder once over it for me and everything checked out. Hopefully I can get by till winter, then I can dig into it and see if we can find the problem.
You can't see the oil pump drive gear when you change the pump. Do you mean you removed the intake manifold and inspected the gear, too? Why do you need an HV pump, anyway?
Old 09-25-2012, 08:18 PM
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Originally Posted by shbox
You can't see the oil pump drive gear when you change the pump. Do you mean you removed the intake manifold and inspected the gear, too? Why do you need an HV pump, anyway?
He said the drive, so I thought he was talking about the rod going down to the pump. But I know for sure its not the drive now because the thicker oil would have made it worse if that was the case. Im running the HV pump because thats what my dad puts in all his engines and has never had a problem. Ive never had any issues with oil the past 3 years up until now for some reason, but the engine will be coming out this winter to find out whats really going wrong.


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