Numba20

iTrader: (1)

Oil pressure reads 70ish psi at idle... And max at 80 and stay there (relative) f any gas is applied. I haven't kept it running quite long enough to find out any other signs of flaw or let it really warm up. I had an old PCM though, that I hooked up and tried and it read 10 to 15 psi under what my current one is reading. Car was not getting gas into 1 cyl with old PCM tho. (bad injector bank) so how can I get an accurate reading? I had 10w30 in (before this issue) and I changed oil with 5w30, 1/4 of a quart of Lucas synthetic stabilizer, and a bottle of zmax. The sending unit seems functional. The gauge is just off, or my pressure is actually scary high. Is there anything else that could go out sensor-wise that would affect this? And my low oil light is on. Not always tho, oil is NOT low tho. Sometimes low coolant will come on as well.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Verify the pressure with a mechanical gauge first.

If the pressure is correct then the relief valve on your oil pump may be stuck closed. Fixing this would require dropping the pan and having a look-see.

What does not make sense is you say you changed the PCM and your oil pressure was 15psi less? That can't happen because the PCM has nothing to do with the oil pressure gauge. The dash drives the sensor, not the PCM.

Stroked96Bowtie

iTrader: (22)

Is there such a thing as oil pressure being too high? I've always thought the more the better. I know I've seen increases in oil pressures when thicker oil is put in the motor. Maybe the additives you put in the motor thickened it up quite a bit. My escalade with a stock 6.0l gets 80psi when driving, 20w-50 oil.

KFtransam

I dont know about you guys, but my oil pressure is always considerably higher on a cold start...

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Oil pressure is always higher on cold start because the oil is cold (simple). High oil pressure is not a good thing. The pump has to work harder which costs horsepower, many oil filters aren't designed for sustained high pressures which can result in them exploding. Also with the relief valve fully open most of the oil ends up back in the pan reducing cold-start oiling.

The right amount is far more important than having too much.

BOOSTED AFR

Why does your escalade need 20w-50? I run my 2004 Escalade with an LQ9 with 5w-30 and have never had an issue. 45 lbs of oil pressure max.

And yes there is such thing as too much oil pressure. All oil pressure is really is the resistance that the oil is experiencing to movement. The higher the pressure, the more resistance and heat that is put in to the oil. Also, the harder the oil pump drive is stressed, the harder the camshaft is stressed and so on and so forth.

Just like at a certain point adding boost doesn't create anymore horsepower but only more heat. More oil pressure is not always better. You only need enough oil pressure to get the oil where it needs to go in the engine. Beyond that you are just spending money to change your oil more often since the oil is breaking down much quicker.

Stroked96Bowtie

iTrader: (22)

I usually run the thicker oil in the winter months, when I do a summer oil change I will run a lighter weight. I prefer the heavier oils just for the coating factor, just a personal preference. With this weight, the lowest I've seen it go is 60psi in my kid-caddi. I run the 20w-50 (synthetic racing oil) in my race cars also, no matter what time of year. Sounds like we have the same body style (I've got the ESV model to hold all my kids), pearl white?

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

You have it bassackwards.

Stroked96Bowtie

iTrader: (22)

Thicker oils maintain temp better for colder months, thinner oil sheds temp better for hotter months. Is that not correct?

BOOSTED AFR

EXT - Pearl white

I love the bed and the waterproof side boxes. That's what convinced me to get the truck.

Ed Wright

iTrader: (1)

Nope. Backwards.

SAPPER

iTrader: (10)

One other thing about running too high of pressure on an LT1 is the drive gear will eat itself.

Numba20

iTrader: (1)

Maybe you should read up a bit more on those additives. There not just joe blow magic juice. There is science behind it. Also, I use casterol GTX. I dont think the sending unit is bad... I though it went out but it was actually the wire pulled out of the plug. So I found a perfect match spare female connector and installed it with an extra piece of wire, and sodered it in. Due to the old segment being very tightly pulled to reach. Gig the gauge of wire I spliced in was larger. Would that throw the gauge off 15-20 psi reading?

Where can I hook up a mechanical gauge to view it?

speed_demon24

iTrader: (6)

So why don't you enlighten us and provide some links?

Zmax and the lucas additive is pretty much the worst thing you can put in your oil.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Surely!

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2001/02/zmax1.shtm

Oh...wait...

BOOSTED AFR

Doh!

Yep...OP keep puttin it in there. Your oil pressure will be lower in no time!

GIZMO

iTrader: (8)

Care to tell us how that ended.......

chaman

iTrader: (5)

Science?...try more like marketing.

fex77k

iTrader: (2)

Maple surup is harder to pour if it is cold. Oil is thicker at lower temperatures, a very good reason to let the motor put some heat into the oil before any serious driving.

Oil sensor is only connected to the dash at least in my car the gauge was somewhat accurate.

More is not better, a very rough approximation for a sbc is about 10psi per 1000 rpms. Although racing motors run as little pressure as needed. So they might spin to 8-9000 and only take 55-70 psi to do it, they may also run thinner oils.

Numba20

iTrader: (1)

Interesting. That's not what I've seen on multiple TV series I watch on speed channel. So much for the micro lubricant...