Whats the lowest pressure a stock oil pump can run safely at? my 98 z28 oil pressure gauge at idle after warming up runs about 10 pounds of pressue at around 1000 RPM. I had it checked out a few years ago by a mechanic who checked the sending unit and said everything was fine and that the LS1 is designed to run on a lower than normal oil pressue rate. He stated that it needs to climb about 7 psi for every 1000 rpms added which it does. my car has 117,xxx miles on it and I bought it 5 years ago at 107,xxx but im assuming it has the stock oil pump. Does the info about the oil pump pressue seem right or should I be concerned and look into replacing the pump? I dont drive it very much but everytime I do I feel like im always staring at the pressure gauge because Im used to a lot of my other vehicles running at idle with at least 40 pounds so thought id put a post on here to get others opinions on the matter

 

I thought rule of thumb was 10psi per 1000 rpm, but that does seem low. Most of these run around 30-40 at idle.

 

I just had one go out on my car last week, had to have the car towed home and I went ahead and ordered and have already recieved the SLP Heavy Duty Oil Pump (part #55001) and why I am at it I also went ahead and went with the Comp Cams Timing Chain Set (#7106), just haven't got around to tearing into it yet, been to cold and I haven't had the time yet. My car ran between 50psi to 60psi before that at idle. This is just my conclusion and the stock LS pumps have been know to go bad without warning, so just watch your gauges. Picture's of what I got are on my FQuick page in signiture.

 

Anybody do the oil pump and timing chain? trying to get an idea of how long each would take. It has not seemed to be an issue but I would rather replace pump than have a more serious problem. Mine is around 40 at startup but by the time it gets warmed up im more around 10-15 at most.

 

The chain is directly behind the pump. When you get the pump off, turn the crank till you have the cam & crank sprockets dot to dot. Then, remove the cam (upper) sprocket with the chain. Add the new chain with the sprocket, and be sure that the dots are aligned.
The pump R & R took me a few hours, because I've done it a couple of times. The chain won't take long at all.
Here is the R & R for oil pump.
http://ls1howto.com/index.php?article=4

10 lbs is too low. I'm still repairing the outfall from too little pressure.
I had 20lbs at idle, and that was too low.
With your mileage, the problem could be worn rod bearings.

 

I can't answer the part about the hot idle pressure but I can trll You this ,,,,,there was a thread on this forum about a week ago that had a graph of a stock , and I believe 2 Melling oil pumps and the stock pumps pressure drops off like a rock past 6500 rpm's and the Mellings continued to rise to 8000 rpm's. which explains many fellow LS1 tech-ers oil pump/ fried bearing issues that previously were explanation-less .