wondering what a typical oil pressure for cold and hot idle should be on these motors. i have a 2000 z28, all stock right now with 91k and according to stock gauge it idles cold around 40 and hot around 20 and cruises around 25. after watching several video of other LS cars this seems low in comparison. the motor runs well and is quiet, is this something i should worry about or is it normal/average?

 

I'm in the same boat. I'm going to switch to conventional oil

 

Mine is around 65 when warm

 

Im at 40 when warm and 60 when cold. Don't put too much trust in any stock gauge.

 

mines the same as OP's

my car has 158K on it... the needle does bounce alot though

 

Put a real gauge on it, and confirm the dash is correct, or not.

 

I've owned 5 of these cars and ALL of them were 60 cold 40 warm at idle EXCEPT when the o ring on the pickup tube was shrunk and leaking. Then it varied, at your mileage and year that o ring has to be poo poo. I'd either add a seal sweller or replace it.

My WS6 o ring needed replacing BUTT I added 3 ozs of seal sweller TransX and 1/2 qt Lucas Synthetic Oil Treatment and its quiet and has full oil pressure for over 10k miles now, so it does work. If I were you I would try it just to prove its the o ring.

 

i guess ill have to toss a gauge on it, but i have heard about that pickup tube o ring being a common problem. when i get around to doing a cam i will replace it.

rockinws6 which seal sweller did you use? this stuff for transmissions?

 

That's it, 3 ozs of that and some Lucas SYNTHETIC oil treatment

 

ok i got both and tossed some in, ill post back if it makes any changes.

 

My corvette idles 50psi cold then drops to 30psi when hot driving and I see as low as 10psi at really hot idle motor sounds smoother than most do, psi isn't as important as volume mines been going strong for months this way

 

What length of time do you keep it in for?

 

I use the TransX one time with the Lucas then next oil change I only add the 1/2 qt of Lucas. So the TransX stays in for 5k. Another nice side effect from the TransX is it reconditions the valve seals.

I listened to my engine clatter and knock for 75k until I started using these products. Now the engine is very quiet and uses less oil, plus it runs a little better.

I'll tell ya another weirdo thing I discovered with my LS1 cars is slight coolant usage without any leaks. This WS6 was using a small amount but the oil was clean and the steering cooler removed. I also had a odd cold start slight misfire, this was like this for years. I finally added some of the powdered leak stop and after a few run cycles no more rough cold idle and no more coolant loss. So you know there is a internal leak someplace, probably porus casting someplace. GM drops a sealing PILL in all their aluminum engines before they leave to factory to eliminate just such problems, maybe this missed doing mine.

So if you are using ANY coolant I'd try the good powdered sealer.

 

id like to update this thread. i tried rockinws6's idea and it did seem to increase the average oil pressure by a few PSI, but i finally did an oil change to the car and can only assume the previous owner had put some really light weight 5w-30 or maybe even 5w-20 oil in it because it came out like water and with the 15w-50 i put in the car almost doubled in average oil pressure