waveoff

iTrader: (11)

I've had my Z for a little over a month now and I've noticed this from day one. My oil pressure never gets over 40 psi and it usually idles around 20 psi. The content in my video is what has me concerned. My needle fluctuates around 20 psi at idle after my car is up to full operating temperature. It seems to be most apparent when the car is at idle facing uphill. To summarize my oil pressure behavior:

-On cold starting, oil pressure is between 35-40 psi at idle.
-Oil pressure never gets above 40 psi no matter what.
-Once up to operating temperature, pressure is anywhere from 30-35 psi while cruising.
-Once up to operating temperature, pressure fluctuates around 20 psi at idle.

When I rev the engine to see what kind of pressure increase I get, I see about 7 psi/1000 RPM's or so...but it never gets above 40 psi no matter how high the RPM's.

I'm at 98k miles and I know I should at least get a new oil pump. But if that doesn't cure my low oil pressure what could it be? Do my symptoms even sound like a pump going? My oil level is fine and I haven't noticed any oil consumption after 2k miles. I do get some tapping when I start the car cold...could it be a spun bearing? It's pretty quiet once it's warmed up.

Check out the video and let me know what you think. http://s53.photobucket.com/albums/g4...Oilpsi1mpg.flv I don't know how much bandwith comcrap will allow before the video becomes unavailable. It's about 7MB in size.

redbandit98

iTrader: (13)

i dont know..kind of looks like mine does now..i would DEF check the oil plug..ill almost bet money that there are shavings on it..ill bet a bearing is on its way out..if someone comes back and says that is ok then im putting the stock cam back in and trading mine in before it blows becuause thats what mine looked like excpet mine was a little worse due to the big cam and the idle was so erratic that the psi went with the lope.up down up down. i might just put some thick oil in it, put the stock stuff back in it..and trade that mother in
matt

2001 Pewter WS6

iTrader: (43)

Fluctuating oil pressure is a sign of bad cam bearings... Ask me how I know...

redbandit98

iTrader: (13)

or rod bearings...ask me how I know...either way...either one of us probably didnt want to know in the first place

2001 Pewter WS6

iTrader: (43)

Get it fixed now while you may be able to get away with just replacing the bearings.

waveoff

iTrader: (11)

Great, just what I want to do after dumping $$$'s into getting the tranny rebuilt. Know of any good shops in the area that won't take me to the cleaners, 2001 Pewter WS6?

2001 Pewter WS6

iTrader: (43)

Didn't realize you were in Pittsburgh. I had my shortblock built by Sheehan's in Brownsville. They were extremely reasonable. Can you pull the motor yourself or do you need that done? I can try and come up with something for you. What part of Pittsburgh are you from?

waveoff

iTrader: (11)

I don't have a cherry picker or anything so I would probably need to have someone yank it for me. If this thing is going to turn into a money pit I'm just going to trade it in for something else. I always wanted an F-Body...too bad the one I got is turning out to be the car of my nightmares. I live out by the airport in Crescent...where are you located?

waveoff

iTrader: (11)

I think I found the source of my low oil pressure...the oil filter. Please feel free to flame me and slap me around for my ignorance. That should have been the first thing I changed on the car when I got it. Instead, I spent all of my free time working on the brakes instead of changing the fluids. I did flush and fill the cooling system though.

When I pulled the oil filter off I cut it open to see if there were any metal shavings trapped inside. I didn't find any but there was a nice coating of sludge in the bottom of the filter. I put a new purolator filter on and started her up. This is what my pressure is now:

-45 psi at idle on a cold start
-40 psi while cruising
-60 psi is the max I see now when I romp on it
-35 psi at idle when hot

Definitely an improvement over what I was seeing before. Do these look like normal numbers to you guys?

Camaroz

iTrader: (2)

heres mine if you want to compare
60PSI cold start
40PSI hot idle
60-65PSI WOT
45-50PSI while cruising
and im in need of a oil change.. at 3300miles.. im poor this week though so next week it gets it did you change the oil along with the filter?

waveoff

iTrader: (11)

Yes, oil was changed as well. I used regular old Mobil 10w30 dino juice. With my high mileage (98k) should I try another grade like 10w40?