Oil Pressure!! WTF?!?!?!
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,678
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From: san antonio, tx
*UPDATE* Oil Pressure!! WTF?!?!?! Ok, so I was driving in traffic to my buddies house and it was bumper to bumper. Well anyways, I noticed that when I was stopped at idle my oil pressure dropped from where it usually sits at idle (40psi) to 30psi. Now, im thinking to myself, I hope my oil pump isnt giving out. Well I get to my buddies house and look for anything unusual and find nothing. No leaks or anything like that. I replaced the oil pump with a new one when I did my cam swap in april. Could my oil pressure sending unit be going out. I have been having problems with my alternator (lights flickering) and dont know if that would contribute to the problem. Is there a different way to check the oil pressure?? Any thoughts. Im stumpped. 
*UPDATE* OK. Bringing this back from the dead. My car is starting to dip as well, but only when im at low rpm in 5th or 6th gear. Other than the fact that now it idles at 18-21psi hot and bout 30psi cold start and while cruising it sits about 30-35psi. This is buggin the **** out of me!! Im gonna replace the oring and see if that makes any difference when I replace my oil pan gasket here in a month or so.....If that doesnt work, im gonna replace the damn pump again!!
*UPDATE* OK. Bringing this back from the dead. My car is starting to dip as well, but only when im at low rpm in 5th or 6th gear. Other than the fact that now it idles at 18-21psi hot and bout 30psi cold start and while cruising it sits about 30-35psi. This is buggin the **** out of me!! Im gonna replace the oring and see if that makes any difference when I replace my oil pan gasket here in a month or so.....If that doesnt work, im gonna replace the damn pump again!!
Last edited by blkbird; Dec 13, 2007 at 04:54 PM.
if you sit there the oil is gonna get hot, and it doesnt flow as fast while sitting there so it thins out letting the pressure go down, mine goes down to 30 on really hot days and alot of guys on here does the same. Now if the needle flicks back and forth then the sending unit could be going out but other than that the oil pressure is fine, 10 psi for 1000 RPMs
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: san antonio, tx
I just changed the oil last week.... Now when I am cruising it sits right at 40psi no matter how fast im going (in 6th gear). The needle does move a little bit when idling but I think that is the alternator doing that (bad regulator). Im still worried a little. The car still runs strong. 
Last edited by blkbird; Dec 6, 2006 at 08:11 AM.
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From: NJ
Originally Posted by blkbird
Ok, so I was driving in traffic to my buddies house and it was bumper to bumper. Well anyways, I noticed that when I was stopped at idle my oil pressure dropped from where it usually sits at idle (40psi) to 30psi. Now, im thinking to myself, I hope my oil pump isnt giving out. Well I get to my buddies house and look for anything unusual and find nothing. No leaks or anything like that. I replaced the oil pump with a new one when I did my cam swap in april. Could my oil pressure sending unit be going out. I have been having problems with my alternator (lights flickering) and dont know if that would contribute to the problem. Is there a different way to check the oil pressure?? Any thoughts. Im stumpped.
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From: NJ
Originally Posted by blkbird
I just changed the oil last week.... Now when I am cruising it sits right at 40psi no matter how fast im going (in 6th gear). The needle does move a little bit when idling but I think that is the alternator doing that (bad regulator). Im still worried a little. The car still runs strong.
drive to 4500 rpm on 3rd. the oil pressure should rise past 40. if it doesnt you may have an issue, probably pinched oil pump O-ring
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Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,678
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From: san antonio, tx
OK. Once i down shift to third and get on it, it goes up quite a bit. I guess I wont worry about it too much then. I replaced the oil pump in april but it just started doing this yesterday. So I dont think I pinched the o ring.
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Originally Posted by eamador11
speed wont determine oil pressure needed.
drive to 4500 rpm on 3rd. the oil pressure should rise past 40. if it doesnt you may have an issue, probably pinched oil pump O-ring
drive to 4500 rpm on 3rd. the oil pressure should rise past 40. if it doesnt you may have an issue, probably pinched oil pump O-ring
Since my new heads and cam were installed, the oil pressure has been lower (oil temps higher too)....trying to find the source. First task today is to replace the oil with 15w50 and get rid of that crappy fram and throw a baldwin in there. Too bad there is only 1000 mi on that oil!
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My 75K Mile ws.6 gets 41-43psi heatsoaked idle (750) and 60+ at anything over 3K at WOT (it got about 2psi less with 10-30 M1 and Castrol, I am using 0-30GC now). I would keep an eye on things if I were you. Maybe its normal, maybe not, but keep an eye on it.
lmao these threads crack me up...
7 PSI for every 1k RPM's on LS1 engines... tighter tolerances and clearances = not so much oil needed.
unless your idling at less than 30 PSI you have absolutely nothing to worry about. especially if your oil pressure still rises with RPM's.
7 PSI for every 1k RPM's on LS1 engines... tighter tolerances and clearances = not so much oil needed.
unless your idling at less than 30 PSI you have absolutely nothing to worry about. especially if your oil pressure still rises with RPM's.
Originally Posted by LostCauseZ06
lmao these threads crack me up...
7 PSI for every 1k RPM's on LS1 engines... tighter tolerances and clearances = not so much oil needed.
unless your idling at less than 30 PSI you have absolutely nothing to worry about. especially if your oil pressure still rises with RPM's.
7 PSI for every 1k RPM's on LS1 engines... tighter tolerances and clearances = not so much oil needed.
unless your idling at less than 30 PSI you have absolutely nothing to worry about. especially if your oil pressure still rises with RPM's.
the pressure drop could have been anything... could be the sensor... could be that the oil got hotter that day, could be it had hit a "thinning" point in the oils life...
the point is that if your pressure rises with RPM's then your pump is working. if you have good oil pressure at idle and it raises to good oil pressure at WOT/high RPM's then you have no worries..
if your still worried about it then go buy a mechanical gauge and check it manually with a aftermarket gauge.
the point is that if your pressure rises with RPM's then your pump is working. if you have good oil pressure at idle and it raises to good oil pressure at WOT/high RPM's then you have no worries..
if your still worried about it then go buy a mechanical gauge and check it manually with a aftermarket gauge.
I changed out the fram that was on there after reading about how badly they flow. Threw on a baldwin since they are rated pretty highly. Pressure jumped 5 psi at idle and 15 psi at 5000 rpm. Car is now 65psi at 5000 rpm and 35 psi at idle. Sounds like it isn't as worn as I thought!!!!
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From: NJ
Originally Posted by Billdog350
My 1997 LS1 has 120,000 mi on it and its still getting ~47 psi above 4000rpm at 200 deg oil temps with Mobil1 5w30. I know thats a bit low, but does that sound REALLY out of line?
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From: NJ
Originally Posted by Billdog350
I changed out the fram that was on there after reading about how badly they flow. Threw on a baldwin since they are rated pretty highly. Pressure jumped 5 psi at idle and 15 psi at 5000 rpm. Car is now 65psi at 5000 rpm and 35 psi at idle. Sounds like it isn't as worn as I thought!!!!