letsrun97z

iTrader: (7)

Just to see if there is an answer. I have had low oil pressure for the last 2 years. Car is a dd the pressure drops to zero and light comes on at stop lights. It will reach around 45 wot hot up to 6k cold it will stay 65ish. I did find copper in the oil awhile back and I know I am expecting the worst when it let's go but when? Could it be anything else than rod or main bearings? I get on it every day no noises psi was veryfied by mechanical gauge. Supposly the pump was replace by gm at 80k motor now has 135

JasonSS2000

iTrader: (1)

Find someone with a filter cutter and cut the oil filter open, pull out the element and under a bright light (sunlight is the best) spread the folds and examine closely. If you se gold/copper looking particles your bearings are gone & the crank may need cut, or at least polished. Also, at the bottom of the filter case will be any heavy particles, you will see a gold tinted sludge with larger particles if they are wiped out.

letsrun97z

iTrader: (7)

In the 2 years or so I've put about 15k with the low oil psi
i have an extra short block that needs to be built when it does go
I'm just wondering why it hasn't yet or started knocking with that much wear I use pp 20w30 with a mobil filter 5.5 quarts and I know the pickup is still on

thehammer69

iTrader: (2)

Mobil-1 filters are kind of restrictive to the type of oil flow a high performance engine needs. Try a less restrictive oil filter such as a Wix (napa gold) or k&n. I'm not saying it will fix your problem, but your oil pressure might bump up a tiny bit.

djjab57

iTrader: (17)

May be the oil sending unit not reading right, get a new one from gmpartsdirect.com. myself and other have had bad luck with the ones from auto parts store. my old one would do the same as yours, go to 0 at a light and the check gauges light would come on.

97Z28SS

iTrader: (5)

I wouldn't wait to start building that other shortblock, you need to build it now and have it ready to go because you don't know when it's going to go.

My95Z

iTrader: (8)

First off, the LT1 never came with any bearings that were made of copper, they are bi metal aluminum bearings so yes you can find metal, but not copper (unless it was rebuilt of course).

As for your pressure, the sbc needs very little to survive, but that doesn't mean it isn't causing more damage. I'd try switching to a thicker oil (10W-40 or 20W-50) and see if it gets your pressure up to an acceptable range.

letsrun97z

iTrader: (7)

hmm where would the gold flakes come from? I know this motor has never been rebuilt. The motor that I bought I pulled apart and it had copper under the coating Layer which lead me to believe it's wore past that point. I'll get a new sending unit from gm Friday just to see.

My95Z

iTrader: (8)

They will still look metallic and maybe if the light catches it the right way it could look like copper?

The only other thing could be cam bearings, I think they are bi metal too, but I'm not 100% on that.

94fixerTA

iTrader: (5)

Heat and burnt oil can cause the discoloring.