chevyrunner

iTrader: (4)

went and got my car tuned at RET and its driving great. however i noticed the oil pressure was REALLL low after i left. about 10 psi at idle and up to 25 psi when driving, i drained the 5w-30 and put in vr1 50 and the pressure went up to about 19-20 at idle and up to 30-45 when driving. i dont know if the 5w-30 was the problem or this is just masking a problem because its a thicker oil or what. i checked the delievery system and theres no leaks, and the engine isnt knocking. i have the melling hi volume pump. idk where to start looking for a problem or what to do. other then the low oil pressure everything else seems to be fine.. any help is greatly appreciated..
thanks guys

180ls1

iTrader: (4)

first thing i would do before i got into it a whole lot is rent a mechanical gauge from autozone and see what that shows. the in dash factory oil psi gauges are pos on these cars.

King Nothing

iTrader: (9)

mine reads fine i'm at 40-42 at idle and 60-62 when cruising. my old engine was starting to lose oil pressure when i put more miles on it and also i revved it up one to many times, the bearings were going out slowly but it had 169K on it so i'm not surprised

LTXBOI

iTrader: (2)

like 180ls1.....try that.....your car is pretty beefed up now might need a standalone guage...and make sure that melling got put in....

SS4Luck

iTrader: (10)

my stock gauge couldnt keep up with my melling and started reading reaaaaly funky (when i went WOT it would read 0 psi really scaring me) threw my auto meter on and the stock gauge will read 45 lbs when the automere is reading 50+

ANTICOP RAM AIR

iTrader: (7)

high rev + low oil pressure = bad bearings.. thats what i always thought but it never went to zero.. normal drop may be around 10 psi under load. sounds like faulty/inaccurate gage to me... also the pump gets airbound or something like that.. the gears create a sort of vacuum and work against its self but im not sure if the melling has the machining grooves to prevent that... i may be completely wrong but i know this is a possibility...

chevyrunner

iTrader: (4)

is there a way to see the oil pump? like from underneath the car or sumthing?

ANTICOP RAM AIR

iTrader: (7)

not without seeing inside the engine.... and you have to drop the oil pump and look at the gears but even then you wont know, i dont know the specs on the pump you used, i seriously doubt you have a bad pump... do the manual/mechanical gage on it.. seriously... im about 90% sure you have an inaccurate gage but be safe also, depending on what they did, if they got any rtv that got into the screen that can do it too... but you have to open the bottom to know for sure...

chevyrunner

iTrader: (4)

ok one more dumb ?... when i get the manual guage where do i hook it up to so that i can get a reading... behind the intake manifold?

King Nothing

iTrader: (9)

i changed my oil pump to a brand new melling oil pump, no change. a new oil pump wont do it, it's your bearings.

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

You can buy a little billet spacer for the little bypass plate that is located on the driver side of the oil pan above the oil filter. Corvettes and some trucks have coolers bolted there. The spacer is threaded to receive a manual oil pressure gauge sender.

chevyrunner

iTrader: (4)

where from?

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

Not sure. Another thing you can do is take the plate off and take it to a machine shop and have them either make you a spacer or drill and tap the plate itself to accept the manual oil pressure sender.

chevyrunner

iTrader: (4)

wouldnt that be more work than just hooking up the borrowed guage from autozone? where would i plug the autozone one in at

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

That's the location I would use to hook up a mechanical gauge, whether it was temporary or permanent. If you are thinking about removing the stock sensor and hooking up the gauge, it is very difficult with the intake manifold still on under a Fbody cowl. Taking the bypass plate (or whatever it is called) to a machine shop to be drilled and tapped is easy. Then you can simply use a pipe plug to plug up the hole when you are done using the mechanical gauge.

If anyone else has a better idea of where to hook up the mechanical gauge, post up.

CMRACING_STROKER.B

iTrader: (4)

chad can drill and tap it for you just bring it by the shop.

spdrcr7882

I recently had the same problem. Got my car tuned and it was working fine, went racing a day later and the oil pressure dropped and was very low at idle. I was hoping it was the oil pressure gauge, but it wasn't. Ended up taking the oil pan off and looking at the bearings and I had spun a main bearing, with wear on the other bearings. So I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you have a bearing problem.

Greg@RET

iTrader: (3)

I would put a mechanical gauge on it. I was the one that pointed it out to him when we were on the dyno. I glanced over at it at WOT and it is seeing full pressure then.

chevyrunner

iTrader: (4)

so does bad bearings mean blown engine? or can u replace them? ive never had a prob like this b4

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

Tear down the bottom end and do a full rebuild.