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there are two rockers that had no oil on them (even as I was running the engine without the valve cover for a min)
oil pressure on this engine is not great. at idle, it can be less than 20 psi.
Do you mean the stud/ball that the rocker arm pivots on?
The oil path is from the lifters, up thru the hollow push rod to the rocker arm.
Chevys normally have an excess of "top end" oil flying around under the valve covers.
The official line from Chevy is "5 psi, plus 10 psi for every 1,000 rpm", that's min. with hot oil.
So, a warmed-up engine that's idling at, say 1,000rpm, should have a minimum of ~15psi.
Not uncommon for a higher mileage Chevy, (small or big block,) to idle at ~20 psi.
Note; yes, the newer gen engines like the LS run more pressure, they run "tighter" and they have a "priority main" oil system.
yes, exactly. two were pretty dry. the small hole where the oil seeps up is there but no oil to be found.
so my idle oil pressure is off. i meant to clarify that it was 20 when it first starts and sometimes, especially while idling in traffic on a hot day, it dips low enough to engage the 'Check your gauges' light.
to be sure and in order to cut out the potential issue of a bad oil pressure gauge in my instrument panel, i have a mechanical gauge i can throw on to confirm (will get to that).
If loose rockers were to blame for the noise, it should be good now. putting everything back together tomorrow and trying again.
if the oil pressure stays low, i'm not sure what to tackle next.
i'm wondering about the oil pump. i may replace it just to be sure the issue isn't there.
Odds are, the pump isn't the issue unfortunately. Hopefully the mech gauge says otherwise. Speaking from personal experience my bet is on the main crank bearings. You could also try some heavier oil to see if that'll buy you some time.
Odds are, the pump isn't the issue unfortunately. Hopefully the mech gauge says otherwise. Speaking from personal experience my bet is on the main crank bearings. You could also try some heavier oil to see if that'll buy you some time.
the only thing that gives me a little hope is that i ran 10-30 briefly prior to the last oil change and it didn't seem to make too much of a difference as far as PSI. i'm hoping!