oil pressure

[tj stone]

When my 97 vortec is warmed up and ideling the oil pressure is only about 10-12 psi. This just don't seem right to me. Do you guys have any ideas or fixes to what could be going wrong? What is your oil pressure when ideling?

 

[trailer-trash]

Have you ever changed out the oil pressure sending unit? I did mine and gained close to 10 psi....still sounds alil low though...what kind of oil do you run and how many miles do you have on your truck? Mine idles around 40 psi....60 psi under throttle...

 

[tj stone]

I use 5w30 in winter and 10w30 in summer. There's 210000 miles on it. I never have changed out the oil sending unit. Its that located right by the starter? Because if so it leaks

 

[trailer-trash]

its on the back of the block....it could be sludged. I use 10w-30 and one quart of lucas all year around....

 

[SAATR]

It's behind the distributor, on the back of the block, as trailer trash said. If I remember correctly, the GM spec for minimum oil pressure, at hot idle, in gear, is 5 - 8 psi. So 10 - 12 isn't too bad, just lower than most. The pressure transducer in the oil pressure sending unit reads by the deflection of a membrane within the unit, and given that the newest of our trucks is over a decade old, the membrane is apt to be a bit fatigued. Check the pressure against a mechanical gauge to see if the sender is off, and replace if necessary. If it IS correct, then you can either live with the lower pressure, rebuild the motor, or use a heavier oil. Personally, I would switch up to a 40 weight (Rotella T6 5W40 is a great synthetic) and call it a day. If the motor doesn't tap, click, or knock at hot idle, then it's fine.

 

[JollyGreen]

Just like SAATR said with the sending unit. Pick whatever flavor you want of 5w-40 (Rotella T6 is a good one) and call it a day. I use Mobil 1 5w-40 synthetic and it actually doesn't burn as much as it used to.

 

[stroker52]

^^^ what he said above...

a small block chevy can live at 5 to 8psi at idle.. a racing rule of thumb is for every 1000rpm you want 10psi bump in oil pressure.. so if your motor is turning 7000rpm's 60 to 70psi

 

[hbl1980]

I just changed over to Rotella T6 and am quite please so far. Thin enough in the cold and heavy enough when warm. I had the same problem with oil pressure not being where I would like it to be. I going to run it this oil change and probably swap the 96' over to Rotella T5 10w30. Thanks for the suggestion guys.

 

[hbl1980]

I just changed over to Rotella T6 and am quite pleased so far. Thin enough in the cold and heavy enough when warm. I had the same problem with oil pressure not being where I would like it to be. I going to run it this oil change and probably swap the 96' over to Rotella T5 10w30. Thanks for the suggestion guys.

 

[454ss]

imo 5w oil is just too thin, they went to that trying to gain every tiny bit of mpg. ive run 10w30 or 10w40 year round since new. 40 psi idle, 60 cruise. 198,000 miles.