LT1 Based Engine Tech 1993-1997 LT1/LT4 Engine Related

what's your oil pressure at???

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Old 04-24-2003 | 09:32 PM
  #1  
qwick_trip's Avatar
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From: illinois
what's your oil pressure at???

what is your guys oil pressure at
when the car is cold at idle? mine is 40psi
when the car is warm at idle? mine is 20psi
and when the car is warm driiving? mine is 40psi

does mine seem low??
Old 04-24-2003 | 10:06 PM
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mine at idle i think is 40 and get up above that when driving. I don't think mine ever goes down to 20 though. When in gear at a stoplight i think it goes down to around 30. 20 seems low to me.
Old 04-24-2003 | 10:46 PM
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I cruise around and idle at around 20 psi. Rarely do I see my pressure above 40 psi. I've always wondered if thats low but the car seems to be running fine (been like this for years). I may have a bad pressure sensor too. I plan on changing it when I do my cam/rockers.
Old 04-24-2003 | 10:55 PM
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My needle points all the way off the end of the gauge past the 80....



high pressure oil pump tho
Old 04-24-2003 | 10:59 PM
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Originally posted by ladski2
My needle points all the way off the end of the gauge past the 80....



high pressure oil pump tho
its normal pressure, mine idle's at 20, and when driving 60, no need to worry, and my engine only has 24k on it, if yr worried about pressure add a heavier weight oil

Last edited by chasmanz28; 04-24-2003 at 11:03 PM.
Old 04-24-2003 | 11:43 PM
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I'm kinda worried about mine. When I'm warm and idle, I'm at something like 12 psi. I thought that was bad but my buddy thats a mechanic says that 12 is just fine and that my gauge might be off a little. When Im driving 60mph, im at 35-40. So as soon as i hit the gas I get my pressure up. I just dont like how it is at 12 at idle. I have 65000 miles on my z, I run mobil 1 fully senthetic, and despite the low pressure, my lt1 runs like a m.f.in SCALDED DOG!!! Let me know what you think about the low pressure and if anybody else has this problem.
Old 04-25-2003 | 12:48 AM
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J's 82's Avatar
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With my autometer setup I read 25-30 psi at idle, 50 psi at cruise.. 40 upon cold startup.. mobil 5-30
Old 04-25-2003 | 12:55 AM
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I read about 45 cold idle, 20ish after it'swarmed up.
60ish when accelerating cool, 50ish afterits warmed up
When I romp on it (never done it until it's been warmed up) it'll jumpup a bit to 70ish or so.
Old 04-25-2003 | 01:34 AM
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I was in the exact same boat as you.

I was worried about it.

Ended up going to 10w-30 from 5w30, switching to a freer flowing oil filter, and getting rid of the oil cooler. Went from seeing 40 psi at WOT, to over 60.

Biggest change came from oil cooler removal.
Old 04-25-2003 | 07:37 AM
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Mikey97Z's Avatar
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From: West Palm Beach, FL
Mine's same as yours qwik_trip

cold idle 40psi
warm idle 20psi
warm driiving 40psi

Mobil1 5W30 and stock rotating assembly with 70K miles.

I once heard an engine builder's rule-of-thumb ...

10 PSI for every 1K RPM
Old 04-25-2003 | 07:54 AM
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From: Little Rock, AR
Originally posted by chevycamaro1995
I'm kinda worried about mine. When I'm warm and idle, I'm at something like 12 psi. I thought that was bad but my buddy thats a mechanic says that 12 is just fine and that my gauge might be off a little. When Im driving 60mph, im at 35-40. So as soon as i hit the gas I get my pressure up. I just dont like how it is at 12 at idle. I have 65000 miles on my z, I run mobil 1 fully senthetic, and despite the low pressure, my lt1 runs like a m.f.in SCALDED DOG!!! Let me know what you think about the low pressure and if anybody else has this problem.

Actual factory minimums are:
6psi at idle
18 at 2000
24 at 4000

I still prefer the 10psi/1k rpm rule.

FWIW, when I changed out my sending unit, I gained almost 10 psi on the gauge.
Old 04-25-2003 | 09:25 AM
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From: Cincinnati, Ohio
Originally posted by shoebox
Actual factory minimums are:
6psi at idle
18 at 2000
24 at 4000

I still prefer the 10psi/1k rpm rule.

FWIW, when I changed out my sending unit, I gained almost 10 psi on the gauge.
This is what mine was showing...then it blew up.

From the cars I've seen that my buddy has worked on, if oil pressure is starting to get near the factory minimums, you're getting close to a rebuild.
Old 04-25-2003 | 09:30 AM
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Originally posted by Type_O_Negative_1320
This is what mine was showing...then it blew up.

From the cars I've seen that my buddy has worked on, if oil pressure is starting to get near the factory minimums, you're getting close to a rebuild.
Obviously, if you see a marked drop from what your normal readings are, you are headed for trouble.
Old 04-25-2003 | 12:22 PM
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From: PORTLAND, OR, MULTNOMAH
Chicken or the egg? I don't usually scan the cockpit like I used to when I was learning to fly. So I probably wouldn't notice the oil pressure dropping until I noticed some other abnormal things, like power loss, extra knock, etc.

This is what happened Sunday, when the Engine went south with only 8K on the odom.

Wish there had been some more obvious warning. Then I might not be looking at a complete rebuild. I guess $hit happens.
Old 04-25-2003 | 01:35 PM
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I had to get a new one when I put my motor in because mine cracked in half. The part number is 10201491. When I did this, I got about an extra 12-15PSI on the gauge. I got it from Jason Cromer and he told me on the phone that these things generally begin to go bad after a while giving a false reading. It was only like $23.43 from him and very easy to do. I had a Chevy Blazer that was the same way until I changed the sender. Try and you'll see a difference.


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