hi guys, I just got my wife a new/used camaro. its a 1995 Camaro with the 3.4 V6 and 110,000 miles. my question is what is a normal oil pressure? when I start the car up, its at about 40-50 psi. but when it gets warm/hot it drops down to about 10-20 psi at idle. I mean needle is just above the orange on the guage. is mine the only one that is like that? it moves up when I touch the throttle as normal, but just seems very low after it gets warm. could it be a bad guage, sending unit, oil pump? I already changed the oil and filter. but that didnt help!

thanks Brian

 

when i had my v6 it did the same thing. i changed the sending unit and still the same low reading on a warm engine. also my gauge would hit 0 sometimes when i would slow down, which would send on the check gauges indicator. after 3 years of beating on it, it has never been a problem.

 

well if thats the case, then my wife should never have a problem!

 

had the same deal when I had a 3.4 but it didn't start until about 140K
I'd drive on the interstate for say thirty minutes at 70ish then when I'f exit and stop at the light at the bottom of the exit ramp the oil gauge would go way down. Never had any actual problems with the car or its performance but I did sell it when it got up to 150K

 

yea i wouldnt be too concerned.. i think it might be a defect with the actual gauge.. i was going to buy an aftermarket oil pressure gauge to see if it was.. but i sold the car and bought a z28

 

a buddy of mine that owns a junk yard told me that it was common on those engines, due to the heads getting hot and baking the oil in the heads, so that the oil doesnt drain down properly??? too much oil sludge?

 

That happens if you don't change the oil often enough and is actually relatively easy to fix. A well taken care of engine shouldn't bake oil in the heads.

 

that is what I was thinking, my wife is driving the car, no problems at all, driving down the road or on highway, the oil pressure stays about 40psi. only drops down at idle when coming to a stop when the engine is hot. I changed the thermostat and the engine is running cooler, and the oil pressure seems to be a little better.