on my stock 98 LS1, the oil pressure with the stock guage is

38 while at idle

40-42 while cruising

is this normal?

on all of my Mustangs, the stock oil gauge cannot be counted on for being accurate.

how are the guages on my Pontiac? thanks for any help.

 

sorry to point out the obvious, but did u check the dip stick??


usually i idle at 40ish.

 

no problem, i just checked it this morning.

it's within the shaded area. are the Pontiac dipsticks usually off too? because on my Mustangs, they're ALL off. on the past 8 of them, i'd have to drain all the oil out and fill it accordingly and then make a gash into the dipstick...to get the correct level when full.

but your idling at 40ish is where i am...so i feel better. i am also using Mobil 1 synthetic, so it does lower the pressure a bit. just curious because my Mustang with an aftermarket guage and pretty new engine, idles at 60ish.

 

its fine.......

 

I use Mobil 1, and idle around 25 - 35 psi depending upon how long I have been in traffic, was I trashing on it , temps, etc.

Synthetic typically increases oil pressure as it is less affected by heat and slipperier to boot !

I have not tried any "Dino" oil in my car since I have owned it, so don't have a basis for comparison there , but in my '91 Suburban I could see a difference when using Royal Purple 15W40 vs. Quaker State 10W40.





Actually, if that's cold idle I'd say that's "normal" - if it is hot, then congrats - you have an unusually tight ( bearing clearance wise) motor.

I assume that's a 5.0 - do you have an aftermarket high pressure oil pump as opposed to a high volume ?

Anyway, welcome to the world of the LS1 !


Britt

 

wow...i run M1 Synthetic 5w-30, and mine has been (since i bought the car new) 50 at idle and 60 while driving...under WOT it'll climb towards 80.

 

Like the manual says, if the oil pressure is between 20 and 80, it's fine.

I use M1 5w-30, w/ 6 quarts my oil pressure is around 50, idle.

 

hey thanks for all the help guys & gals.

coming from 8 straight 5.0 Mustangs, i'm really lost right now. first thing that came to mind when i opened up the hood was ..."how the hell am i going to change the sparkplugs" ....then there was..."uh, where's the end of my hood?" ...first thing my girlfriend said was "what's this box underneath the floormat" lol guess i just gotta get used to it.

other than the little things, man...no Mustangs can beat the HP per dollar of this car for the same year. i'd have to supercharge a GT to be around the same stock power level...but then i'll be driving a timebomb that's going to be feeding on Ford AODE's

 

It seems my stock oil gauge says there is no oil pressure, are these guages reliable? Does anyone run a mechanical guage? Where do you connect it to the block? I can't even find where the stock sensor goes into the block. Has anyone ever broken a motor mount in their cars, anyone run solid mounts?

 

Quote:

Actually, if that's cold idle I'd say that's "normal" - if it is hot, then congrats - you have an unusually tight ( bearing clearance wise) motor.

I assume that's a 5.0 - do you have an aftermarket high pressure oil pump as opposed to a high volume ?

Britt

yeah, that's what everybody says when they see the oil guage. the motor was built by the previous owner who loved this car to death....and spared no expense on the parts.....good for me

either that or the oil guage is broken

not sure on the oil pump, but pretty sure it's a good one.

 

I brought my car to the dealership ( 98 Z28 ) b/c the oil pressure was down around 20 and the foreman said that the engine will be ok down to 7 lbs of pressure! So I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

damn, 7psi is kind of low isn't it? I'd be weary that it was a car salesman or even their service estimator who's telling you this.

 

I had an oil pressure problem w/ my ' 99 T/A - that's why I no longer have it.

The Poncho people printed out the factory specs - don't have 'em on a web site, but LS1.Com does.

See:

http://www.ls1info.com/article.php?sid=202

About a third of the way down it mentions 6 PSI @ 1000 RPM !



I was biatching about 15 - 18 PSI @ idle - only because everyone elses car that I knew of ran 30 - 40 psi at idle.

Thanks, but no - not on a new car w/ a possible 6K motor if replaced new by the dealer.



Britt

 

Watch that pressure when you go WOT.

 

Same here....mine is almost 60 a cruise and 40ish at idle, anything above Zero is good