I just bought a 1994 camaro z28. it has 64 thousand miles.
the oil pressure is at 10 psi on idle. at 1 thousand rpm it goes up to 20 psi. is this normal? should i worry. at cold start it will be 40psi for a few minutes then drops to that for the rest of the day.

also whats the engine temp suppose to be?

 

Sounds normal to me.

 

really? idle is right above the red line.

 

10 psi is about normal at idle, engine temp runs around 200~ the fan(s) do not kick on till something like 225 first fan, 235 second fan.

 

What viscosity oil are you running?

GM specs accept as little as 6 psi at idle. General guideline for minimum oil pressure is 10psi per 1000rpm. You meet the specs. When new, an LT1 would typically run at about 25psi at idle. Its got some wear on it, but not an excessive amount.

At idle, it isn't unusual for the coolant temp guage to put the needle right in the center of the guage, which is about 210*F. At highway cruise speeds, it may drop below 200*F.

 

thanks for the help. i changed the oil, i threw in 10w30.
so this wear, is it a cause from a bearing?

i was thinking it might be the oil pressure sending unit due to 64tho miles and a grandma driver, although that might be rare. if 10 is okay then i wont worry.

 

Well, with 64k miles, the entire engine has been worn from its original specs, so you can contribute the lower then brand new pressure from "used" bearings/parts in general. I do not know this for fact, but it seems correct to me.

 

10 is fairly normal.

 

With only 64k miles, you could have a remote oil cooler that is clogged and causing lower pressure. Do a search for removing the oil cooler, and I bet you will find you oil pressure goes up.

tia

andy schuck