my car is a 95, has 158k miles, mods in sig

my oil pressure at op temp is just below 20psi, but b4 op temp it holds around 40

whats normal for an LT1 at 158k miles? is there a way to up the OP?

 

at cruise (maybe 2500 rpm, it has been a week sinse ive driven it) i believe it holds around 30~ or so

 

thanks for the help guys


anyways i found the culprit, the oil filter is leaking

 

A leaking oil filter won't affect pressure. LT1's in good shape normally run around 45 cruise, 50-55 WOT, and 30 idle if the car is an M6, 20 if it's an A4. This is what my friend's car with 132k runs.

Jason

 

what about a leaking oil pan gasket, upon further investigation i found oil dripping from the drivers side of the exhaust....if u dont think its the oil pan gasket what do u think it could be?


EDIT : the leak wasnt spraying, but was enough to leave a puddle maybe 2 inches by 8 inches on gravel within maybe 15 minutes of idling

 

still no difference A filter may cause a pressure drop if it's clogged and not switching into bypass mode when it should. The only other cause for lower oil pressure aside from worn bearings is sludge blocking the pickup screen or some of the key oil passages in the bottom end.

Jason

 

oil pressure according to gm is good. about 10-15psi is acceptable oil pressure at idle when the car is warm. my old motor with 90k was about20-25 at 850. u are fine. u have a strong 158k mile motor, knock on wood.

 

mine does this tooo, its a common problem on these cars, try to find any oil leak possible and fix it , if ur gonna drop the pan check the oil pickup tube to make sure it did nto fall off , hell give it a few tack welds to secure it so it never does.
try to seafoam the block . these engines are known to have clogged journals causing the pressure to drop

my cold idle is around 45psi it slowy drops as the car warms up , it sits around or slightly below 20 , if its a really warm day it may drop down to maybe 12-15 on stock guage. When driveing it goes up to about 40 cruising at 2500

it also could be teh oil pressure sensor

 

The best cleaner I've come across is auto-rx (www.auto-rx.com). It also has a seal conditioner to swell up the seals some to stop leaks. Great stuff. I'd recommend it anyday over Seafoam, Rislone, Marvel Mystery Oil, etc to clean up sludge. If you are going to drop the pan, take some time to clean it out and the pickup screen.

Jason

 

When I was running Castrol GTX my oil pressure would run around 16-20 PSI at idle (A4) and the pressure would bounce up and down. I switched to Royal Purple and now the pressure holds at 20 or above.

 

My oil pressure was about 20 PSI at idle before I removed the factory junk oil cooler, it had been leaking a while. I put a longer filter on it and once I fired it up, and it got to operating temp..its about 25-30 now. I def think that was worth it. I think around 20 or so is normal in an LT1, mine so far doesn't have problems even when it was around 20PSI...everytime I get on it, the guage jumps right up where it should be with the RPM's. I was always taught that 20 PSI at idle is actually good, and then it should go up about 10PSI per 1000RPM's.