Should I be concerned if the oil pressure at idle on a warm engine drops to about 15-20psi (according to the factory gauge, of course...)? If I rev it to ~2000-2500rpm, the pressure climbs to 40psi.

Driving down the road, the pressure stays at about 35-40psi.

I think I've read here that sometimes the oil pump on these goes bad, but what other issues could cause this? If in fact the oil pump needs replacement, how difficult job is it?

TIA!

TS

 

The specs for the vette LT-1 are minimum (from the factory service manual)

6.0 PSIG at 1000 RPM
18.0 PSIG at 2000 RPM
24.0 PSIG at 4000 RPM

Its not that difficult to replace. I was dropping oil pressure and the clearance was off in the pump gearing. I had the motor out of the car anyway, so maybe its much more difficult working on it in the car.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. If you're seeing 40 psi at 2500 RPM then you have more than adequate oil pressure. Usually at idle there is low or no load on the motor, and 15-20 should be just fine there as well. My motor had similar oil pressure characteristics, and when I tore it down at 138k all the bearings looked fine (except for the front cam bearing was pretty worn).

 

Hmmm... Thanks for the comments.

Anybody else?

 

that sounds normal