thats not the lowest that the oil pressure goes it actuall drops to 10 or below after being driven and its not low becuase of a low idle. after driving it it will idle smoothly at 900 but the pressure will stay at 10 or below.

im wondering if i put a heavier weight oil in there will it help to bring the pressure up a few pounds? i know its not a permanent fix, but would it be worth trying so i can drive the car some more to try and further diagnos it?

 

that looks OK, and all tachs are about 200 rpm off.

I even have the upgraded spring and in mine and I still dip below 15 PSI idling at 700 [actual]. And FYI the spring is just a relief spring, so it is only a pressure limiter. If you are only idling at 10 PSI hot, the spring probably wont affect that any. I have more idle pressure when idling cold but warm is about the same.

Does your car have an oil cooler? I think a 97 has the better one but during my cam swap I deleted my oil cooler and changed my pressure spring (PAIN IN THE A**) and my pressure ranges from about 12 PSI all the way up to about 75 or so now... before the most it ever read was about 50 so it was a noticeable improvement.

I run 0w-40 Mobil 1. Have you always run the quart of lucas? When i used that stuff in the past I only used 1/2 quart. I dont think I would put a FULL quart of that in a high RPM motor... I cant imagine that stuff is easy for the oil pump to push around. I stopped using it when i switched to a 0w oil which gets moving quick, and my engine never really sees any brutal cold starts.

 

pressure goes lower than that if its driven then sits a idle. i just changed the oil to 20w50 and i found alot of metal shavings on my drain plug is it even worth trying anything else or is it time to pull the engine?

 

doesnt sound good man

 

I'm gonna go with its an IAC issue. How big is your cam? You probably need to enlarge the IAC passage and it'll be fine. When you turn your fan on an off you're throwing more of a load on the engine cause of the alternator. You'll probably experience the same thing with your AC on. My car would almost die when I'd come to a stop after my heads and cam. I enlarged the IAC and all was fine.

 

im pretty sure its bearings im gonna pull the motor. wish me luck guys.

 

best of luck dude. while your motor is out definitely change to the white oil pump spring. I did it in the car (out of fear of this exact situation) and let me tell you it wasnt fun!