if i floor it, the oil pressure doesnt even jump that much at all and barely gets to the half way point on the gauge (40 psi?). at cruising its almost at that point for comparisons sake. i heard it shuold bemore than that. what gives? some people tell me when they nail it they can peg it at the top of the guage. are these gauges just not accurate (like the temp gauges on LS1s)? or is that what it should be at? or am i in deep ****?

BTW, the car is fully warmed when i do it, i use 5.5 quarts of Mobile 1 synthetic 10w-30, and its at about 3500 miles since my last change (i usually do 3000 but im pushin it this time until i get home from college). I live in CA and temps can vary freom 40s to 100s depending on season.

Should i use a mix of 5 and 10 weight? 10 and 15 weight? please help cuz im kinda worried...

 

Could be a ton of things really.

Bad oil pressure sensor
Oil cooler (known to hurt OP)
crappy/clogged oil filter
and the grand daddy....your main/rod bearings are headed south, time for a rebuild

General rule is that you want 10psi for every 1k rpm.

If i were you i would...change out the sensor, run straight 40 oil, remove the oil cooler (if equipted), and run a pro line filter from pep boys, part #34631. this will only fit after you rip off the oil cooler.

See how that does her, should at least get 10-15 psi i would guess. BTW, how many miles (hard/easy?)

 

its a 94 with about 55k on the clock. and i drive it like most of us drive em, probably pretty average...

so at 5k on the tach, i should have 50 psi?

and what oil do you recommend i use?

 

oh also im running a K&N oil filter (forget pn)...could that affect it? are these good filters?

 

Yes they are good filters, which is why i dont like them. They filter so well, that they clog quickly and then you lose oil pressure. I would perfer using a cheap filter like i mentioned above which doesnt filter as many microns. It will not clog as easily, and will allow you to keep some OP. Only thing is that i change my oil at least every 2500 just to be safe. Dont want to be running around at 3k +miles with a filter like that.


I hear that. Mines a 94 too, driven hard, with low miles like yours. I had the same problems as you and went through my original steps listed. 60psi now in the upper rpm . Your car actually meets the GM minimums for OP, but most of us dont feel that it is enough to be safe.


correct


mobile makes straight 40. If you want to stick with snythetic mobile 1 has 15w/50. Its the thickest they offer. Comes with a red cap (they are all color coded)

 

if your running synthetic oil, you don't have to change it at 3000 miles you can double that to 6000 miles. If your changing synthetic oil at 3000 miles, your wasting your money.

 

Thank you oh wise one, did you pay any attention to what i just wrote above??? Its not thermal break down of oil that kills engines, its dirt. And synthetic oil gets just as dirty as regular oil.

 

I am in agreement with what you said.

However, one major advantage of synthetic oil is that its designed to last longer in dirty conditions than conventional, so the above statement holds some merit.

Its is actually recommended to use synthetic when running in dusty environments.

You just may be wasting your money. But, its all about peace of mind.

 

I agree too, to me 5QTs of mobile 1 is only $20. So if i change it 2x as often, im spending $50 per every 6k miles. 10 oil changes puts me at the 60k mark, and only $500. Thats still a ton cheaper than a bottom end rebuild.

You are right however, it is designed to work as you mentioned, but with a cheapo oil filter, and lots of drag racing, i would always be safe over sorry.

 

How do you know if you have an oil cooler? Where is it at?

 

KC4 is the code for the oil cooler.

It is a WATER cooled system, which means the coolant cools the water via a cooler mounted above the oil filter, below the block.

Its sandwiched in there between the block and the filter.

 

Thanks, I'll have to check that out cause my oil pressure SUCKS

 

Thank you Zed, that was my point. Where in your post atljar did you mention my point??? If synthetic get just as dirty as regular, then i'm right. I think the whole point is if your going to change your oil at 3000 or so, i think conventional is just fine. If you want peace of mind as Zed or atljar said, use Synthetic. I've tried both types in many different engines, have a 87 chevy p/up with a 350 driven damn hard for 150,000 miles and only have used conventional oil in it and it's still going strong.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by atljar
[B]Yes they are good filters, which is why i dont like them. They filter so well, that they clog quickly and then you lose oil pressure. I would perfer using a cheap filter like i mentioned above which doesnt filter as many microns. It will not clog as easily, and will allow you to keep some OP. Only thing is that i change my oil at least every 2500 just to be safe. Dont want to be running around at 3k +miles with a filter like that.



there was just a thread in the LT1 forum saying K&n oil filters are 1 of the highest flow oil filters out in the market, and the microns are more like 20-30, so why would they clog more easier, the thread that im applying to is on page 4 of this forum

 

I dont see the thread, if you can link it i will check it out. I very well could be wrong about the KN, but i would have guessed that they filtered down to the n'th micron.

As for the synthetic/reg argument, i never said you had to use synthetic or had to use standard. I suggested a weight for standard, and one for synthetic??? Either way, im still going to change the oil sooner than 3k with a high flow filter like that.