Welcome to the Corvette Forums at the Corvette Action Center!

Oil pressure @ Idle issues

vigman

Motor head!!!!
Joined
Feb 13, 2001
Messages
3,471
Location
Valencia, CA,USA
Corvette
88 Convert ( SOLD ) /1973 coupe 4 speed/1964 Vert!
During these warmer days ( with the AC blasting) during idle my oil pressure was going down to 8 psi..YIKES.

I mentioned this to a buddy@ work ( fellow motor head) and he suggested the following.


Switch to Mobil 1 15-50 synthetic and if my oil pressure didnt increase by 10 psi@ idle he would buy me a case of it.

Well today I did an oil change & fram oil filter and it totally increased my idle pressure by 10 psi... now it's hovering from 18-20@ 500-550 rpm.

I'll give it a few days to see what's really up.

But talk about results WOW I'm impressed!
I was running Casterol 20-50 Dino-oil

Vig~
 
You have a problem in the works, the pump may be dying, definitely check it out before it goes.

low pressure=spun bearings=bad
 
Actually the switch was from

from Dino juice to Synthetic
and my Casterol was 20-50
and the Mobil 1 was 15-50

The car runs hot (Coolant 200-215 ) and the Mobil is holding up better when she's HOT then the Casterol ( less viscosity shift) The oil temp has also dropped 5 degrees.

When COLD the car has ALWAYS had good oil pressure

She runs smoother too!
and she's got 138K on her now and she's getting close to a rebuild
( guessing around 150K)
But this made a BIG DIFFERENCE!

Will let you tonight on the way home in the heat with the AC blasting!

Vig~
 
I'm with Vader on this one Vig...somethin's very wrong here. Even at 215 deg coolant temp, 8psi with 50 weight oil is not good.

How long had the old oil been in there? It'll be interesting to see if you notice a drop in pressure again as you put some miles on the Mobil oil.

Sounds like you're planning on a rebuild soon anyway, hopefully she'll last until then.

Bill
 
The oil was due for a change 2800 miles

With a LOT of "fun" driving in between.

the OIL temp averages 15-20 degrees hotter than the coolant

Vig~
 
Well 8 days later

Everythings AOK..Oil pressure still good.. engine running SMOOOOTHHHHHHH. that Mobil one stuff is GREAT!

1 Happy VIG!!!!!

Vig~
 
Even though the M1 15-50 is significant thicker than the 5-30 or10-30 oils, you should be fine with your high mileage, high clearance engine. This can be the ticket to extend your engines life more than any other lubricant, cause 8 psi is too low.........even at idle........
 
Vig you don't have any massive leaks or PCV problems do you? Other than that sounds like oil pump to me.
 
I must weigh in with the opinion of most everyone else here. The synthetic really shines when compared with dino oil in extreme conditions. For you to experience such a demonstrative difference in engine behavior suggests something is really amiss inside your engine. Personally, and I say this in a kind way, I would not drive it farther than I cared to walk back.
 

Corvette Forums

Not a member of the Corvette Action Center?  Join now!  It's free!

Help support the Corvette Action Center!

Supporting Vendors

Dealers:

MacMulkin Chevrolet - The Second Largest Corvette Dealer in the Country!

Advertise with the Corvette Action Center!

Double Your Chances!

Our Partners

Back
Top Bottom