Low oil pressure

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Brandon2489

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I'm not sure if yours has the oil pressure sensor screen or not but keep in mind if it does always remember just because you put a mechanical gauge on that same port the screen can also give your mechanical gauge a faulty reading. So you may want to put a new screen or clean it and then retest with mechanical gauge. Also just because the switch is going bad doesn't mean you'll get a CEL. Hope that makes sense
 

Tonyrodz

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I'm not sure if yours has the oil pressure sensor screen or not but keep in mind if it does always remember just because you put a mechanical gauge on that same port the screen can also give your mechanical gauge a faulty reading. So you may want to put a new screen or clean it and then retest with mechanical gauge. Also just because the switch is going bad doesn't mean you'll get a CEL. Hope that makes sense
Def won't get a cell for a bad sensor. Also, the nbs don't have the screen under the oil pressure sensor. The nnbs have that screen.
 
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Brandon1320

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So I added extra oil. It's just below the 1 on the dip stick (picture for reference). My oil pressure on a cold start up sits about 20. I never really paid attention to where it sat before I lost pressure. So I took it around the block to see if it would go up under load, around 4k RPM I can get it to just about 40 PSI. When I got back and revved to about 4k again it would raise up to just about 40 again. So does that sound like just the o-ring to anyone? I also included a picture of how low the nose was on start up since it was suggested to have the front end lower...
 

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clandr1

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So I added extra oil. It's just below the 1 on the dip stick (picture for reference). My oil pressure on a cold start up sits about 20. I never really paid attention to where it sat before I lost pressure. So I took it around the block to see if it would go up under load, around 4k RPM I can get it to just about 40 PSI. When I got back and revved to about 4k again it would raise up to just about 40 again. So does that sound like just the o-ring to anyone? I also included a picture of how low the nose was on start up since it was suggested to have the front end lower...

My o-ring went bad around 170,000 miles, so if yours hasn't been replaced, it's probably time. When my oil pickup tube o-ring went bad, it was in December (cold). When the truck first started up, the oil pressure was VERY low. Once the oil warmed up and became thinner, the oil pressure seemed to increase closer to normal levels. It seems to kind of mimic your situation.

Think of it like trying to suck through a straw with a crack in it - it'll be easier to suck up water (warm, thinner oil) than it is a milkshake (cold, thick oil).


Side note in case it's relevant: I've run Mobil 1 5w-30 High Mileage synthetic oil since around 80,000 miles, and have always used a "good" oil filter (used to be Bosch, M1, or Wix, but for the last few years I've been using AC Delco since they are inexpensive and still seem to be highly regarded).

Hope this helps.
 
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Brandon1320

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So I was able to drop my oil pan and I'm pretty sure I found the source of the low oil pressure. The pick up tube screen was completely covered with gunk. The bottom of the oil pan was full of sludge. My pick up tube o-ring seemed in pretty good shape but obviously I replaced it anyway. Cleaned the tube. Cleaned the oil pan. Pulled the plate off the bottom of the engine below the crank and cleaned that. Clearly this engine didn't have the best maintenance. Put it all back together and now my oil pressure is back up and running good.
 

Tonyrodz

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So I was able to drop my oil pan and I'm pretty sure I found the source of the low oil pressure. The pick up tube screen was completely covered with gunk. The bottom of the oil pan was full of sludge. My pick up tube o-ring seemed in pretty good shape but obviously I replaced it anyway. Cleaned the tube. Cleaned the oil pan. Pulled the plate off the bottom of the engine below the crank and cleaned that. Clearly this engine didn't have the best maintenance. Put it all back together and now my oil pressure is back up and running good.
My van with the 4.8 was in the same condition. I also changed out my oil pump with a Melling hv unit.
 

Sam Harris

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Good results! Hopefully no issue down the road. Anything older than a 2007 shouldn’t have a screen in it anyway.
 

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