Low oil pressure

[Angelo217]

what y’all think, 5.3 2006 Chevy tahoe Z71. Decent pressure on fresh oil, used oil junk pressure (20% life on dash.)

Did the pickup o ring matched the color up. Didn’t change much.

Replaced oil pressure sensor with OEM ac delco. Exact same pressure.
(Previous owner replaced with some ***** aftermarket.. he’s already known of this issue.)

Doesn’t have any major oil leaks. Doesn’t tick or knock or make any noises. I think it’s starting to develop a very small tick from just low pressure.

Fresh oil change explained diff thread 35 idle. 55-60 gassing. 38-45 cruising.

Old oil, 19 idle. 35 gassing maybe. 22 cruising.

Doing the oil pump soon thinking it’s just a weak pump or something (hoping actually) not gonna do HV so I don’t blow any seals. My question is, is there an indicator of the bearings going bad without me disassembling the entire motor? And no I havnt hooked up a mechanic gauge, I’m like 90% certain the pressure on the dash is correct.

I know this pressure is acceptable to some people, but im looking to preserve this motor long as I can.

 

[Angelo217]

240k miles.

 

[rockola1971]

what y’all think, 5.3 2006 Chevy tahoe Z71. Decent pressure on fresh oil, used oil junk pressure (20% life on dash.)

Did the pickup o ring matched the color up. Didn’t change much.

Replaced oil pressure sensor with OEM ac delco. Exact same pressure.
(Previous owner replaced with some ***** aftermarket.. he’s already known of this issue.)

Doesn’t have any major oil leaks. Doesn’t tick or knock or make any noises. I think it’s starting to develop a very small tick from just low pressure.

Fresh oil change explained diff thread 35 idle. 55-60 gassing. 38-45 cruising.

Old oil, 19 idle. 35 gassing maybe. 22 cruising.

Doing the oil pump soon thinking it’s just a weak pump or something (hoping actually) not gonna do HV so I don’t blow any seals. My question is, is there an indicator of the bearings going bad without me disassembling the entire motor? And no I havnt hooked up a mechanic gauge, I’m like 90% certain the pressure on the dash is correct.

I know this pressure is acceptable to some people, but im looking to preserve this motor long as I can.

You can send in a sample of your oil for analysis. Excessive bearing wear will show up as the metals they are made of in your oil. Id definitely point to the oil pump first but previous owners of the vehicle who knows how well they were with oil changes. Bearings could be well worn.

 

[SpareParts]

I installed a Melling M365HV in mine.
You are not going to blow any seals.

 

[Angelo217]

You can send in a sample of your oil for analysis. Excessive bearing wear will show up as the metals they are made of in your oil. Id definitely point to the oil pump first but previous owners of the vehicle who knows how well they were with oil changes. Bearings could be well worn.

Oil pan was pretty clean when I dropped it. Had factory installed gasket still owned by two separate married old women

 

[Angelo217]

Will check out the oil sample analysis thanks

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Yes, your oil pressures are about normal, even if you are not personally comfortable with them. You received a great suggestion to have your used motor oil examined to see what metals may exist in it. I believe that many folks here use Blackstone Labs for their oil analysis work.

I upgraded my motor recently, which included a new oil pump, O-ring, cam, and lifters. I still get about 20 psi at warm oil idle.

Some folks here have tried different weights of oil on older motors with some degrees of success.