Oil pressure drop after addition of OEM Oil Cooler?

[j91z28d1]

is your afm active? if not, it's good time to disable the mechanical side of it. if you have it tuned off and not just a obd plug in disabler thingy

 

[DaveO9]

is your afm active? if not, it's good time to disable the mechanical side of it. if you have it tuned off and not just a obd plug in disabler thingy

That was going to be my next question! I have AFM turned off in tune. So what all does that entail? Just removing the solenoids and then replacing valley cover with a flat one? I ordered some other stuff in Amazon this morning and threw in a $20 feel-pro perimeter gasket just in case I can do that. Maybe I could get a flat cover from pick-n-pull

 

[j91z28d1]

That was going to be my next question! I have AFM turned off in tune. So what all does that entail? Just removing the solenoids and then replacing valley cover with a flat one? I ordered some other stuff in Amazon this morning and threw in a $20 feel-pro perimeter gasket just in case I can do that. Maybe I could get a flat cover from pick-n-pull

if you still have the afm lifters installed even thou they are not active you can not add a flat cover. they lifters will be stuck closed within no time.

 

[j91z28d1]

there's youtube videos explaining it and a guy here did it, having to release a stuck lifter. the afm lifters have to vent back thru those lifter valve holes, not much but just a little bit. any build up of oil, from bypassing internally or around the lifter bore will pressurize the activation port if you put the smooth valve cover on it. the way you try to prevent that from happening is there's a block off plug you put under the oil pressure sensor, that blocks the incoming passage way for oil to the solenoids(incase one leaks), and then the gasket on the port in the block that goes down to the afm lifters, you cut that gasket, so that any oil coming up can vent and not build up pressure. at that point the afm lifters should not active accidentally and stay locked.

if you replace those lifters with standard lifters, then you block off those ports and you might get a touch better oil pressure. but doing it on the afm lifters is a recipe for disaster

 

[DaveO9]

Got it thanks. I’ll save mechanical AFM delete for another time, probably do the whole shebang then with cam upgrade. Hoping to pull the manifold tonight and do an assessment on which gaskets I need to replace, if any. I’ve spent a ton of $$ on this thing in the last couple months. Starting to get some raised eyebrows from the family accountant. ;-)

 

[DaveO9]

Last night and tonight I did the manifold removal and reinstall. Replaced the screen filter and the oil pressure sensor (GM). Didn't replace any of the gaskets. There was no sign of leaking from the valley cover so I didn't remove it. The front bolts were all loose, but the back ones were still tight. Put a drop of blue loctite on the loose ones and retorqued all the bolts. Manifold gaskets looked fine, so I didn't replace them. Got it all back together tonight and it does seem that I gained 3-5 psi at most RPMs. Once up to temp, I was seeing more than 35 psi at 2k and just a few psi less at 1600 cruise rpm. Idle is good, too, at just a hair under 20. Granted it was a cooler day in the PNW, and I didn't drive it far, but it was giving those numbers after it had warmed up to normal coolant temp of 210.

Unless after a longer drive/warmer ambient I see much worse, I am calling this a wrap. Thanks for all the input and advice!