Oil pressure sanity check

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

ls1frc

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
Posts
923
Reaction score
1,350
Hey all, figured I'd make a thread since my hot oil pressure is bothering me. I pulled my 5.3 out for a junkyard 6.2 with about 50k on it.

I replaced all the gaskets, put in a melling 10355 oil pump with standard spring, new VVT cam and Johnson 2110 lifters. I stupidly didn't plug the oil pan relief valve because I thought it was necessary for VVT. Turns out, only necessary for DOD lifters to not get overloaded.

Anyway, on cold starts my oil pressure pegs the relief valve at 55 psi. My moderately warm oil pressure is around 35 psi at idle.

Once it gets fully warm, over 200 degrees, I see 19-22 psi at 625 rpm. My 5.3 saw around 30-35 with a melling 10296 pump but it had a 3 bolt cam. I am not sure if the VVT cam will lower oil pressure over a regular cam.

I also read that people were reporting lower oil pressure with Johnson lifters. Also, I didn't plug my DOD oil holes, just relying on the valley cover. I read stories about these seeping and lowering oil pressure.

I don't have any abnormal noises and the truck runs great. It just seems lower than I figured it would be.
 
OP
OP
L

ls1frc

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
Posts
923
Reaction score
1,350
Forgot to mention, oil pressure climbs instantly with RPM. Like even a few hundred RPM drives it right north of 40. My thought process was if I had some looser tolerances, the oil pressure would be pretty bad at every RPM when warm.

Found many threads saying exactly what I am saying, so I guess I am good. Just figured the Melling would be higher.

https://www.silveradosierra.com/vor...le-and-driving-recommended-range-t410305.html
 
Last edited:

Joseph Garcia

Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2018
Posts
7,351
Reaction score
9,938
For my 07 6.2 with a stock oil pump and with ~145,000 miles, when the oil is cold, the idle pressure is 40+ psi. When the oil is at operating temperature, the idle pressure is ~20 psi, 40 psi at 1500-1800 rpms, and 40-50 psi at higher rpms.

I hope that this is helpful to you, and other folks will chime in.
 
OP
OP
L

ls1frc

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
Posts
923
Reaction score
1,350
For my 07 6.2 with a stock oil pump and with ~145,000 miles, when the oil is cold, the idle pressure is 40+ psi. When the oil is at operating temperature, the idle pressure is ~20 psi, 40 psi at 1500-1800 rpms, and 40-50 psi at higher rpms.

I hope that this is helpful to you, and other folks will chime in.

That's good to hear, thanks.
 

1BADI5

Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Posts
1,833
Reaction score
2,988
Location
DMV
Wow. I left my oil valve in the oil pan too.

NOTE: I did a VVT & AFM delete with the cam swap. I have almost 5500 miles on the build.

Cold/start up - 51-55psi
Op Temp - 41-45psi
Driving - 46-55psi

What color o ring did you use on your oil pick up tube?
 
OP
OP
L

ls1frc

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
Posts
923
Reaction score
1,350
Whatever one melling said to use in their kit for trucks, it was definitely the correct one. I believe the thick green one. I highly doubt it has any issues since I assembled it in my garage. Since your driving oil PSI closely matches mine, but my idle is way lower, I can only assume the VVT cam has something to do with it and it's just normal.

I am going to plug my DOD oil holes just incase since it's easy anyway.

Dropping the pan is a nightmare on the 4x4, and I really don't feel like doing that so the stupid relief valve will stay in.
 

1BADI5

Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Posts
1,833
Reaction score
2,988
Location
DMV
Whatever one melling said to use in their kit for trucks, it was definitely the correct one. I believe the thick green one. I highly doubt it has any issues since I assembled it in my garage. Since your driving oil PSI closely matches mine, but my idle is way lower, I can only assume the VVT cam has something to do with it and it's just normal.

I am going to plug my DOD oil holes just incase since it's easy anyway.

Dropping the pan is a nightmare on the 4x4, and I really don't feel like doing that so the stupid relief valve will stay in.

OK, sounds good!

What weight oil are you running and how much?

My tuner to me to run 10w30 and between 6-7 qts
 
OP
OP
L

ls1frc

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
Posts
923
Reaction score
1,350
I am running 5w-30 castrol magnetec. I ran 0w-40 for a bit and that idled at around 22-24 psi. I think I will run that for summer or the magnetec 10w-30.

Just ordered the DOD plugs, for the 2nd time. My original package said "delivered" but I never got it. TSP never responded to me. Fedex didn't seem to give a shit. I hate doing chargebacks since I am also a retail business owner, so I may just eat it.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
132,366
Posts
1,866,807
Members
96,989
Latest member
Mreedini
Top