Sanity Check...low oil pressure

[iamdub]

Thank you...I will report back. The valley plate on my truck doesn’t look like the one with all the passages in it. It’s a relatively flat piece. My build date is October 2006 so that too (I think) lends itself to not having the AFM equipment in it.

Somebody said somewhere to overfill the crankcase (I assume to be higher than the level of the o-ring) and that’s how you can verify a bad o-ring. That seems awfully high into the bottom of the engine for the oil level to be. Is that the easy o-ring check you refer to? I don’t have the tool in hand yet to check oil pressure but I will report back.
Thanks everybody.

Yup. As the others said- overfill it by 2 quarts and put it in a slight nosedive (sloped driveway, rear up on a curb, etc.) to ensure the O-ring is submerged. I believe the original instructions were 1-1.5 quarts, but I really think this may not be enough. I recall someone performing this test and it didn't improve their problem, so they began throwing parts and efforts elsewhere. Then, when they went to change the pump, found out that the O-ring actually was cracked and split. Also, with how these engines consume oil, some people may be low on oil from the start so that first half quart or so of "extra oil" is just getting it up to the normal level. Doing two quarts and nosediving it pretty much rules out all of these factors. It's a harmless test and you can drain the oil back out. Some even drive around with it overfilled and report no problems. I wouldn't do this, though.

Yes, the non-AFM engines will have the smooth VLOM. I don't ever recall if the non-AFM engines have the towers or AFM lifters than aren't active or what. @Geotrash kinda reminded us of the details. Still, as he said, those O-rings can age and collapse and allow pressurized oil to leak out. It's the same as internal bleeding causing one's blood pressure to drop.

 

[kevinmerlo]

Yup. As the others said- overfill it by 2 quarts and put it in a slight nosedive (sloped driveway, rear up on a curb, etc.) to ensure the O-ring is submerged. I believe the original instructions were 1-1.5 quarts, but I really think this may not be enough. I recall someone performing this test and it didn't improve their problem, so they began throwing parts and efforts elsewhere. Then, when they went to change the pump, found out that the O-ring actually was cracked and split. Also, with how these engines consume oil, some people may be low on oil from the start so that first half quart or so of "extra oil" is just getting it up to the normal level. Doing two quarts and nosediving it pretty much rules out all of these factors. It's a harmless test and you can drain the oil back out. Some even drive around with it overfilled and report no problems. I wouldn't do this, though.

Yes, the non-AFM engines will have the smooth VLOM. I don't ever recall if the non-AFM engines have the towers or AFM lifters than aren't active or what. @Geotrash kinda reminded us of the details. Still, as he said, those O-rings can age and collapse and allow pressurized oil to leak out. It's the same as internal bleeding causing one's blood pressure to drop.

Thank you! All my parts and accessories should start rolling in late this week and over the weekend so I'll dive right in as soon as I can. Thanks again.

 

[Rocket Man]

Thank you! All my parts and accessories should start rolling in late this week and over the weekend so I'll dive right in as soon as I can. Thanks again.

What parts and accessories did you order? What’s your plan at this point?

 

[1BADI5]

^^ Yeah that, or is it just the "Parts Cannon" being engaged?

 

[avalonandl]

Ahhh one thing....If you do the overfill to check the oil pressure, remember to drain the excess out before driving....

 

[swathdiver]

Ahhh one thing....If you do the overfill to check the oil pressure, remember to drain the excess out before driving....

A guy on here drove his for 2 years until he had the dough to fix it, said it didn't hurt a thing.

 

[avalonandl]

A guy on here drove his for 2 years until he had the dough to fix it, said it didn't hurt a thing.

Aerating your oil is BAD...

 

[Erock7625]

What wasnt answered here is what is considered normal for a high mileage engine. I had the P0521 code, and had about 20 psi at 2,000 rpm and about 10 psi at hot idle, would get up to about 25 psi at higher rpm. Running Mobil 1 5w30 in the 5.3 engine on a 2011 Yukon XL SLT with around 147,000 miles. Had the sensor and screen replaced and that didnt change my oil pressure readings. Now my P0521 is back and Ive been reading through the other possible causes such as the O ring. But what do others get for oil pressure on a 150k+ mile engine at hot idle and 2,000 rpm? Just trying to get a benchmark for what is considered normal.

 

[donjetman]

stock non-AFM 2007 6.2L L92, 164k miles, 5w30 oil, 20 hot idle, 45 cold idle, 35 hot going down the hwy. Changed the pickup oring at 130k miles. Engine with AFM should have a little more oil pressure.

 

[FrankU]

stock non-AFM 2007 6.2L L92, 164k miles, 5w30 oil, 20 hot idle, 45 cold idle, 35 hot going down the hwy.

Exactly what my 6.2 does on the dash.