Weird Oil Pressure issues persist....

[07Burb]

I've got a lot rolling around in my head so let me see if I can get it composed logically and then you guys can give me your thoughts on the issue.

So in case y'all don't remember last June the family and I were on vacation and at the point of almost home we had a lifter fail on us. Long story short we limped it home and had it towed to the shop after we'd unloaded it. Since then we've only driven it another 6500 miles or so (2 oil changes as of today). The first oil change happened because oil pressure dropped to 0 on us. If you stopped and started the Burb it'd jump back to 40 psi but then slowly drop back down again. After a couple of days of trouble shooting the issue and replacing the oil pressure sensor the fix ended up being to give it an oil change. The Oil Life was right at 50% and it'd been 3100 miles so I was about to do this anyway. A weird situation but I'd assumed that the oil filter was defective and moved on with my life. Well, fast forward to today. Again the Oil Life percentage was at 50%. It'd been 3300 miles since the last change. I had it on my to-do list but the temps have been unbearable so I hadn't gotten a chance to do it as of yet. The wife is driving the kids around today and the pressure drops to 0. She does the same thing as before where she turns the vehicle off immediately, turns it back on and yada, yada, yada it's the same issue as before. I changed the oil on my lunch break and it appears to be ok now.

SO HERE'S MY QUESTION.....What could have happened internally to the motor during the lifter failure to have caused this issue now where this issue is occurring or is there a chance these new events are completely unrelated? I'm pretty sure they are tied together but I suppose there is a small possibility that they are not. I've never had this on any other vehicle I've ever owned and to be honest it's getting pretty irritating. If anyone has insight into this I'd love to hear it.

Here are my options as I see them now...

1)Nurse it and change the oil religously every 2500 to avoid this from happening and hope that's the long term fix and it doesn't get worse
2)Have the motor rebuilt and hope that the rebuild process along with numerous parts replaced fixes the issue and makes it "like new" again
3)Swap in a new motor (5.3 or upgrade to 6.2)
4)Sell it and get something else (REALLY don't want to do this for numerous reason but obviously it's an option)

OK, guys.....Let me here your feedback

 

[Goodinblack]

What does the oil look like after 3K miles?

Any metal?

You have the old oil filter? Cut the back side open.

 

[07Burb]

Unfortunately I had to have a shop do the change today due to time constraints and it being 5* outside today so I didn't get a chance to look at the oil or cut the filter open. It just seems unlikely that it'd be a faulty filter two changes in a row so that's what got me wondering if there are bigger issues at hand. With the wife needing to run more errands today I didn't feel like I could put the change off until tomorrow where I'd have more time to do it on my own :/

 

[Goodinblack]

When the pressure drops the engine still sounds normal?

You should install another auxiliary gauge maybe.

Oil pump maybe going?

Old oil is gets thicker and harder to push especially in the Antarctic.

 

[07Burb]

Yes engine still sounds normal and runs normal (for the very short time it remains running when the alarms sound). When the issue happened the first time last October the guy at the shop hooked up his external pressure gauge and it matched was reading on the cluster so I think that the cluster is correct. Why it wouldn't make a different with how the motor sounds I don't know. You'd think at 0 psi (or close to it) it'd sound horrible and damage would be done.

 

[Goodinblack]

Think you may need a new pump

 

[07Burb]

Think you may need a new pump

Why would this happen later on in the oil life and not happen all of the time? I'm running a synthetic blend if that makes a difference

 

[Goodinblack]

I may be all wrong in this.

Old oil is dirtier and thicker so maybe why?

Pickup tube could be partially clogged?

You are not losing any antifreeze at all right?

 

[07Burb]

Nope, Antifreeze is good. You could possibly be on the right track, Lee. I'll have to do some more research on that as a possibility.

 

[Big Buttons]

I think Lee is on the right track. Something clogs when the oil gets thicker or seals inside the pump might be going.

Does the pressure go down when the engine is warm or cold? Or has it happened both cold and hot?