Yet another Yukon with engine tick and low oil pressure

[YukonDK]

My 5.3L Cold start pressire is 58 psi, hot idle 42 psi.

210K mileage

wow, have you changed/done anything to get in that range?

 

[YukonDK]

Update (but not really)

Not much has changed. Never got the o-ring fixed, mechanic told me that the job was quite involved and would cost on work hours, so decided not to proceed.

Oil and filter was changed (again,again,again) oil pressure at startup has improved and has been unchanged for a month now. Oil pressure when driving on the highway sits at 40 psi (around 1400rpm’s). Once engine is warm and at idle pressure drops on the gauge. Once I get moving it immediately increases.

The actual reading of the oil pressure, which the mechanic did with his equipment said pressure was 20 psi at idle when warm, so the gauge is not showing the actual pressure.

Noise at start up is still there, but goes away. On warmer days goes away faster, colder days it takes a little bit longer.

I bought the exhaust manifold clamp, but was unsuccessful with installation, there’s literally no space getting that thing on the back of the engine driver side. Next time I’m going for an oil change I’ll ask the mechanic if they can put the exhaust manifold clamp on.

 

[Geotrash]

Update (but not really)

Not much has changed. Never got the o-ring fixed, mechanic told me that the job was quite involved and would cost on work hours, so decided not to proceed.

Oil and filter was changed (again,again,again) oil pressure at startup has improved and has been unchanged for a month now. Oil pressure when driving on the highway sits at 40 psi (around 1400rpm’s). Once engine is warm and at idle pressure drops on the gauge. Once I get moving it immediately increases.

The actual reading of the oil pressure, which the mechanic did with his equipment said pressure was 20 psi at idle when warm, so the gauge is not showing the actual pressure.

Noise at start up is still there, but goes away. On warmer days goes away faster, colder days it takes a little bit longer.

I bought the exhaust manifold clamp, but was unsuccessful with installation, there’s literally no space getting that thing on the back of the engine driver side. Next time I’m going for an oil change I’ll ask the mechanic if they can put the exhaust manifold clamp on.

Those are perfectly normal numbers - very similar to mine on both trucks except that my hot idle is a little closer to the 20 mark.

 

[YukonDK]

Those are perfectly normal numbers - very similar to mine on both trucks except that my hot idle is a little closer to the 20 mark.

Thank you for your input, it’s nice to hear other seeing similar readings. the mechanic also said that the oil pressure was normal and within spec even though the gauge shows oil pressure at idle a bit on the lower side

 

[BlaineBug]

Update (but not really)

Not much has changed. Never got the o-ring fixed, mechanic told me that the job was quite involved and would cost on work hours, so decided not to proceed.

Oil and filter was changed (again,again,again) oil pressure at startup has improved and has been unchanged for a month now. Oil pressure when driving on the highway sits at 40 psi (around 1400rpm’s). Once engine is warm and at idle pressure drops on the gauge. Once I get moving it immediately increases.

The actual reading of the oil pressure, which the mechanic did with his equipment said pressure was 20 psi at idle when warm, so the gauge is not showing the actual pressure.

Noise at start up is still there, but goes away. On warmer days goes away faster, colder days it takes a little bit longer.

I bought the exhaust manifold clamp, but was unsuccessful with installation, there’s literally no space getting that thing on the back of the engine driver side. Next time I’m going for an oil change I’ll ask the mechanic if they can put the exhaust manifold clamp on.

That O-ring has been talked about in great lengths about how it is one of the major sources of low oil pressure woes. I'd replace it before thinking about focusing on anything else! Oil pan has to come out, that gives you a chance to clean out the engine oil pan and sump as well. Especially seeing that you're approaching 181,000 miles. It's a no brainer to do if you're concerned about oil pressure, and secondly, the oil pressure sensor if you're wary that the gauge is not reading close enough to the mechanical test gauge that your mechanic used. Both are important.

 

[YukonDK]

That O-ring has been talked about in great lengths about how it is one of the major sources of low oil pressure woes. I'd replace it before thinking about focusing on anything else! Oil pan has to come out, that gives you a chance to clean out the engine oil pan and sump as well. Especially seeing that you're approaching 181,000 miles. It's a no brainer to do if you're concerned about oil pressure, and secondly, the oil pressure sensor if you're wary that the gauge is not reading close enough to the mechanical test gauge that your mechanic used. Both are important.

I was also pretty confident that I would like to have it replaced, but since mechanic said that oil pressure was normal at idle he said that I probably shouldn’t be concerned about the o-ring. I’m not sure how involved dropping the oil pan is. In the YouTube videos it seems like a job that takes a couple of hours, but my mechanic said it would take a couple of days to get to it and have it put back together, because so many things had to be removed.

 

[BlaineBug]

I was also pretty confident that I would like to have it replaced, but since mechanic said that oil pressure was normal at idle he said that I probably shouldn’t be concerned about the o-ring. I’m not sure how involved dropping the oil pan is. In the YouTube videos it seems like a job that takes a couple of hours, but my mechanic said it would take a couple of days to get to it and have it put back together, because so many things had to be removed.

Seems like the crossmember and maybe the differential need to come out, not a days long job, few hours maybe? Not sure why he would be exaggerating.

 

[PatDTN]

I was also pretty confident that I would like to have it replaced, but since mechanic said that oil pressure was normal at idle he said that I probably shouldn’t be concerned about the o-ring.

The O-ring in question is on the oil pump pickup tube. When it leaks it lets air into the oil pump which makes your oil pressure unstable at best. If the o-ring fails completely I think (someone check me on this) it can go into the oil pump with its close tolerances. At the very least I think you lose oil pressure and an engine. Personally I think it's worth fixing.

 

[donjetman]

preventative mx, replace it before it causes a problem.

 

[j91z28d1]

The O-ring in question is on the oil pump pickup tube. When it leaks it lets air into the oil pump which makes your oil pressure unstable at best. If the o-ring fails completely I think (someone check me on this) it can go into the oil pump with its close tolerances. At the very least I think you lose oil pressure and an engine. Personally I think it's worth fixing.

there's no way the o ring can get into the pump and if it did, it's soft rubber. the oil pump gears wouldn't even notice it. they can pump broken aluminum parts thru it without hurting the steel gears.