low oil pressure

[1meanz]

hey guys, quiet a wile back i had my water pump lock up on my 3.1, i was pissed off and i really didnt give a damn, so i just drove it home... needless to say the temp hand was bottomed out. well i noticed that once i got home the oil pressure was low, well i figured it was because the oil was crazy hot, built the hybrid. changed the oil befor cranking it, changed the oil again after a few days, and it was still low (running 20 psi and lower at idle) and between 20 and probably 30 or so throughout the rest of the rpm range, i changed the opsu and drained 3/4's of a quart of oil and added 3/4's of a quart of that lucas oil stabalizer shit. and its no different. when you shine a light into the valve pan covers you can see the oil flowing fine. but its running crazy low.

im going to change the oil, and oil pan gasket. going to check the oil pump screen and see if its blocked or anything. do you guys have any other ideas of stuff to check?

thanx guys!
cody

[JMo60]

oil pump itself?

[1988GTU]

Bearing tolerances out of spec.

[geoffinbc]

Did you ever think to question the gauge or sending unit? Clearly the temp gauge is screwed so its would be no surprise the oil gauge would be.

[1meanz]

oil pressure sending unit "opsu" is brand new. and its exactly the same. and the temp hand works perfictly fine now. i guess the oil guage could be screwed up. just really dunno how i could check/fix it... just wish i could fix it i guess lol

[geoffinbc]

Its easy to check. Get a cheep mechanical gauge and hook it up and check your pressure. If it checks out then just drive the thing. If not then you got some work ahead of you.

But just so you know if you have even 10 PSI at hot idle the engine will do fine. If you can never get more than 30 PSI even after 2000RPM then you may have a broken spring in the oil pump or a clogged pickup.