95 chevy pickup oil pressure

[GreenJeanz]

I have a 95 chevy 1500 with the 5.7 with 187,000 miles on the motor. Cold start the oil pressuer is at 60 and when the truck warms up it drops like it should but is it droping to far? Sitting at a stop light the pressure jumps between 15 and 20 is that ok. If not can someone help

[smaurno]

60 when cold sounds about right. Why is it unsteady at idle? Is the idle speed always the same, or does it go up and down too?

[GreenJeanz]

No the idle is good. It doesnt move much

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by GreenJeanz

I have a 95 chevy 1500 with the 5.7 with 187,000 miles on the motor. Cold start the oil pressuer is at 60 and when the truck warms up it drops like it should but is it droping to far? Sitting at a stop light the pressure jumps between 15 and 20 is that ok. If not can someone help

when cold in winter you should see 80psi, on start..then pressure at operating temp should be 40-45psi...this is normal....

15-20 psi is not below min spec...but not normal...check with a pressure gauge and it is most likely the sender...out of cal..

[jdmccright]

BTW, the oil pressure sender is located on the firewall side of the engine near the distributor.

[2000CAYukon]

I am curious what the range is on your dash gauge.

On my 90 K1500 5.7, the gauge only goes up to 60 PSI. Cold starts, the pressure will be 40 to 45 PSI or slightly higher and when it warms up, the pressure is between 15 and 20 PSI. While driving, the oil pressure is 30 to 35 PSI with the engine at 2K RPM. I have owned this truck since new and the engine now has 140K miles on it. When new, the pressure was a little higher.

Now on my 2000 Yukon, the gauge goes to 80 PSI and cold starts are close to 80 PSI and it will idle around 45 PSI when the engine is hot. Oil pressure is 60 PSI while driving with engine at 2K RPM.

Obviously, there is a big difference between my 90 TBI engine and the LM7 engine in the Yukon. The TBI engine is also much higher mileage so I expect some bearing wear.

Oil viscosity can also affect oil pressure. I run the recommended 5W-30 in both engines.

//2000CAYukon

[htrd69rs]

if you haven't already, I would recommend adding a mechanical oil pressure gauge. I added a pillar pod to mine and went with a mechanical gauge and noticed a big difference in pressure readings.

[sleddinskeeter]

hell my 93 gmc went for years on 20lbs it'll be fine