no oil pressure on 96 3800

[jusber15]

my oil pressure has always been low but the other day it started getting real low, setting off the check gauges light when I would stop. so, I pulled the oil pan and the pickup was clean and clear. I pulled the timing cover and replaced the pump, spring, sending unit and all gaskets. put it all back together and still the same. It has about 40 pounds of pressure until it warms up, then it dips into the danger zone when in the lower RPMs. Please help. I have no idea what to go after next!

[maxwedge]

Get a mechanical gage on it and see what that reads under the same conditions, also did you look at the bearings?

[richtazz]

does the car knock, tick or make other bad noises? Normally, low oil pressure with no noise is caused by worn cam bearings. The oil is forced through the cam bearings, then to the upper end.

[jusber15]

If it be worn cam bearings, is there a fix for that other than tearing down the whole motor and replacing them? What about a thicker oil such as 20W50 or an oil additive?

[richtazz]

additives may help a little, but if it's cam bearings, the only true fix is to replace them. The bitch of it is that they are press fit, and would require taking the engine out of the car and to the machine shop.