oil pressure

[Silverado Brethern]

i was wondering what a common oil pressure for a 350 is. mine has been about 60psi under acceleration it just seems a lil high on the guage since 40 is the middle

[chevytrucks92]

Depends on what MY your truck is. The new ones keep almost 80 psi, where as mine probably runs on 35 or maybe 40 psi. I'm not really sure about the Vortec 350, but I'd say yours is about right. I mean my truck goes to about 50 or so when its first cranked and untill it comes up to temp. then it settes in on about 35 or 40ish. It idles on about 20 I guess. As long as it jumps back up (literally jumps back up, like a tach) when you touch the gas to where it usually stays, you are fine.

[jeverett]

Heh, mine on my truck is a steady 0 right now...my engine locked up Sunday in the middle of an intersection, but it was a 5.3, and it idled about 40 psi, and cruised at about 60, 65 psi.

[95silverado]

Mine idles at about 35 psi and cruises at 60 psi. Its a 95 TBI 350 with 169,000 miles, running Red line 10W 30

[yeachevy]

I HAVE A 97 W/ A 350 AND AFTER IT WARMS UP IT IDLES AT 30PSI AT 500rpm's AND ABOUT 45-50psi's AT 1500- 2000rpm's(runnin about 60-65mph)

[mike3028]

my 95 has 213,000 and idles around 25-30, when first cranked up it runs 60-65, cruising it runs 50-55! yours sonds pretty good though

[chevytrucks92]

Originally Posted by 95silverado

Mine idles at about 35 psi and cruises at 60 psi. Its a 95 TBI 350 with 169,000 miles, running Red line 10W 30

That's kinda high man for a TBI 350. Once they get warm, they are supposed to run on about 40 or something like that. I dont know, maybe GM changed somethign for the 95 model, but I know my 92 guage pegs at 60 psi, and that is too much for those trucks.

[95silverado]

The oil pressure has always been like that since the truck was new. I guess it could have a screwy oil pressure gauge or somthing. It wouldn't be, because I'm running synthetic oil, would it?

[chevytrucks92]

Well, it could be becuase you run synthetic oil, but it is usually thinner then convential oil. Maybe GM done some minor change in 95 to the oiling system.

I know my truck has always runs on about 35-40 psi (121,000 miles, I run Valvoline MaxLife 10W30, and a 16 oz. bottle of STP Oil Treatment) once it gets warm. Now during the winter, it gets close to 60 psi when its first cranked, but once the temp. comes up on it, it usually settles in between 35-40. Once it warms up, it will idle on about 15-20 psi (I'm talking after I've been driving for quiete some time and am setting in traffic, in gear, in park it idles on 30), and just like a tach, when you as much as touch (literally just have to touch the throttle) it jumps back to 35-40 psi.

Now the 99-up trucks have very high oil pressure. They run on almost 80 psi.

[jeverett]

Yeah, when first cranking mine up, it was on 70+ every morning...I'm ready to see what my new engine is running, maybe it will be as good. GM says the (I'm guessing all) engines only need 5psi of pressure to fully lubricate themselves, so by having even 30 your way ahead.

[95silverado]

Jason, sorry to hear about your engine letting go on you. I was wondering, did you have the piston slap problem before it locked up on you. My son has a 2000 silverado, with a bad case of piston slap, and I'm kinda concerned his might do the same as yours. Hope everything goes well with the new engine.

[jeverett]

I don't think I did. My friend has an 01 HD with a 6.0 and he has it pretty bad, but mine never made the same noises as his..the only knocking I heard before it messed up was a light tapping when I first started it up in the morning that only lasted for a second..other than that, the only time it knocked was before it locked. ANd thanks for the luck..

[chevytrucks92]

Any updates on the new engine jeverett? You may have already said, if so I must have missed it.

As for the oil pressure deal, I would be concerned if my truck suddenly started running on 60 psi all the time, lol, because the TBI 5.7L engines are not supposed to run that high.

[jeverett]

Well, yeah, a little info. I took it to the shop sunday after it locked up, with a quote to install a "new" reman engine for what I thought was a low price of $2500. Well, that was for a 5.7...a 5.3 quote, labor and all, was somewhere between $6000 and $7000. I then got it back from the chevy dealer, and found a used engine w/55K on it, and buying it, getting it installed and all is running $2500. THey started work on it yesterday and had the new engine by 3, and are now finishing everything up, so it should be ready this afternoon....

[95silverado]

My gauge is probably not accurate, but I'm not too worried about it. It's been like this for 169,000 trouble free miles. Except for a few rattles, the truck still looks and runs like new.