kopbet89c4

My oil pressure seems to go low and the red light comes on when I take a corner moderately hard. Right after I am done taking that good corner at 35 mph, the oil pressure goes back to normal. I took a very hard corner and the oil pressure went to 5 psi, WTF??? I have 4.5 quarts of 2200 mile oil put in my stock system and the range on the dip stick is full when cold.

When the car is first started after a couple of hours sitting, the oil pressure fluctuates between 45-50 psi. Idling @ 600 rpms fully warmed up my oil pressure is 18 psi. Cruising OD gear @ 35 mph @ 1000 rpms, it is 30 psi. 55 mph @ 1600 rpms it is 40 psi. 75 mph @ 2100 rpms it is 50 psi. 100 mph @ 2800 rpms it is 55 psi. Oil and water temp hover around 190-200 degrees, when I granny drive (yes gas prices are too high to drive spiritedly). I checked for oil spotting on the driveway and there is none. So, do these pressures sound normal for 5w-30 Mobil1 synthetic oil??? Why would oil pressure drop temporarily when I take a good corner???

cv67

Has your pan ever been changed?

kopbet89c4

No, it looks like the factory one. This low oil pressure problem when cornering has been doing this for 2 days now. I'm kinda getting worried.

bogus

sounds like it's sloshing away from the oil pickup. Do you have enough oil in it????

Otherwise, I would worry about the pickup/pump.

kopbet89c4

Tomorrow, I'll add a quart of the same oil I have in it now. Hopefully that should work out.

Worst case scenario, how hard it is to replace the oil pump and/or the pickup??

cv67

Not bad at all. The pan can be dropped from under the car.

Atok

Classic symptoms of a dropped pickup. This happened to one of our short track race cars, it pretty well wrecked the engine. I wouldn't drive it until you pull the pan and check the pickup.

Aardwolf

I had a car where one of the freeze plugs on the head popped off. Oil pressure dropped way low around corners as oil would run right out of the hole. I'm sure you'd notice that drip that! Aye it sounds like the oil pickup OR perhaps it's clogged with something from the recent work you did. A friend had a car with oil pressure problems, we found a lifter, RTV chunks, and a bolt, in the oil pan. They'd get stuck on/under the pickup. Someone did some work and just left it there!

kopbet89c4

Anyone have a diagram and/or pics of how I can drop the pan? All I have is a jack and jack stands. I don't have a lift so I dunno how easy this would be. TIA

CFI-EFI

www.helminc.com

RACE ON!!!

bogus

It's very straight forward.

I agree with CFI-EFI, you will need a helm manual, however, this is not an intense project.

Inspect the pan for compression - did it hit something. If so, that could be clue one of a major problem.

There are a bunch of bolts and studs that hold the pan in place. You will need a new oil pan gasket, get the felpro blue. Get all the old RTV off the corners. Use some Copper RTV on the corners when reinstalling.

I find that Copper lasts longer, stays softer and prevents leaks better then black over a long period of time.

The oil pump is held on by one big bolt, coming off the rear main cap.

The pump may not have to come off, you might be able to replace the pickup on the car, but it isn't the best way to go. The best bet is to remove the pump, replace the pickup and tack weld the new pickup into place. It is not uncommon for the pickup to get wacked when the pan is installed, this will stop that from happening.

scorp508

Drain the oil and measure how much was in there. You may have just burnt through some.

Atok

Good point. I suppose it's possible that the dip stick is not accurate.

the blur

you will spin a bearing and destroy the motor will soon. add at least 2 qts until you find why it's sloshing.

kopbet89c4

Just did an oil change 10 minutes ago. When I removed the pan nut, it was not as tight as I thought it would have been. And maybe when I was driving around, it would leak out very slowly. This has been happening for 2200 miles. And actually I misread the dip stick when I checked it the first time to see if it was in the normal range. I had 2 quarts in there! I drained the old stuff, put 5 quarts of new synthetic oil and changed the oil filter and now I could take a corner as hard as I damn like without the light coming on. Thanks you all for your helpful info. I feel like I would have been spending a fortune if nobody told me this!

the blur

you still might have slightly damaged a bearing. especially if an LT1 motor....

kopbet89c4

Its an L98. Oil pressure was all good early this morning. Taking a sharp corner doesn't affect it anymore.