I will start off with this. I have a 01 Z06. Have owned it for 7 months and installed all the basic bolt ons. Always had about 60PSI of oil pressure. Well this week I decided to do a cam swap. I dropped the front sub frame so the pulley could be removed. Did all the necessary procedures..(blah blah blah) I did remove the pickup tube on the oil pump to replace the timing chain. I was VERY careful putting the tube back on b/c of the dreaded o-ring. I would almost bet my life on it, that its NOT pinched.

Obviously I put everything back together and did the initial start up. 15 PSI oil pressure. On rev up it goes to 30-35 PSI MAX. Car definitly doesnt have any valvetrain noise or knocking what-so-ever. Figured I would change the oil thinking that maybe some coolant ran into the oil pan while the timing cover was off. So now, I have the rear jacked up higher than the front to let all oil drain from the pan, since the plugs on the front. I went with a 20w50 and a new filter just to see. So I start the car up again. NO OIL PRESSURE NOW... IMMEDIATLY shut the car down after 3-5 seconds.

So now I am thinking that all along it was b/c the car was jacked up in the front originally and jacked up in the rear on the second start up after the new oil change. Now I think I have the answer, so I lower the car down all excited. Get all 4 wheels on the ground, start it up, and it jumps to 15-20 PSI within 2 seconds. Not what I wanted to see, but obviously better than the 0 PSI.

What the hell is going on here? When the subframe was dropped down a couple inches, I did jack up on the oil pan to make the pulley clear the power steering rack. Could I have messed up the pickup somehow? The motor was smashed against the 'firewall'(if you wanna call it that..LOL). I checked the pressure sensor behind the intake thinking that maybe it was the problem but its not broke or anything. I am going to put a manual gauge on it tomorrow to find out for sure but in the mean time, Please help me out here. I am going crazy. I am about to pull the damn motor at this point.

 

Not sure I understand what happened? Did you start up the car with the car jacked up, first front high and then back high?

If so, this was not a smart move. You can do two bad things: 1) have oil pickup suck up air and 2) have oil level above crank, which then whips up and aireates the oil.

 

Ok I just pulled out my LS1 from my 99 FRC and tore it down so I'm familiar with what you are dealing with. You say you removed the oil pickup tube, curious is you pulled pan because one end of the tube bolts to the oil pump and the other end is bolt to to one of the main studs that sits on top of the oil baffle. I'm thinking that you did not get the tube secured back in or the o-ring screwed up. Only other thing could be you nicked a cam bearing but I doubt it. Oil pressure on LS1s come mainly from rod and main bearings. My rods looked ok but mains were worn down to the copper.

My oil pressure at 180' was 15 idle and 35 max, hence I decided to pull it before the bearings spun. By the way, how did you get your balancer off, that's all I lack to pull my crank but my balancer puller won't work as the LS1 balancer as you know does not have any bolts holes other than the main center bolt. I hope you figure yours out and let us know when you do.

 

DONT SOUND GOOD, THINK THE OIL PAN IS FINE, THIS POINT PUT A MAN GAUGE ON IT AND CHECK. HOPE IF DIDNT LET RUN LONG WITH ONE END UP IN THE AIR FROM THE OTHER. AFTER ALL OF THAT AIR WORKS OUT OF THE BOTTOM END. SHOULD COME BACK UP GOOD. HOW MUCH OF A ANGLE WAS ONE FROM THE OTHER....

 

am I the only one that disconnects the coil packs and pulls the fuel pump relay to prime the oil system? I crank the engine in 5 second bursts until I see at least 15 pounds of pressure on the DIC. I'm thinking that using the starter to prime the system instead of piston force is better for the main bearings and the RPMs are lower with the starter.

 

Just hope you didn't gauged out one of the cam bearings leaving a nice big oil leak internaly?

 

Yes. I originally started the car up when the front was jacked up about 1 foot and the rear was on the ground. When I did this, it was about 15-20 PSI max. Thought that maybe the oil had some coolant in it, so I decided to change it. So what I did was, leave the front on the stands and jack the rear up too. The rear was only 2" higher than the front at the most. I changed the oil. Started the car up like this, and there was no oil pressure, so within 2-3 seconds I shut her down.

At this point I was thinking that if I set the car completely down on all 4's that the oil pressure might be normal. So I did so, and the pressure only got to about 15-20 PSI again. If I rev it alittle, it will reach about 30-35 PSI. There is absolutly no engine noise or anything though, even when its at like 10 PSI on start up before it finds the smooth idle.

 

No, I didnt remove the whole tube. I just took the bolt out of the oil pump that holds the tube to it. I removed the pump and put a new chain on. Then I put the pump back on and VERY carefully slid the tube back on, thats why I dont think I pinched the o ring.

To get the pulley off you need a 3 jaw puller and a plug that goes in the end of the crank so the puller can push on it. Thats how I removed mine and thats how I am going to do it again I guess

 

When I originally started it, the front was about 1 foot off the ground and the rear was on the ground. I jacked the rear up about 2 inches highter than the front to change the oil and started it up like that. So not too much of an incline.

 

Man I really doubt it b/c the cam was soooo smooth going in. And the old one comming out was smooth too. I guess anything can happen, but lets hope thats not the problem

 

Well, I started the car up today again. I havent touched anything on the car yet. Cold start up is 35 PSI now. On a rev and hold 3500 RPM's the car holds almost 60PSI. WTF is going on here. I have 20w50 oil in it and when its hot, it only holds about 25-27 PSI at idle. Now that I look at the gauge it used to hold 40 PSI at idle with 5w30syn oil. Should I continue to drive/start it, maybe pressure will come back with time????

 

No, oil pressure just wont "Come Back". You've either got it, or you dont..

Theres a few issues it "Could" be. But NONE of them are gonna be able to be looked at with the cam in.

BUT.....If your oil pressure is stable at close to normal conditions, then watch it.. If you start to see it slowly decline to dangerous levels, then immediatly pull it. Dont pray thet the pressure will just come back..

 

Thats what I figured too but, I decided to drive the car alittle today after seeing alittle higher PSI. Now idle is between 29PSI up to 32PSI. If I drive it, It will sit at about 34-36 PSI under 2500rpms. If I cruise at 3500 RPMS the PSI is about 40-45. Is this pressure OK to get the car tuned? Why does it seem to keep getting higher PSI the more I drive it???

 

Does it seem OK??

 

Have you checked the oil pressure with a mecahnaical gauge to confirm the accuracy of the gauge in the car ?

 

No, I havent yet, but whats the odds that the gauge stopped working properly, at the same time I did the cam swap. Doubtful but possible I guess. Id hate to cut a damn hole in the car, but I dont wanna remove the intake..

 

Did you remove the o-ring from the oil pump and put it on the tube before reassembly?

 

I had mine fail and he start giving me crazy readings. The oil was leaking in top and shorting out the connection giving me low and zero value oil presuure and shuting my car off.

Got a new sensor and no problems. While I was at it, I did silicone seal on the knock senosr so that water does not get in them and give you the dreaded P0410 code.

 

I am going to pull the intake off the car today and put a manual gauge on it. Just to be certain, I can unplug the coils and pull the fuel pump fuse and crank it right? That way I can get the accurate reading with the manual one.

I am really hoping thats the problem. I could have messed it up when I jacked up the motor b/c the back of the intake was smashed against the firewall, so maybe the sensor is messed up and smashed too.

 

Did you re-use the o-ring on the pickup tube? Was the ring seated correctly for your year/model? (some years have different shaped pickup tube ring seat) Did you swap to a high vol oil pump?

The ring might not be pinched, just installed incorrectly. Also, on the cam retainer plate, did you make sure little gasket was undamaged?

As much as I hate to tell you, if the oil pressure is different now than it was before and you only did a cam swap it is probably because something was done incorrectly, or one of the parts malfunctioned.

My reccomendation would be to make sure your oil level is good. Change the sender first and if oil pressure is low, go back and redo the oil pump/tube install. Other than the cam being machined incorrectly it's the only area that would affect oil pressure so substantially.