I've been scratching my head on this for awhile and did some searching but thought I'd ask either way and get some opinions on it as I kept finding different answers.

Did a cam swap in my FRC. Pretty large cam and left the stock oil pump in but upgraded the pushrods, springs ect. and was wondering if I need to get a high press pump?

After warm my press at idle is around 32lbs and at 50-60MPH it's around 40-50 something depending on what gear I'm in. In 6th at 60 it's around 40-42lbs.

Is this okay or should I upgrade?

Car is still stock bottom end with 45k miles. Cam and full bolt-ons. Still on stock LS1 heads.

Thanks!

 

Minimum for the engine is 6psi

 

I just upgraded my cam too - but went with a high-volume pump ... my pressures after the install are almost exactly as you listed.

 

whats your pressure at wot through the rpm's

 

Your oil pressure is exactly where it is meant to be, don't mess with it. That is exactly what mine reads. That is exactly what my dad's c5z reads. That is exactly what my old 2006 GTO read. The only time you have to worry about oil pressure is if you see a sudden change in your normal gauge activity, like it suddenly idles at 19 psi...then I would worry. FYI, after spirited runs and if it is very hot out, mine can see 29 psi. Perfectly normal.

 

Ok thanks guys! And depending on temp at WOT it can be anywhere from 50-60psi. I always leave my DIC on Oil Press so I'm 100% on these numbers.

 

The only time you would need a higher volumn pump is if the standard pump doesn't have enough capacity to maintain oil pressure at high speed.

A high pressure pump is not the same as a high volumn pump.

And...6psi is NOT enough oil pressure, except maybe at idle.

 

It's NEVER gotten that low before. The lowest I've ever seen it go is at idle after hot on a really hot day it's gotten around 28-29psi.

 

ParkerLSX,

The 6 psi comment was for a post from earlier in the thread (not from you).

 

They lowest oil pressure I have ever seen on my car is 20psi. It was over 100 degrees and I was in stop and go traffic, otherwise I will hang near 40psi while moving and it will go higher as RPM increases.

Your numbers sound fine.

 

your number are perfectly fine. Im sure some gurus in here are gonna comment on this but ima say it anyway. I general rule of thumb is 10psi per 1k rpm. When i go 383stroker (or LS3 stroked undecided) thats when ill go with a high VOLUME pump. Other wise for the stock 346ci, for you LS1 guys, an upgrade to the stock LS6 is more than enough. And for us LS6 guys.....lol just replace it! (pending how many miles are on the car)

 

Why do you think a stroker anysize needs more oil volume or pressure for that matter?

 

Thanks guys!

 

The oil pump puts out a certain amount of oil based on thickness and diameter of the rotors, if the requirements are not as much as the capacity then the pressure rises until the oil relief valve in the pump bleeds off the excess pressure.

The engine is really just a bunch of oil leaks inside the engine. Bearing clearance is a big one (the biggest), tappet clearance and things like that. If the leaks are too big the pump can't keep up, never gets to the relief valve setting and the pressure in the main galley drops which is where the pressure is usually measured. It is really no different than a water hose, if you have nothing on the end of the hose the pressure in the hose is close to zero, if you restrict the exit the pressure builds up in the hose, really quite simple.

The place you really need pressure is for oiling the rod bearings. The oil comes into the main bearing and from the main journal oil goes out to the rods. That is why some cranks are cross drilled or have full 360 degree grooved main bearings. The problem is the oil in the main bearing has to fight centrifugal force and get to the middle of the crank before it get pushed out to the rods. The holes drilled in the crank going from the main bearing out to the rod bearing is how all this happens. Things like cross drilling a crank help that process but the biggest problem is the diameter of the main journal because the oil has to get to the middle before it goes to the rods. There are many ways of doing this that helps the problem but most production engines use basically the same drilling.

Of course RPM has a big effect because the oil has to have more pressure to get to the middle of the main bearing before it gets thrown out to the rods. Higher RPMs require more pressure.

I know NASCAR and F1 engines run with as little pressure and volume as possible but they are the using pretty fancy oil paths.

Hopefully this may help explain why sometimes a bigger pump may be required.

 

Yes I understand all of that. But you didn't explain why a "street" driven and assuming its new with all the correct clearances, stroker engine would need a high volume or high pressure pump.

 

honestly....peace of mind

 

I don't see any reason unless there is more oil used for some reason, which I can't think of any reason a stroked crank would do unless it has bigger clearances perhaps.