how much oil at top end at idle - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

grazi · 04-19-2011, 07:03 PM

Hi guys,
Thought I'd run this question by yous.
I have kinda low oil pressure in my 94 T/A LT1. At idle maybe 20 lbs or something like that. So i had the hood up idling the other day and i noticed a ticking noise from valve covers. Definitely not exhaust leak. I took out oil fill and looked at the rockers and springs with flashlight. I noticed there is 0 oil squirting or trickilng out. There was a tiny bit of oil pooled on head but hardly..Oil level is good but I noticed its pretty dirty and watery.( I just bought car, previous owner said he changed oil right before he parked it 1.5 years ago.) I plan on changing oil this weekend but was surprised to see no oil seeping out..... Any thoughts??
Maybe I should pull motor, do cam, roller rockers and supercharge it while im at it. no jk.... thanks

BonzoHansen · 04-19-2011, 07:46 PM

20 psi at idle for a small block is fine. if there is no oil on the rockers you may have oiling issues. maybe start by checking for clogged pushrods.

maroman88 · 04-19-2011, 08:34 PM

the LT1's have pretty low oil pressure... my old 95Z was barely above the red at idle when hot... but ran perfect

edpontiac91 · 04-19-2011, 09:11 PM

Who knows what he did with the oil, he could tell you anything and how could you check on it.
If the oil has been sitting for 1 1/2 years, there could be a lot of condensation in it, plus you said it was dirty. It should not be dirty if it just sat.
Go and buy a good full syntech oil (5W-30) and change it A.S.A.P. If it gets dirty real fast (less than 1,000 miles) change it again. This guy could have had the same oil in there forever and not cared because the car seems to need some extra TLC.
A high quality oil should flush out the gunk within a couple of oil changes. Also a good long highway run (3-4 hours) should get things moving. Check it right after this to see if any more oil is coming out the passages.

grazi · 04-20-2011, 06:00 AM

Thanks for the advice...I'll do it later

NastyEllEssWon · 04-20-2011, 11:49 AM

screw that, if youre gonna do an oil flush use some semi synth and do some driving for a few hundred miles. oils too expensive to be flushing 8 dollar a qt oil down the drain. better yet, get some dino oil, run some seafoam through it... do the whole smoke show (oil, fuel line, vacuum lines) and then change the oil and put some good stuff in it

WildBillyT · 04-20-2011, 12:39 PM

How long did you let it run?

grazi · 04-20-2011, 05:20 PM

I actually didnt let it run that long. maybe a couple minutes. I revved it up a couple times and expected a little oil dribble or flow from somewhere. When I heard the light tapping noise, i thought something might be up. Does anybody with an LT hear that same noise??. My last SBC was a beater 74 Camaro so I dont really know if its normal or not.

BonzoHansen · 04-20-2011, 10:46 PM

whatever you do resist the temptation to use a motor flush or risoline or anything like that. unless you want to build a new engine.

If I were you I'd put some 5/30 synthetic in it, whatever advance or walmart has on sale, a new filter (not a fram) and then let it idle 5 minutes. if you have no oil on the rockers at that point prepare to do some sort of engine work.

JL8Jeff · 04-21-2011, 07:24 AM

My old 93 LT1 always had a tap to it. When it started getting a little louder, I knew it was time for an oil change. I ran 20W50 in the summer and 10W40 in the winter, but I also had a supercharger on it and put 42K+ miles on it with the supercharger and never had any problems. I would do an oil and filter change and then see what it sounds like. The LT1's and LS1 engines have piston slap that will go away when it warms up enough. If you didn't run it long enough, it might not have gotten enough heat in it. But I could definitley tell on my LT1 after an oil and filter change that it quieted back down.

WildBillyT · 04-21-2011, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

whatever you do resist the temptation to use a motor flush or risoline or anything like that. unless you want to build a new engine.

If I were you I'd put some 5/30 synthetic in it, whatever advance or walmart has on sale, a new filter (not a fram) and then let it idle 5 minutes. if you have no oil on the rockers at that point prepare to do some sort of engine work.

This is exactly what I was thinking as well.

Pampered-Z · 04-21-2011, 04:29 PM

20 PSI isn't bad, seen them lower at idle and they ran fine and for a long time. You're not going to see much oil on the rockers at idle. If you rev it up you'll probably see it.

What I would do: just run good-old Dino oil in it. Change the oil, run it for 100 miles and change it again, 500 miles, change it again. This way you get any sludge out. I would suggest using GM Oil filters as well, stay away from the fram, and cheap-O ones.

grazi · 04-21-2011, 07:33 PM

I changed the oil today. 10w30 mobil 1. took a cruise around the block and peaked in the fill holio. Head was covered with clean oil and when i gave it some juice I saw some oil splattering all over the place. So I guess I'm good. I guess you guys were right, maybe from sitting, it got alittle sludgy. I suppose I can change it again in a month or so to flush again.