Temporary low oil pressure - is this different than what others have seen?

[Chuckles225]

Hi everyone, I've read thru the low oil pressure thread, but I'm thinking my problem might be different.

I have a 2007 Yukon that I drive daily to and from work. I have the same problem in the morning and when I return home. When I start my Yukon I have low oil pressure around 20 psi. As I drive a few blocks and stop at intersections the pressure drops to near 0 and sometimes 0 and give me warnings to shut off the vehicle. As I drive on the highway the pressure stays in the 20 psi range, but the strange thing is the oil pressure will suddenly increase to about 45. If I'm looking at my gauge at the right time I can watch it go from 20 to 40 within a couple seconds. It happens the same every day about 10 miles from home. It will stay like this and not drop for the rest of my drive. On the way home it does the same thing.

I've replaced my oil pressure switch and pressure switch filter. I've also recently had the oil and filter changed at the dealership. I saw no improvement after this.

 

[kbuskill]

Sounds like the O-ring where the oil pickup tube bolts to the oil pump.

 

[PG01]

did you check the oil level?

 

[Chuckles225]

Yes, the oil level is good.

Has anyone replaced the pick up o-ring? Easy or difficult?

Thanks!

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Yes, the oil level is good.

Has anyone replaced the pick up o-ring? Easy or difficult?

Thanks!

Not too difficult, but a fair bit of work, gotta drop the pan, which means getting things out of the way... There was somebody that just recently did this and wrote about it. Can't remember who it was, search for it.

 

[Chuckles225]

I'm curious, what leads you to the o-ring as the problem?

 

[Buzzcut]

Sounds like a stepper motor in the instrument cluster.

 

[kbuskill]

I'm curious, what leads you to the o-ring as the problem?

Sounds like it to me because it is intermittent and seems to not be as prevalent when cruising at higher speeds.

 

[Chuckles225]

It's not really intermittent. To me it seems to be time based. It seems to happen 10 minutes after cold start even if I'm not driving at highway speeds.