07 Denali oil pressure talk

[ny_summit]

So I made a post few months back about my oil pressure after swapping out the pick up tube O-ring. **We did find 2 small pieces of metal in the oil pan** assuming it was from the cam bearings.

2007 denali oil pressure questions. *video posted*

i have a 2007 denali with 97k miles. i recently changed the oil pan gasket because of a leak. i swapped the whole pick up tube with a new tube and o-ring. i also blocked off the oil relief valve. now the issue. my friend (the mechanic) found 2 small pieces of metal which be believes are from the...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

I've since changed the driver side valve cover to the updated design. I plugged the oil galley's under the valley pan, valley pan gaskets new oil pressure sensor and intake manifold gaskets. The valley pan and Intake manifold bolts were just fingered tight.

My cold psi is 60, cruising 35-40 psi depending on rpm. My hot idle seems to be really low. Some say it's normal but at 60 psi cold is 15ish idle normal?

 

[Doubeleive]

20 hot is considered normal, the low oil pressure money light will not light up until it hits 10psi
my guess is you are running on borrowed time if "metal" was found in there, engines do not heal themselves, neither do transmissions.

 

[ny_summit]

20 hot is considered normal, the low oil pressure money light will not light up until it hits 10psi
my guess is you are running on borrowed time if "metal" was found in there, engines do not heal themselves, neither do transmissions.

At just under 100k miles that's unfortunate, it drives great and sounds good. Not sure what else to do besides run it.

 

[rdezs]

Those damn OEM valley cover bolts. Everyone I've seen that's never been touched since day one.... Always has a few that are barely finger tight.

Because of the metal you found in the pan...Realistically you're looking at a complete teardown to get to the cam bearings.

If you want to limp it along, 10w30 might be the trick.

 

[ny_summit]

Those damn OEM valley cover bolts. Everyone I've seen that's never been touched since day one.... Always has a few that are barely finger tight.

Because of the metal you found in the pan...Realistically you're looking at a complete teardown to get to the cam bearings.

If you want to limp it along, 10w30 might be the trick.

Yea I assume that'll ultimately be the answer. Other than idle all other pressure seems normal and good.

 

[Marky Dissod]

10W30 is going to do absolutely nothing to CLEAN up the problem (except MAYBE if it's Valvoline Restore & Protect?).
Something near the oil pressure sender is causing a low reading at idle.
That may very well mean that the rest of the engine is getting good oil pressure.

Only way to be sure is to get your oil pressure checked manually.
If the other reading is good, and yours is still low, then you definitely have something in the way of your sender.

I'm the guy that would find a 0W30, hoping that the oil can sneak around the obstruction,
but I'm assuming you have an obstruction, and I don't want to make an @$$ out of anyone else.

 

[petethepug]

Thanks for linking your other post. The two bits of metal in the pan are simply a heads up to listen and watch for more telltale signs.

Now if we knew exactly where the the metal came from, that’d be different. The L92 is such a stout engine in its current form without the AFM.

Not many get a heads up on their high milage engine as well as dodge a bullet on the oil pressure issue.

If I were you I’d have a local Indi or diesel mechanic keep his eyes out for a GM 2500 or 3500 that’s wrecked with a good 6.0L L96. They have alum block, iron heads, runs on reg fuel and later versions on e85 too.

You could literally drive the twisted mess to your tech, have him cam the motor while in the wrecked truck to get you from 360 to 400/420hp on reg fuel.

Sell the wrecked truck and L92 after the transplant and offset your costs.

 

[strutaeng]

You could switch to 40 wt. (could even go to 50 wt. if the pressure drops even more like in the summer months) oil to increase the pressure slightly. If it doesn't knock, just keep running it. But at 15, I would just keep running it and monitor the oil pressure.

Start saving for an overhaul or another engine is good advice.

 

[j91z28d1]

15 hot idle and it jumps up from there quickly with a throttle blip?

I bet it runs a very long time like that. I'd just cut the oil filters open and inspect for it metal starts showing up.

 

[Marky Dissod]

Forgot to suggest doing a used oil analysis, or maybe more than one.
It'd be very likely to let you know if your engine is wearing itself down.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

You are only 5 psi below the 'normal' 20 psi at hot idle. As suggested above, a used oil analysis would be a great place to start, in order to further investigate your current situation. Also as mentioned above, checking out the contents of your used oil filters for any additional metal pieces is also a good idea.

I just installed new lifters, new cam, and a new oil pump as part of my motor upgrade project, and I have 20 psi at hot idle, and by 1500 rpms, it is at 40 psi or higher.

As @petethepug mentioned, the L92 motor is a rare prized racing motor, due to its non-AFM construction, and you can demand a good price for it, if you end up doing a motor swap.

 

[rdezs]

Been pondering what I would do in this situation... Take it into account it's under 100,000 miles. It's either the edge of a cam bearing, or possibly a ring landing? I think I would drop a mailing 10 296 oil pump in with the +10 psi spring. That will give you 35 PSI hot idle, and 60 PSI steady at everything over 1200 RPM. That would give some room for some extra oil clearance if you do have a worn cam bearing. And it would also address the possibility that the 15 psi at hot idle is more related to the oil pressure relief valve in your OEM pump. (A common issue at your mileage) I would also take the opportunity to install one of the pickup tube girdles to utilize two bolts to secure the pickup tube to the pump.

Oil pressures above or what I've had since doing an AFM delete on an l94, retaining VVT, and using an oem L92 camshaft with LS7 lifters. Deleted at 142,000 mi, currently at 168,000. I also had 15 psi hot idle, and when I disassembled the oil pressure relief in the OEM pump there was little pieces of grit in the bottom interfering with movement of the plunger.

Just my two cents worth...

 

[SpareParts]

I had way worse metal chunks in my oil pan. Here is what i did, HERE Starts on post #60. There is a pic showing the chunks on post #31
My oil pressure is holding steady at 23ish on a hot idle for a couple of months now.

 

[rdezs]

Yeah, unless there's evidence of copper in the metal fragments.... I think it's more likely something else. Small piece of the ring landing for example. I've torn apart several LS engines that had the Pistons with multiple fractures in the ring landings and still ran okay. If it's a cam bearing, it's probably going to be the front one and more problems will pop up sooner rather than later. 15 psi hot idle oil pressure just doesn't jive with me if it was a front camshaft bearing with a chunk missing. I'd replace the oil pump with the Melling 10296 as mentioned above and run with it. I wouldn't drive it like I stole it..... If you want to do that, tear down and go through it

 

[ny_summit]

So when I did my oil change last week I used a larger wix XP filter per recommendations I've read online. I swapped the filter out today to the normal size filter wix 57060xp, and it brought my oil pressure up. It's now idling about 17-19psi.

As for the metal pieces we found in the oil pan my mechanic friend said there was copper in it. So we are assuming a bit of the cam bearing broke off. Here's a video of the oil pressure at idle also blipping the throttle.

I'm just going to leave it for now and drive it as is. I have great pressure on cold starts and cruising speeds. And the motor sounds and feels fine. I thank everyone for the input.

I replaced the oil pan gasket in the fall due to a leak and I saw some oil under there again so I'm assuming it's the rear main or the main plate gasket smh.

 

[Fless]

So when I did my oil change last week I used a larger wix XP filter per recommendations I've read online. I swapped the filter out today to the normal size filter wix 57060xp, and it brought my oil pressure up. It's now idling about 17-19psi.

As for the metal pieces we found in the oil pan my mechanic friend said there was copper in it. So we are assuming a bit of the cam bearing broke off. Here's a video of the oil pressure at idle also blipping the throttle.

I'm just going to leave it for now and drive it as is. I have great pressure on cold starts and cruising speeds. And the motor sounds and feels fine. I thank everyone for the input.

I replaced the oil pan gasket in the fall due to a leak and I saw some oil under there again so I'm assuming it's the rear main or the main plate gasket smh.

For me the video comes up as Private; can't view it.

 

[ny_summit]

For me the video comes up as Private; can't view it.

Sorry you can try now it should work!

 

[rdezs]

19 PSI hot is just fine.... And then that does sound like the edge of a cam bearing. Just keep an eye on your oil pressure.

You will find different brands of filters flow differently. The more restrictive it is, the larger the drop in pressure up by the sending unit.

 

[West 1]

I will go another direction and ask if you have changed the Oring on the Oil Pump pick up tube? They are known to fail and cause low oil pressure most affected at idle. Some have slow pick up on initial start up, a hesitation from initial start till your gauge shows pressure.

If the timing cover is removed to install the new Oring the oil pump can be removed and you can upgrade the pressure relief spring in the oil pump for more oil pressure. I would do that and drive it and see how the engine responds.

 

[ny_summit]

I will go another direction and ask if you have changed the Oring on the Oil Pump pick up tube? They are known to fail and cause low oil pressure most affected at idle. Some have slow pick up on initial start up, a hesitation from initial start till your gauge shows pressure.

If the timing cover is removed to install the new Oring the oil pump can be removed and you can upgrade the pressure relief spring in the oil pump for more oil pressure. I would do that and drive it and see how the engine responds.

Yes few months back I put in a completely new pick up tube with O-ring. I wish I put in a melling oil pump at the time but I didn't think the oil pump is the issue. I have great pressure on a cold start and good pressure on cruise speeds. The fact we found some metal in the pan believing to be from a cam bearing more than likely that is the issue of the lower oil pressure at idle. I'm going to run it as is for now if things get worse I may save up some cash on the side to pull the motor to inspect the cam bearings, replace them maybe do a cam and oil pump.