Another oil pressure sensor? No Pressure Again.

[eritzman]

I think it was the fuel-pro, it was the only one they had. It looked the same as the one that came out.

I ended up taking it to a local shop because I’m going out of town for work and my wife needs to drive it. They said they put a gauge on it and had pressure matching what the sensor was showing. It started up mid to low 20s then dropped to almost zero after driving s few minutes. They suggested adding a high volume oil pump and replacing the sensor again for $2,400 Or $2,100 for just the pump. They also state this may not fix the problem. The only other is to replace the motor. That the one I have is just wore out. I find this hard to believe, it’s a 2012, and 183k miles. My 04, had 246k when I traded it in. They did say I could continue to drive it and i may get a lot more out of it or I may not.

Needless to say I’m a little frustrated. Thanks again for your help. At least I was able to learn a few things.

I'm going through this right now. Exact same symptoms. I suspected the o-ring on the pick up tube, as did the service shop after seeing that the oil was aerated. Turns out mine was a bad oil pump. At 226k miles, I had to make the decision to replace the engine or the oil pump, since everything else in the engine looked spotless I went with the oil pump. I had him change the timing chain since he had the front of the engine apart. I should be picking it up today or tomorrow.

 

[gooffeyguy]

What is the VLOM?

My guess is the shop wouldn't able to tell it's the o-ring unless they dropped the pan? Would running the motor and spraying soapy water all around the oil pan to see if it bubbles be an option. This might sound really dumb, I'm no mechanic, but in my line of work we do this to find leaks sometimes.

I'll probably give that a try. I guess dropping a few more bucks and a few hours won't hurt. At least I'll be learning something. I've got a lot of crap to work on in the garage before I can get the car in there and work on it, at least my wife will be happy. I don' think my neighborhood would appreciate a car on blocks in the drive way for a while. Not to maintain my drive way is sloped.

I guess worse case scenario is I park her for a few months and save for something nice from Texas Speed, LOL. I've always wanted a project car, just didn't imagine it would get it so soon.

They can test if it's the O-ring or not by adding a quart or two extra oil and either parking nose down on a hill or jacking up the rear of the vehicle. This places the O-ring location under the surface of the oil. Then start the engine and see if the oil pressure has changed.

 

[indy]

Just want to report on my '07 5.3L that at 130k miles I got the P0521 low oil code while highway driving in 5 degree weather (which this Tahoe has never seen). At highway speed at 2k RPM the oil pressure slowly dropped down to ~18psi at lowest. 2300 miles on current oil. After reading forum I assumed I was ok to continue trip.
I run Mobil-1 synthetic 5-30 and any mid-grade filter changing oil 4-7k miles.
I decided to run Seafoam for last 200 miles (no help in dash pressure). Added cheap quart of oil and pointed rig down hill to verify oil pickup oring in pan was ok, then change oil / filter before jumping into the new oil pressure sending unit and screen.
HAPPY TO REPORT: Simply drained oil and replaced old STP Extended Life Oil Filter S10060XL with WIX 57045XP oversize filter and fresh Mobil-1. Boom...instant oil pressure just from new filter so I assume filter was faulty or clogged.

Low pressures indicated in park: Idle 17psi, 2k 22psi, 3k 33psi
After oil/filter change pressures indicated in park: Idle 32psi, 2k 47psi, 3k 53psi

FYI. I added oil catch can so now I'm going to sendout ECM to remove AFM V4 function as CYA.
I love this forum. ♥