Hello, I have a problem with my 91 camaro. It has the v6 engine and the oil pressure gauge is acting up. It was always around 40 on the guage and now all the sudden it is at 50-55 when the car warms up. Then when I accelerate it jumps up to 80 and when I let off the gas it goes back down to 50-55. Sometimes it jumps back and forth really fast. I drove it 2 miles today and it didn't spike up to 80+...it just stayed on 50, but I only drove it 2 miles total. I am in need of an oil change and thought this might help. I read in a later post to put thicker oil in to see if the bearings are bad?? I had the top half of the motor rebuilt about a year ago due to a blown head gasket. The oil sending unit was replaced about 4 years ago. Not sure what to do. Thanks, D*

Update: Got the oil changed to 20-50. The pressure went down to 45-50 when it warms up...still spiking to 80+ when I step on the gas sometimes. I shut it off and started it up again and the oil pressure was holding at 20??? Please help...Thanks, D*

 

Donna,
Bad bearings will cause the oil pressure to go down, not up. It is possible that you may have a clogged oil filter, but I suspect your oil pressure gage or the sending unit crapped out. Use the factory recommended wight.

 

Hi, Thanks for the advice. I don't drive the car that much..trying to keep the miles low. I recently had to replace the battery and it messed my tune up all up. Now the car stalls out when I stop at the lights. The idle is really low and I have to powerbrake it to keep it running. Is there a screw somewhere to turn to make the idle higher on this? Thanks, D*

 

AS best I can remember the idle speed is controlled by the computer via the Idle control valve atttached to the throttle body. You may remove the valve and clean it out with carburator cleaner, and also give the throttle body a good cleaning. Keep in mind that when you disc the battery the computer forgets all the settings it learned. It now has to relearn how to get the car to idle properly. It should straighten itself out after about a dozen starts, each time getting a little better.