I was headed to the station this morning and on the way (in idle) I had no oil pressure. Then it would only get up to about a quarter of the way, even at 5grand. overdrive would be the same, but once i hit idle it would all drop. When I went out this morning to warm it up, it was alright, plenty of oil pressure. keep in mind that it is near 10 degrees out.

 

Oil pressure is always higher during cold engine temp. You have to check pressure at normal operating temp. Revving an engine to 5000 RPM with low oil pressure is a silly thing to do, unless you intend to ruin the engine. Check oil level and test the pressure with a test gage, just in case the instrument panel gage went bad.

 

what kind of oil and what oil filter? whens the last time they were changed?

 

yeah its penzoil high mileage. i changed it about..july? its probably due with-in a month or so....might have put about 2k miles on it. and a STP filter

 

Another thing it could be is a bad sending unit.

 

yeah one of my buddies was telling me that the sensor could be crapping out. I wonder if the computer is going dumb

 

what wt of oil. so is the motor temp running warmer than normal when up to operating temp? how many miles on the motor? could be the sensor is failing or sticking,,, does the oil pressure needle jump when moving or is it changing smooth

 

Amen. I had the same thing happen on my 97 , it was the sending unit. Took all of about 10 minutes to change.

 

Mine is a bit lower than usual..but i think its because i cheaped out and bought fram haha..but like him..its only sometimes (when normal its around 65 until it warms up and hits 60 even. When its low its at about 55-58)

 

So what is the normal accepted amount of pressure on a 3800? Before my sending unit went totally out it was right around 60 after replacing the sending unit it sits on the mark above 60 unless at idle then it drops down to about 60.