Ok i went to maine this week, and my best friend has a 96 1500 5.2 2wd auto that he bought from my father....well his oil pressure was around 20, and when you hit the gas it went to 40...so we changed the oil, and filter, oil wasnt lookin to bad....but we changed it and it did the same thing. I know its either the pick up tube or pump itself, but i dont have timeto do it now because im back in Mass...so Is he all right to run it like that? The PSI does go to 40 whenhe gets on the gas, but drops down to the second white line when he lets off the gas....I wont be able to do it until i go up at the begining of April....

The truck has 120K, my dad bought it new back in 97, always maintained, and the truck still runs excellent, but with the oil psi dropping that low im worried it will hurt the motor...his plenum is shot too, can this affect the PSI?

 

As far as the plenum effecting it i dont know about that, but i personally would keep a very close eye on the oil pressure, if it drops any lower than that i would park it untill you can get a chance to fix it.

 

i told him if it drops below the second line, shut it right down, dont drive it...i told him to take it easy until i can get up there next month and drop is oil pan.

 

the book say's 20-80psi

 

mine did something like that but it went the entitire way to zero than would clime back up but mine was the gasket

 

It sounds like his gauge is actually working. I wouldn't worry about it unless the motor starts making sounds.

 

if it stays in the 20-40 range its ok.

you could tolerate some below 20 at idle, but if it ever drops below 20 at any rpm you've got to do something.

if/when you change the oil pump also change the rear main seal. its only $12-15.

 

Mine runs about 1/4" under the right side of that white line on the guage when its cold and/or on the highway. Dips around 1/8" under 40 when warm and idling.

 

The motor is not making any sounds, runs great, plenty of power he says...he roasted the tires when he left the house with no problems.

And whats weird is that if you let it idle for a while the pressure will slowly build up to about 35, then it will idle there but if you hit the gas pressure goes to 40, but then drops back to about 15-20...then if you let it idle it slowly builds up again and so on....since its at 40 whenever he is on the gas he should be alright for the next month....its never had that low of pressure BTW

 

mines like this

cold idle-30's

on the gas 40's

warm idle 10-18

im not to worried about it though..i believe its either my gauge or the pressure sender right next to the distributor, cause the motor is sounds like new, it runs great, and the plenum was dont 5-8K ago along with a bunch of other ****

and the only oil i leak is a lil seepage from the pan seal and a little from the right VC when the truck is cold..but once the motor warms up they both seal right up

i dont know..it bugs me no doubt but not as much as other things wrong with the truck