so even at idle I should be at 40 psi oil pressure but lately at idle in drive or park(neutral) or changing gears the oil pressure will erratially drop and it sits halfway between 40 and the green line to the left. im guessing its 20?? it also is starting to bounce and at cruise it sit halfway in between now too and it only hits 40 when crusing at 60mph or accelerating decently. the oil light will flicker while idling for more than 15 sec and every now and them drop really low and sound like its gonna stall and die. ive also noticed at idle and cruising with the decrease in oil pressure that the engine starts getting to 205-210 until i rev or drive to get pressuse up. i know that improper lubrication can cause damage but also cause friction to be allowed therfore increasing engine temps slightly. it does seem like power WOT is decreased a bit... prob from friction. Ive talked to mechanics who insist its the oil sending unit but I am insistant its the pump and am currently having a melling HV on hold for me. I just did an oil change, added some prolong and while it does act better like it would just after a change (i do so every 3500 miles) the pressure issue is starting to make me check the gauge constantly. any thought or previous experience on the issue. from what ive searhed, these pump arent uncommon to give issues like this. thanks for any feedback

 

also it is about 1607XX miles and i drive it pretty hard but do take care of it and put quality products into it... except for the e3 incident lol

 

Replacing the pump is cheap insurance. The sending units in these things ARE notorious for going bad.... and doing exactly as you describe.

Put a mechanical gauge on it, and see what that one says. You can expect the mech gauge to give you a bit more accurate picture of what's really going on.

 

okay/ previous owner was hard on it but at least did plenum. ive been reviving it for 2 1/2 years now. might just replace both as i can get the bwd unit and mellin Hv pump about 70 bucks for both. perk to my job. ive noticed a lot more ticking up top but thats an obvious symptom of a lack of oil pressure. wheres the sending unit located at might i ask. ive done a lot on it but never the sending unit. i might be able to swap it in the yard. and ive youtubed it and seen some scary low needle points on the guage but mines not yet that bad. oh and i should add in overdrive it dosent even nit the green line to the left of the 40 mark which has caused me to keep it out of overdrive. thats way too low. ill get a gauge on it soon

 

OPS is just to the passenger side of the distributor.... way in the back.

For oil pressure, anything over 10 pounds at idle is "acceptable", after that, it's like 10 pounds per 1000 RPM.

 

If you hear ticking then it's not just the sending unit. Something mechanically is failing.

The oil pump has all of two bolts holding it on but it's a pita to get the pan off

 

yeah im planning on doing a mild perf engine build at the beginning of next year around jan-feb so avoiding having to tear into too much. maybe it will last that long. thanks for the info guys. ive got a buddy willing to lend me hand on the pump. i just dont want to have to touch it if im planning on building soon down the road. its a DD for me and my girlfriend so upkeep is a must when neccesary though. ill hook it up to a gauge before i get too crazy.