ATTENTION anyone with oil pressure issues

[Mikebtte]

52 minutes ago, Service1956 said:

Just wondering if you could eliminate the screen filter without having other problems?

I have seen many people run without the filter. Many argue it is only to keep the oil pressure sensor from spiking or to keep debris out of the sensor but I do not know anyone that was for sure. Its cheap to replace but if you leave it out you are likely to see no issues. 

[carnau]

On 12/3/2019 at 3:35 PM, Mikebtte said:

I have seen many people run without the filter. Many argue it is only to keep the oil pressure sensor from spiking or to keep debris out of the sensor but I do not know anyone that was for sure. Its cheap to replace but if you leave it out you are likely to see no issues. 

You can leave it out. But if you leave it out it will get trash in it and cause it to become faulty quicker. Leaving it out gives you no gain. It does not give you any increase in oil pressure.

[SierraHD17]

On 2/12/2020 at 5:50 PM, carnau said:

You can leave it out. But if you leave it out it will get trash in it and cause it to become faulty quicker. Leaving it out gives you no gain. It does not give you any increase in oil pressure.

Anything without AFM doesn't have that screen below the sensor.  It's pointless... if you are spitting debris that plugs off the sending unit you have a lot bigger issues than your oil pressure reading.

[carnau]

8 hours ago, SierraHD17 said:

Anything without AFM doesn't have that screen below the sensor.  It's pointless... if you are spitting debris that plugs off the sending unit you have a lot bigger issues than your oil pressure reading.

Its definitely not pointless. It keeps trash out of you AFM VLOM passages. This keeps you from having a bigger problem in the future. You don't have a filter in non AFM engines because you dont have AFM VLOM passages because you have no VLOM. 

[SierraHD17]

No it's still pointless... The VLOM and oil pressure sender are the first things right off your oil filters discharge....if that screen is picking up enough debris directly after the oil filter that it clogs... you have way bigger issues... but naw.. just carry on and drop a new screen in.   It's a last ditch effort for people that neglect their engines in hope it plugs off alerting you that maybe you should investigate why you have so much particulate directly downstream of the oil filter... If you fall into that category then yeah you need the screen that is a lot more coarse than your oil filter media.. lol.  You can argue it's also there for if the filter bypasses but once again its the same argument.  

Edited February 27, 2020 by SierraHD17

[Steve D]

On 2/27/2015 at 1:01 PM, 00Silverado4x4 said:

The older 99-07 were the same way...something I'm probably looking at having to do eventually...no fun.

So the older, 2006 and back have the same filter screen? I just bought a 2006 1500 4 x 4 with the same pressure issues. Is the filter screen in the same place as the next generation Silverado's?

[SierraHD17]

On 4/3/2020 at 8:28 AM, Steve D said:

So the older, 2006 and back have the same filter screen? I just bought a 2006 1500 4 x 4 with the same pressure issues. Is the filter screen in the same place as the next generation Silverado's?

NO!  Gen 3 engines (so your 99 to 07 gmt800 trucks) do not have the screen.  Hook a scan tool up to your truck and see if you can read the oil pressure.  If you can the sender is fine and your stepper motor is bad like every other 03 to 07 cluster out there.

Edited April 4, 2020 by SierraHD17

[HTX_Silverado]

New to here and sorry to beat a dead horse but I have a question about oil viscosity/blend and how it relates to our oil pressure challenges. My 13' 5.3L with 125k miles experienced some oil pressure issues recently and I've been through the entire system and either replaced or inspected ALL the parts to ensure they are working properly. New oil pan gasket (had a small leak), oil pan pick-up tube, pick-up gasket, oil pressure switch, and yes even the screen. Local shop believes my bearing is going bad, however, there is no noise, no knock, no other symptoms at all that would indicate a failing bearing. My current oil pressure readings are directly correlated to the temperature of the engine. As I start the truck from cold, oil pressure is up near 35-40. As the truck begins to warm up and during normal operation, the oil pressure stays between 20-27. If I run the truck in tow/haul mode the oil pressure will tick up slightly with the increased rpm. To us it just seems that the truck is running slightly lower oil pressure. But that makes us a little nervous even if it does seem to be "normal" for these vehicles. 

 

With that being said, my dad and I have a theory that if we increase the viscosity of the engine oil to 10W-30 or move from a full synthetic to a synthetic blend, the oil pressure should tick slightly higher. I've also read plenty on the topic of running Dexos versus Non-Dexos oil (I've been running Penzoil Platinum full synthetic 5W-30) and it seems like there is some small room for flexibility with this.  

 

Does anyone have experience with alternative engine oil or can link another thread that covers that topic? OR is the consensus to just accept the lower oil pressure and live with it? 

 

Thanks for all the help

J 

[SierraHD17]

These trucks have a built in leak in the oilpan everyone overlooks.  There is a pressure relief valve in the oilpan directly above the oil filter.  It can get full of gack, start sticking, get weak just like anything else.  When the truck is cold I guarantee your discharge pressure from the pump is probably 50 pounds at idle... that pressure relief in the pan opens fully by 55 psi so its starting to lift already in the 40 something psi range.  As your engine warms up that pressure is going to drop and of course with that pressure relief leaking the observed pressure drops too. 

 

Case in point is my own truck... a 2013 6.2.  I measure pump discharge pressure versus reading at the sending unit.  At times I have 20 psi of differential between the two and the only thing between them other than the oil filter is that stupid valve in the oil pan.  On anything without AFM I remove it, toss it in the garbage and replace it with a plug.  The oil pump has it's own built in relief and this second one was added only to keep pressure below 55 psi on afm equipped engines.  Since the trucks all use the same oilpan whether it has afm or not it comes with the valve.  

 

I would say in the end your pressure is okay and doesn't warrant tearing the oilpan back off again. That said I would start at that relief valve leaking too easily before the engine being worn... because with regular service at 125000 miles your bearings will probably still have a perfect untouched coating on the surface. I have pulled LS's apart with 300000+ miles and the bearings in the bottom end are still perfect..

 

With AFM you are supposed to leave the valve in the oilpan in place as it's there to protect the solenoids in the lifter valley and the afm lifters... If you ever pull the pan again you can replace it but otherwise unless you delete that afm rubbish I would leave it installed.  Those lifters and solenoids have enough issues already so they don't needed higher than rated pressure tossed at them.

Edited April 21, 2020 by SierraHD17

[GPGuy]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I'm experiencing this issue now too.... I'm going to look into this filter.. 

[GPGuy]

Looks like I'm going to have to look into the gauges. Everything seemed good. Took it for a half hour drive thru the city and it was good, get on the hwy and it drops.. Get off the hwy and it goes up again. It's very erratic. Plus I let it idle today for about 45 minutes and it was fine. Oil pressure checks out fine. 

[DeplorableACE]

My early gmt800 with the iron block 5.3 shows 40psi on startup, and wont move from there until it warms up.

 

It never goes below 40 even at idle. It also wont go above 40 on the gauge until it warms up for a bit, even if you give it some gas. After it's up to operating temp, it'll go up to 60ish if you're merging onto the freeway.

 

Every other truck I've had, would have higher oil pressure just after cold startup and lower oil pressure on hot idle. Weird. Is this an oiling problem?

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by DeplorableACE

[BG710]

I replaced the oil pressure sending unit on my 2001 Silverado 5.3 (no screens on the older GMT800s btw) not because I wasn't getting oil pressure readings, but because the readings I were getting were way too high. It would jump all over the high side of the gauge even spiking above 80. Seems to read much better with the new sensor. Truck does have rather high oil pressure though, much higher than my old 1999 with the 4.8. Not sure if it's normal or not but it's frequently over 60 whereas my 99 with the 4.8 would almost always sit right around the middle. I know it's not overfilled, and I've changed the oil twice since I bought it. Internal sludge maybe? Thing is, truck actually has a really good maintenance history.

 

I seem to have a leak from my rear main seal so that's always fun. Still great pressure though!

Edited August 7, 2020 by BG710

[sefiroxx]

My 04 Sierra 4.8 nearly hits 60 on a cold start and settles to 50 on Hwy and 40+ on idle.

01 Burn 5.3 with rebuilt engine and upgraded pump starts at 60+ and idles at 50-. Before the rebuild, it was 30-40.

[David89GMC]

On 2/27/2015 at 9:53 AM, MaverickZ71 said:

On the old Chevy/GMC's, you just removed the oilpan bolts and dropped the pan.

Yeah, I have a 1966 K10 with a 350 small block. Don't have to remove anything to get to anything on that truck.