Do the later 5.3's have the same low pressure problem as the older ones?

[ford5of5]

I have a 2015 Sierra 5.3 with 40k miles. 2 or 3 oil changes ago I noticed the oil pressure went from always being at 40 to just over 30 at idle; it does jump to 60 when revved like it's suppose to do. Most of what I've read says this is acceptable. In my research, this condition was often caused by an o-ring on the oil pickup tube going bad on 5.3's from around 2003-2012. I noticed that the pickup tube was redesigned on my 2015 and lacks the o-ring. My question is: does the same issue exist on the newer 5.3's? If so, what's the culprit?

 

I've also developed a lifter tick on either the 4th or 6th piston. I'm trying to decide which issue to check out first. I'd imagine that more than 1 lifter would be ticking if there's an oil pressure issue but really don't know. Any opinions?

[CamGTP]

Mine is never at 40psi at idle unless it's the first start of the day. Warm is idle is just above 25psi for me.

 

These are direct injected as well so sometimes a lifter tick sound is just a loud fuel injector or the high pressure fuel pump.

 

As far as the pumps go, they either work or they don't. They are a variable speed pump that is electronically controlled by the computer. I heard of them breaking apart but that is very few and far between.

Edited June 1, 2021 by CamGTP

[ford5of5]

I think I'm trying to come up with anything other than a lifter problem, LOL! I don't really want to tear that far into this engine right now. I'm only 90% sure this is a lifter tick mostly because I've never heard a loud injector. Also, it's not the usual light sewing machine sound the LS has. When I get it into the garage I'll take a stethoscope to the injectors and the rocker to see if I can isolate the sound. I might get lucky and it's just an injector. You mentioned loud injectors in another thread. Thanks for reminding me about them.

[Grumpy Bear]

I know mine is a V6 but the architecture is identical. Cold idle 40, Hot just over 30 by the DCI. Ticks like a diesel and has from day one. Injector pump is LOUD. Especially in a drive through  Now has 140K on the clock and I've gotten use to the tick tick tick of the high pressure pump. I worried about oil pressure and bugged my head wrench about it until he put a test block on it and assured me my gauge was actually reading quite low. I have a hair over 50 at 55 mph and will hit a hair past 90 at WOT anything over 3K rpm. Close to 40 psi hot. These gauges are...well...inaccurate is being to kind. 

[ford5of5]

Ya, just found out about the high pressure pump. Learning a new engine should be fun.

Edited June 2, 2021 by ford5of5

[ford5of5]

So, I found out what the noise was. It actually took longer to find my stethoscope than it did to fix. The #2 spark plug wire wasn't fully seated into the coil. The noise I was hearing was the arc jumping the gap from the coil to the wire. No more tick, just the usually sewing machine sound, LOL!

 

I bought the truck at 9k miles so, it's a really good bet that these are the origional wires. With the exception of the last 3 or 4 oil changes I've done all my own maintenance. I'm gonna give the stealership the benefit of the doubt on this but, the noise showed up shortly after having them change my oil. I don't really trust this particular dealership's service department because they gave me one of those reports that said I needed new rear brake pads. I wish I saved the report, they stated that the pads were at 3mm. When I measured them, they were at about 1/4"-5/16" which converts to well over 3mm. Also, they keep trying to screw me out of the $25 oil change coupons that they constantly send me.

[Grumpy Bear]

4 hours ago, ford5of5 said:

So, I found out what the noise was. It actually took longer to find my stethoscope than it did to fix. The #2 spark plug wire wasn't fully seated into the coil. The noise I was hearing was the arc jumping the gap from the coil to the wire. No more tick, just the usually sewing machine sound, LOL!

 

I bought the truck at 9k miles so, it's a really good bet that these are the origional wires. With the exception of the last 3 or 4 oil changes I've done all my own maintenance. I'm gonna give the stealership the benefit of the doubt on this but, the noise showed up shortly after having them change my oil. I don't really trust this particular dealership's service department because they gave me one of those reports that said I needed new rear brake pads. I wish I saved the report, they stated that the pads were at 3mm. When I measured them, they were at about 1/4"-5/16" which converts to well over 3mm. Also, they keep trying to screw me out of the $25 oil change coupons that they constantly send me.

 

 

Thus the Stealership! 

Glad it was a simple fix.

[JimCost2014]

9 hours ago, ford5of5 said:

So, I found out what the noise was. It actually took longer to find my stethoscope than it did to fix. The #2 spark plug wire wasn't fully seated into the coil. The noise I was hearing was the arc jumping the gap from the coil to the wire. No more tick, just the usually sewing machine sound, LOL!

 

I bought the truck at 9k miles so, it's a really good bet that these are the origional wires. With the exception of the last 3 or 4 oil changes I've done all my own maintenance. I'm gonna give the stealership the benefit of the doubt on this but, the noise showed up shortly after having them change my oil. I don't really trust this particular dealership's service department because they gave me one of those reports that said I needed new rear brake pads. I wish I saved the report, they stated that the pads were at 3mm. When I measured them, they were at about 1/4"-5/16" which converts to well over 3mm. Also, they keep trying to screw me out of the $25 oil change coupons that they constantly send me.

Good to hear it was an easy fix.

 

How about some pictures of the Firebird, inside and out, and some info about it?

[ford5of5]

Well, the one in the avatar is a '72 Ram Air Formula 400; super rare, all '72's are rare because of a UAW strike but Ram Air and Super Duty's are the rarest. My '72 is an Esprit, basically the non performance, luxury model with chrome trim and nicer interior than a base 'Bird. It has a Pontiac 350 with 2 barrel carb, a TH350, slick 1970's simulated woodgrain dash, 14" Rally wheels, and A/C. It also has a posi rear end but it's a 2.43 gear; great on gas but disappointing at stop lights, LOL!. It also has what's referred to, in the 2nd gen circles, as the "peasant steering wheel", not the cool Formula steering wheel but, I like it so, it's gonna stay. Here's what happened last time I went looking for a strange tick in a General Motors product: 

                                                 

 

Here's a link to a photo album of my stalled restoration:  https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVUqhSg

 

When I get back to it all the rot will be gone. I will keep the origional orange exterior and white on black interior. I will be adding tilt steering, PW, PL with keyless entry, Speed Hut gauges, Vintage Air, a lot of heat insulation and sound deadening, and maybe a cheap Chinese infotainment system. I think this car is gonna go full resto mod. I want to upgrade to an independent rear suspension with 3.50ish gears, 18" wheels, Iroc steering upgrade, and front coil overs. The engine will either be a FI Pontiac 400/355 or an LSX conversion. Transmission will be dependant on engine choice. 

 

I just need to finish my '79 resto and my brother's '51 Ford stuff first. I don't expect to be back on this project for about 5 years, LOL!

Edited June 5, 2021 by ford5of5

[JimCost2014]

1 hour ago, ford5of5 said:

Well, the one in the avatar is a '72 Ram Air Formula 400; super rare, all '72's are rare because of a UAW strike but Ram Air and Super Duty's are the rarest. My '72 is an Esprit, basically the non performance, luxury model with chrome trim and nicer interior than a base 'Bird. It has a Pontiac 350 with 2 barrel carb, a TH350, slick 1970's simulated woodgrain dash, 14" Rally wheels, and A/C. It also has a posi rear end but it's a 2.43 gear; great on gas but disappointing at stop lights, LOL!. It also has what's referred to, in the 2nd gen circles, as the "peasant steering wheel", not the cool Formula steering wheel but, I like it so, it's gonna stay. Here's what happened last time I went looking for a strange tick in a General Motors product: 

                                                 

 

Here's a link to a photo album of my stalled restoration:  https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVUqhSg

 

When I get back to it all the rot will be gone. I will keep the origional orange exterior and white on black interior. I will be adding tilt steering, PW, PL with keyless entry, Speed Hut gauges, Vintage Air, a lot of heat insulation and sound deadening, and maybe a cheap Chinese infotainment system. I think this car is gonna go full resto mod. I want to upgrade to an independent rear suspension with 3.50ish gears, 18" wheels, Iroc steering upgrade, and front coil overs. The engine will either be a FI Pontiac 400/355 or an LSX conversion. Transmission will be dependant on engine choice. 

 

I just need to finish my '79 resto and my brother's '51 Ford stuff first. I don't expect to be back on this project for about 5 years, LOL!

Very cool, keep them on the road and out of the crusher.

 

Don't mind the steering wheel, kind of cool, but I would change out the "cluster" for the tach package (not sure the terminology for it). 

 

Nice work, and good luck on the way to the finish line!

[ford5of5]

@JimCost2014  The term you're looking for is Rally Gauge pack and it usually came with the Formula steering wheel. 

 

This is a link to my current resto:  https://flic.kr/s/aHsmhNR4hF  I had a full write up on this car but there was a catastrophic server failure at the site I was using and it's been lost; I wasn't smart enough to make my own backup.

 

It's a 1979 Formula that a previous owner changed to a T/A. I bought this to kick around in while building the '72. I knew it was POS and I was just gonna beat the balls out of it and then part it out. BUT I accidently started restoring it instead.  Honestly, it started with one quick fix and the next thing I knew it was stripped and I was welding in new steel. When finished it will be a white TA with red interior and red graphics. The pic below is what I'm aiming for.

Edited June 14, 2021 by ford5of5

[JimCost2014]

7 hours ago, ford5of5 said:

@JimCost2014  The term you're looking for is Rally Gauge pack and it usually came with the Formula steering wheel. 

 

This is a link to my current resto:  https://flic.kr/s/aHsmhNR4hF  I had a full write up on this car but there was a catastrophic server failure at the site I was using and it's been lost; I wasn't smart enough to make my own backup.

 

It's a 1979 Formula that a previous owner changed to a T/A. I bought this to kick around in while building the '72. I knew it was POS and I was just gonna beat the balls out of it and then part it out. BUT I accidently started restoring it instead.  Honestly, it started with one quick fix and the next thing I knew it was stripped and I was welding in new steel. When finished it will be a white TA with red interior and red graphics

Thanks for the info, keep updating with a photo or two as you go.

 

Doubt if they will tell you to stop because they are not truck pictures.

[ic3man5]

On 5/31/2021 at 9:21 PM, ford5of5 said:

I have a 2015 Sierra 5.3 with 40k miles. 2 or 3 oil changes ago I noticed the oil pressure went from always being at 40 to just over 30 at idle; it does jump to 60 when revved like it's suppose to do. Most of what I've read says this is acceptable. In my research, this condition was often caused by an o-ring on the oil pickup tube going bad on 5.3's from around 2003-2012. I noticed that the pickup tube was redesigned on my 2015 and lacks the o-ring. My question is: does the same issue exist on the newer 5.3's? If so, what's the culprit?

 

I've also developed a lifter tick on either the 4th or 6th piston. I'm trying to decide which issue to check out first. I'd imagine that more than 1 lifter would be ticking if there's an oil pressure issue but really don't know. Any opinions?

 

I would inspect the lifter tick ASAP, might be damage from AFM (v4 mode) if you still have that enabled. Its not as bad as previous generation but I've seen a few people complain about it.

 

Most of the time the drop in pressure is either a change in oil or oil filter. As long as your at or above 6 PSI you are okay and won't hurt anything. High oil pressure can be bad (especially when you see it "limit" on the high end), as the oil filter has a bypass and stops filtering at this point. Of course nothing is harmed when the filter is being bypassed unless you had a random chuck of dirt or metal slide by (not likely at all). I've seen clogged oil pick up screens lower PSI a lot (I'll flush a quart or two when the drain plug is out to flush anything in the pan).