I am concerned with the oil pressure on my 2006 vert APS twin turbo’s. Hot oil pressure (oil temp 245-250) of 18-19 PSI at idle, and 43-45 PSI under heavy load. I like to see over 50 PSI under load to protect the rod bearings. Cold PSI is 29-30PSI at idle, and 50-53 over 3500 RPM. I am running Mobil 1 10w30 presently, and I am considering going to Mobil 1 15w50, or Amsoil 20w50 racing oil. I am curious on your opinions, if this to high a viscosity? Should I consider a high out put oil pump? Another issue I am seeing is I am burning some oil under heavy throttle, and see blue smoke in the rear view mirror. I have used about 1 qt. of oil in 3,000 miles. Also the exhaust outlet is very black and sooty. Is this normal for APS twin turbo's? Thanks for your input.
Your idle oil pressure sounds correct. I see about 23psi at 216 degrees oil temperature at 650rpm idle speed using Mobile 1 5w30. I have not seen my oil temp over 225 degrees, so I can't say what pressure I'd have at that temp, but anyway, others have reported similar idle oil pressures with 5w30. I am not uncomfortable with pressures in the 20's since I don't drive the car everyday, and it doesn't idle for long periods.
Lots of people have switched to higher viscosity oils, and others have raised their idle speed to around 800rpm. Both of these solutions will raise the pressure.
As far as the oil consumption is concerned, I have not seen any, but I only have about 1500 miles on my APS kit. The oil consumption could be lots of things. Do you hear your scavenger pump running when you are idling? It is loud enough to hear very clearly in my car. That could be the simplest problem to fix, it could be a wire, a fuse or a relay issue with your scavenger pump. Less likely, of course, would be one of the turbo's exhaust seals, or something in the motor. Check with your tech, it doesn't sound normal.
Rick,
I used to run the Series 2000 20w50 in my relatively stock 02 Z06 on the track in the hot Memphis summers, but I've since switched to the AMSOIL SAE 10w40 Marine Synthetic Motor Oil because this oils High Temp High Shear rating is the same as the 15w50 Mobil 1 EP, but in a 40 weight oil. In the 20w50, you'll really have to be careful on the throttle until the oil is very warm or your oil pressure will skyrocket. Since my car was a track only car, letting it warm up for 15 minutes wasn't a problem. But, for a daily driver it is problematical to wait that long for your oil to come up to temp.
I am concerned with the oil pressure on my 2006 vert APS twin turbo’s. Hot oil pressure (oil temp 245-250) of 18-19 PSI at idle, and 43-45 PSI under heavy load.
Rick V
Rick, The info in the link below will help you on the engine oil pressure readings.
Corvette Store
Low oil pressure on APS Twin Turbo's
