H2man

I finished my cam install tonight and when I started the engine the first time the oil pressure seemed to be about 10-15 psi low compared to before the cam. I can’t get it to exactly idle because of the lack of tune after cam install and the pressure will spike up when given throttle but it doesn’t max out the 80 PSI gauge like it did before. During my attempted drive to the tune shop the oil pressure was good at 40 between 1500-2000 RPM but it seems like it nose dives when it’s off throttle. I know it’s possible to damaged the gasket for the oil pump when removing and reinstalling it. It seemed good and uncut when the oil pump was removed and we used scotch bright to take off the sharp edge on the pump before reinstall. I’m hoping someone has some good advice before I go through the effort of dropping the oil pan to make sure the oil pump gasket isn’t damaged.

jayyyw

Well you either damaged the gasket or cam bearing installing the cam.

slowtealz28

Most times in threads like these it’s drawn back to the oil pump gasket. I would start there.

H2man

I guess I’m going to take the pan off and check the oil pump gasket. It’s unfortunate but it is what it is I guess.
Is there anyway to ensure I get a good seal when I replace the gasket so I don’t have to go through the whole process again?

3X2

The seal is part of the oil pan gasket. Did you have the pan off? Is the front cover centered?

Matt Zed

Or the cam retainer plate is at fault, all possible

farmington

Probably the o ring for the oil pick up

H2man

So I replaced the oil pan gasket and confirmed the oil pump alignment on the gasket and I’m no longer getting a bunch of crank case pressure so the oil pump I’m pretty sure is working correctly, but when the car gets warm (untuned) and I try to get it to idle down to 1k RPM it starts to lose pressure. I’m pretty certain that I did not scratch a cam bearing I was extremely gentle installing it. Is the low oil pressure a symptom of something else or is it a by product of the car not wanting to idle? Should I bump up to a 10W40 oil?

helga203

Dont know if it was mentioned but what about o'ring on oil pump? Shartch on bearing wont cause low psi.

H2man

it’s a dry sump so I don’t have the pick up tube oil ring to mess up the oil pump interfaces with the oil pan gasket and ports in the pan.

helga203

Thats right sorry. I was just going off what grinder lll told me.

H2man

So I put 10W40 in it and no dice. It is making much better oil pressure at idle (now up in the 20s) but that’s still not where it’s supposed to be. The cam retaining plate was changed during the cam install with a new part. Kinda at a loss here.

Chiselchst

Did you happen to replace lifters with Johnson lifters?

H2man

I did not change lifters. Only cam push rods and trunnion upgrade

Chiselchst

Installing Johnson 2110 lifters in my car also dropped the oil pressure...

Good luck!!

H2man

Bump

Spaceme1117

farmington. There is no 0-ring or pickup tube on a dry sump; there are oil passages in the oil pan and oil pan gasket that take the place of the pickup.

H2man. Did you replace the cam retainer plate or re-use the old one? It is a common source of oil pressure loss.

I did a cam swap to a ZR1 cam in my 2011 GS very recently. Re-used the oil pan gasket. Changed the cam, lifters (Morel 7717's), cam retainer plate; oil pressure is exactly what is was before the cam change.

H2man

I replaced the cam retaining plate with a new one and torqued to spec. I don’t know if it helps but the oil pressure is good until it starts warming up and then it starts gradually dropping.

Spaceme1117

Not sure then. Realistically, if you are concerned about the oil pressure, there is only one way to see if anything is wrong and that is taking everything apart and inspecting the cam, cam bearing, retainer plate gasket, oil pan gasket, etc.

3X2

What is the oil pressure at idle when hot? Did you try a mechanical oil pressure gauge?