NavyAirTraffic

Finally done son!!! Heads were installed yesterday, picked up my Z today. Headlights are Lamin-X gunsmoke film, rest of the car is acrylic light covers from CorvetteMods.com. Just took it for a drive and got a "oooo, nice car" from someone sticking their head out the drivers window.





I have a question too. My in dash gauge reads almost zero oil PSI but the digital readout is around 24PSI when I am idle. Any insight?

NavyAirTraffic

Ok, just went for a drive. Oil temps at 190, coolant temp at 210. I also noticed the oil temp differs from the dash gauge to the digital gauge.

Here is what the gauge panel looks like when I am stopped/idle (I just finished getting gas). What you guys think?

'06 Quicksilver Z06

Yeah, the pressure gauge and the DIC don't appear to be matching up.

What motor oil are you running in it BTW?

truckplay

the gauge is oil pressure not temp. temp is shown on DIC only. you may need to change the oil pressure sending unit (PITA) it is under / rear of intake.

NavyAirTraffic

I decided to go with Royal Purple 5w30. Well, the shop suggested it and I took the bait.

The gauge in the bottom left of the pic isn't oil temp? I didn't know.

Ok, so only the oil pressure gauge and the DIC oil pressure reading are not matching up.

Gary '09 C6

^ that bottom-left gauge is coolant temp...

pkincy

My built LS2 402 had 25 psi oil pressure at idle with hot oil. Good pressure 45+ at higher rpm. Although I was not completely happy with it that was what I lived with.


My Z (stock) is more like 35 psi hot at idle.....maybe down to 30 psi in the summer.


I would monitor it but other threads have said GM calls 8 psi at idle the number they call "to low." Of course that guy had his engine come apart recently after he had been hounding his dealer about the low oil pressure.


congrats on the head work and getting the car in way better looking shape then when you bought it.

NavyAirTraffic

Thanks pkincy. My question is why are the 2 reading different (DIC and dash gauge)? Which one do you think is correct?

The PSI jumps to just under 50 as a begin to drive. However I didn't pay attention to if there is a difference between the DIC and the gauge while driving.

ctsv510

I would take it back to the shop that just had the heads off and changed the oil. They were in and around the oil pressure sensor and it's acting funny now.

SSMOKE

NAT Tell me about your heads. New aftermarket, upgraded, by whom? I can not remember. Congrats though on being proactive. Yours is the former rental Z from Vegas correct?

Anyway, I watch my DIC like a hawk (Mostly oil temperature.) and after five years of ownership never even noticed the oil pressure gauge on the left side of the dash. I just went and checked mine. DIC and gauge are nearly identical, as it should be.

Now not to hi jack, but my oil pressure seems abnormally high. After WCCH Satge II heads, TORQUER 110, supporting mods and Redline 5W30 my oil pressure hovers around 50 psi cold and while my oil
temperature, even in Hawaii, rarely exceeds 200 degrees, it (oil pressure) does not drop below 35 psi. I have read, 10 psi for every 1K RPM when hot, but my pressure is higher than that. Again, not to hi jack, just providing information relevant to heads upgrade.

NavyAirTraffic

Thank you, that's what I plan on doing, but that'll have to wait till Monday for that. I wanted to see what other Z owners gauges showed, and/or if being that low during idle was normal (being a dry sump system).

VictoryRedZ06

The oil pressure gauge and DIC on my car match the same or pretty close, I'm running 5W 30 oil too and my oil pressure has never dropped below 30 PSI, hopefully it just your gauge that's f'd up.

Undy

I don't know about the others but I'd be scared as hell with the pressures you're showing. I would definitely take it to a shop to have it checked out. I also would have an emergency lab analysis on the oil content. In the mean time, I'd pull the oil filter and open it up to look for any metal flakes.

You can't be too careful.

Mark2009

Well, since the DIC is showing good pressure I wouldn't panic just yet (but I wouldn't be doing any redline runs either). . . I would think both displays would get info from the same sensor so something is definitely going on.

I think you're going to need someone who knows exactly how and where the DIC and the gauge get their info.

You mentioned oil pressure above idle but didn't say which gauge you got it from, so what is the pressure on the DIC and the gauge at, say, 2000 RPM?

The pressure on the gauge is too low. The pressure on the DIC is okay for hot oil (170+). The lower left gauge is coolant temp... the only way to get oil temp is on the DIC. My gauge matches my DIC on oil pressure (maybe 32 PSI hot).
.

erikszr1

if those pressures are confirmed, and if it were mine, I would probably take it apart. sorry, I know its not what you want to hear. either way, what were your pressures before the work was done? and like someone else asked, what type/weight oil is in it now? I guess if its always been like that even before the work than its up to you how diligent your going to be. im hoping your fine, but have to shop check oil pressures at TWO locations on the engine. they should be real close to being the same. let us know.

SilveradoSS500

Also, your head lights don't work anymore. Change the bulbs to 6000K so it at least appears that you have working headlights. Once you go out of the city lights, be careful. My car is murdered out and my headlights don't work lol.

Rupert pupkin

Pb82 Ronin

Someone already asked, but it's the most relevant question. What were your normal/typical oil pressure(s) before you had the work done? A head swap should not affect oil pressure in any way. (CAVEAT: It can affect pressure if they didn't torque the heads right and you have an oil leak in the head gasket somewhere.) With that being said, is it leaking anywhere or using oil?

Bill Dearborn

The analog gauge and the DIC receive the same serial digital data stream from the ECM. The ECM receives the oil pressure signal from the oil pressure sensor. The only difference between the analog gauge and the DIC is the DIC can display the data directly whereas the gauge has to convert the data from a digital signal to an analog voltage that car be read by the oil pressure meter. I would suspect there is something wrong with the gauge itself. Not sure how repairable it is. You may need to replace the IP to fix it.

Bill

pkincy

And if you really are concerned you can buy an actual mechanical gauge that attaches at the filter that will read it directly. I bought one when I first spun bearings and wanted to know whether I had a gauge problem or a motor problem. Unfortunately it was the latter.