383 stoker oil pressure concern

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YoungBuck

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I recently bought a 97 pick up with a 383 stoker in it. I noticed a couple days ago that my oil pressure gage was reading low. On a cold start up it reads 45. Once it is up to temp it will decrease and eventually read about 15-20 at idle. Is this normal or should I be concerned?
 
What is the oil pressure at 2,500 RPM?
What viscosity oil are you using?
Can you temporarily install a test gauge to confirm your gauge is accurate?
You did check the oil level?
 
I'll have to check on the oil pressure at 2500 rpm. I noticed the oil pressure, then did a fresh oil change of 10w30 plus 1 quart of Lucas oil (a mechanic recommend it to me) there is an aftermarket gage that feeds into the motor (has air in line) but is reading low too. Oil level is perfect
 
So you have two gauges, the factory electric and an aftermarket unit that has air in the line? As you know the aftermarket can't be trusted with air in the line. The rule of thumb for oil pressure is a minimum of 10 psi per 1,000 RPM. So if your readings improve with RPM no problem. If your having an oil pressure issue though you should go to a 10W40 oil to improve hot oil pressure.
 
Oil pressure at 2,500 rpm is about 35. The engine is cammed too, idk if that would make a difference in anything
 
That reading is good but I would switch to 10W40 next time and see what happens. In addition I would put in a bottle of STP in the blue bottle. The cam has no effect on oil pressure other than if your idle speed is too low.
 
What does the STP do and why do you think it has low oil pressure even though it's just been built with only about 14,000 miles on it?
 
The STP would increase the viscosity slightly and increase pressure. Not knowing what oil pump they put in I can only go by my own experience with the Chevrolet high performance oil pump on Generation 1 small blocks. That pump typically would produce 30 to 35 psi at about 800 RPM. It would max out at about 60 to 70 psi at high engine speeds. In your case if your really concerned you could drop the pan and check to see if the oil pump pickup is correctly inserted into the pump and that it is correctly located above the oil pan bottom. You have no idea who built the engine in order to get more specifics about what they did oil pump and pickup and pan wise?
 
What do you think would cause the oil pressure to drop as soon as it's warm though? Just the oil pump, because that's new? It start out about 45-50 when cold and ends up at 15-20 at idle when all warmed up.
 
oil pressure drops on all engines as they warm up, I have a 70 LT-1 small block when cold I get 70 psi once it warms up it drops down to the 35 psi range. What is the idle speed when you see the 15 to 20 psi?
 
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