low oil pressure

[achris]

Hi all,

New to the forums...

Have a problem with oil pressure on my VS V6. The light comes on after a few minutes driving. If I wait about 5 minutes I'll get another few minutes out of it... It's making for long trips to work . I was told that dirt can cause the problem, so I changed the oil and filter 3 times in a week, but to no avail.

Am I correct about it being the pressure relief valve and that the engine's got to be removed to replace it?

Thanks,

Chris........

[Harvs82]

Hi all,

New to the forums...

Have a problem with oil pressure on my VS V6. The light comes on after a few minutes driving. If I wait about 5 minutes I'll get another few minutes out of it... It's making for long trips to work . I was told that dirt can cause the problem, so I changed the oil and filter 3 times in a week, but to no avail.

Am I correct about it being the pressure relief valve and that the engine's got to be removed to replace it?

Thanks,

Chris........

How many km on the engine? How often has the oil been changed? Sounds like the oil pick up in the sump is clogged up with sludge. Very common problem with the ecotec engine when oil changes have been skipped. You have to drop the sump off to replace the pickup, and to do that you need to lift the engine off the k frame and mounts etc.

[achris]

How many km on the engine?

145,000

How often has the oil been changed?

Not often enough by the sound of it... Service history is unknown to me.

Sounds like the oil pick up in the sump is clogged up with sludge. Very common problem with the ecotec engine when oil changes have been skipped. You have to drop the sump off to replace the pickup, and to do that you need to lift the engine off the k frame and mounts etc.

Thanks for the suggestion... I'll make sure I look at that too.

Chris........

[kopper69]

Try changing the oil pressure switch. It simply unscrews out, new one screws in. They are only about $15 or something from holden and it may solve your problem. Good starting point anyway.

[grnvs]

I recently had to replace the engine in my vs due to low oil pressure. My oil light was coming on when ever I broke hard or was at idle at operating temp. Mine was due to worn big end bearings, which according to the workshop manual, causes low pressure at running temp, but you get good pressure when cold. (Whereas from what you have said it soulds like yours is running low pressure all the time).

Going off what I did, (as i'm not a mechanic!), I would put a proper oil pressure gauge on if you can to see what the oil pressure is actually doing. The next port of call I took with mine was to check my pick up. As mine was clean and obviously not the source of my problem, I also checked out the pump and pressure regulator but they were good too!!

If you rule out it being a sensor and pressure regulator issue (as these are the easiest things to get to) and your keen to check the pick up yourself, we got my sump off by pulling the engine up with a crane as high as it would go still attached to the gearbox, and we were able to get the sump out without having to take the k-frame off.

Good luck!

[deserthead]

Try running an oil flush through the engine, it may free up alot of the gunk internally.
It did in my V8 the first time I did and the amount of crap that came out was amazing.
Hasn't done it since I did it the first time.

But try that b4 you go doing and spending too much.
Only 11 odd bucks.

[achris]

I've done the flush thing... No joy. I've got a manual now and will be pulling the engine tomorrow.

grnvs, Thanks for that info... Will save a bit of time, I hope.

Will let you know what I find.

Thanks........

[shanhsv]

I almost feel ur pain,I have the exact same problem in my VS 5L,and are a lot of asking around turns out its a worn engine,meaning i need a rebuild at a cost of $2,500,+ $250 for goodies put in too

[jas98]

I almost feel ur pain,I have the exact same problem in my VS 5L,and are a lot of asking around turns out its a worn engine,meaning i need a rebuild at a cost of $2,500,+ $250 for goodies put in too

sure its not a blocked oil pick up pipe?

[shanhsv]

i ran 2 lots of that sludge cleaner before an oil change,the first was 2 weeks before,the 2nd 15min,that and the knocking in the motor once the car has warmed up enough for the oil light to come on and last but not least,the strange noise at 3,500+ RPM. Im told these are all sure signs of a worn motor. The really crap thing is i almost have the complete body i want,just need SS front bar(I have the lip already),with the money for the rebuild,i could buy the last of my kit and get it all painted.

[achris]

Update....

Started pulling the front of the engine apart and when I dropped the oil filter.... water in the oil.... new engine time....