lukesdad04

I just swapped the cam in my truck and have lost some oil pressure. It used to hold 30psi hot and go to 40 to 45psi at highway speeds. It now holds 20psi hot and goes to 35 to 37ish at highway speeds. So I have lost about 10 psi thru the spectrum. Anything to worry about??? Same weight oil after change 5w30.

sonoma43

iTrader: (1)

did you take the oil pump off when you swapped the cam?

lukesdad04

Nope.

Lama1

When you used the LS2 valley cover, did you use the new covers breather system for PCV, or are you still using the driver side valve cover for PCV?

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

Is it possible one of the cam bearings got nicked?

lukesdad04

Super carefull not to scare cam bearings, used old valve cover PCV location and fabbed up a new system for the front valley cover location, I tied it into the intake. So has anyone else run into this loss of oil pressure?? It stays consistent, never drops below 20psi at idle and goes to 35 to 37 when driving.

Lama1

When I did my DOD swap, I was going to get all fancy and use the LS2 valley cover as my PCV port, as it has that nice baffle system, etc.

I later decided to say screw it, and I removed the baffle system completely from the cover, removed the nipple, and pipe plugged the hole in the cover. I just stuck with the original PCV system off the rear drivers valve cover, and installed a catch can on the firewall.

A couple of things come to mind on your install:

First off, my DOD 5.3 had 30 psi idle/ 50-60 (indicated) psi highway, depending on heat.

Thus, your stock readings were low to begin with as the DOD engine oil pump is a different unit from all other LS motors, and runs a higher pressure, see:

http://www.ls2.com/forums/showthread...hreadid=659175

So maybe you had a cut oil pump o-ring from new, or your sending unit or guage is inaccurate?

Also, the cam retainer plate seal can leak pressure, and the DOD port "towers" in the valley could be passing oil.

You could have a bad oil relief valve in your oil pan, special for DOD motors.

Honestly, if I was you, I would try removing the fabbed-up breather deal from the LS2 valley cover, plug the hole temporarily, and see if that fixes it.

01 BERGER CAMARO SS

iTrader: (77)

damm, hope it not a bearing that got nicked..U should always swap out the pump for a ported one no matter how small it is. I drop'd in a rebuilt ls1 with ls6 hot cam along with a melling 10% psi ported pump and im always at 60-65 idle and close to 80 psi at highway speeds