Oil pressure?

[z.Leinbach]

Well. My oil pressure gauge reads at idle in the centre of 0 to the first mark on the gauge and drops to zero when driving around, I know there no major leaks, just a seepy rear main. Right now im using rotella t6 5w40 with the lukas additive which has boosted the idle pressure, Ive asked some of the rebuild masters at work what they think an most of them say its probably a weak oil pump? If so would the TT pump be a viable alternative to the stock

[schwar74]

Make sure that its not just the oil pressure sending unit, which sits just above the oil filter, and has a wire coming out of it. They're not very reliable. It might be worth just swapping it out for a different/new one to see if it reads correctly afterward. Hopefully that's all it is.

If not, and the oil pump is bad, you should stop driving it asap or you'll risk severe engine damage. Its not necessarily an easy fix. The oil pan needs to come off, which usually means the engine needs to come out.

[z.Leinbach]

Ive tried a new sending unit but none of them worked, just wrong on the block side or electronic side. It reads normal at idle. I just haven't tried a aftermarket one yet. I have to say if my engine were go it would've by now, cause I take her out an hoon the s*** out of it on the highway every so often, with no issues, knocks, taps, or clicks. Is it possible one of the check valves have gone missing.

[z.Leinbach]

I also may think it's partly that the oil is to thin and I have no idea what the previous owner used when the oil was changed, but I must also note that for sometime after I got the car the gauge read 0 till after it got alittle hot one day and then it started working? Idk alldata says it a 9.9 hour job so Im sure it can be done in the car.
Ive honestly never been this baffled about this kind of thing on other cars. But would it be worth a try to use a 15w as its been getting warmer here (desert climate warm in the day and cold at night)

[ThisIsSparTTa]

Sounds like your sending unit or your gauge in your dash are mis-calibrated a.k.a bad. its expected to have more pressure at crank than once it warms up and is driven. One thing though, I had a problem with 0 readings, and found out there was a tiny piece of RTV that had made its way up to block the tiny hole that goes into the sending unit. You can get the sending unit off pretty easily to check without losing a ton of oil. Basically unscrew, plug with finger, inspect, reinstall.

[z.Leinbach]

ohok, that sounds much nicer then the oil pump going out, lol ive noticed that when its cold at 3krevs it reads solid at the first mark on the gauge. so how, and where would i plumb for a aftermarket oil pressure gauge? i want a mechanical one.

[ThisIsSparTTa]

A mechanical gauge means you'll be running an oil line into your car...generally frowned upon.

As far as I know aftermarket senders typically go in the same spot as the OEM. I think some of the sandwich adapters for oil cooler may offer additional spots.

[z.Leinbach]

right i know that, im frowning apon it myself but nothing beats mechanical, i dont plan on a oil cooler just yet, but when i swap or re build for the TT ill add the oil cooler then

[z.Leinbach]

I replaced the two pcvs again which helped the idle oil pressure become more stable, but as I was changing them I dropped one, and when I got under the car I noticed a inward dent in the oil pan, which I know can cause pressure problems, any way to correct it with pulling it off...