Taiton Cheever

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New comment 3d ago

Taiton Cheever

1 like • 4d

Congrats @Mike Foore!!

Tm Reed

5d •

Build Help

Car tuned but wait……. There’s more!!

So tuner came out today and got the firebird road worthy and I must say… it’s pretty dang sweet!! However… the next issue we found was I am getting a lifter tick and oil pressure drop (8psi ish) at idle after the oil temp gets up there (can’t recall how temp he said when we were driving). pressure did come back to 30+ when accelerating. LS3 BTR stage 2 V.2 cam with the stuff deleted, and running Melling 10296 pump with black o ring. Didn’t touch the barbell, doesn’t seem to be foaming the oil, and sadly I’m not absolutely positive the oil sump is 1/4 or so from bottom of pan. I was running Valvoline 5w30 synthetic and the thought was that the oil gets too warm and the oil too thin to essentially lose viscosity? So some suggestions we discussed were: 1. change oil and look for flakes 2. Heavier oil ZR1 20/50 was brought up 3. Interwebs suggests Mobil 1 FS European Car Formula 0W-40 or Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W-40 4. Oil cooler with thermostatic plate 5. Scrap the car And buy a Prius. I want to hear your thoughts on what you are thinking. I’m sure I’m missing details and will try to fill them in as this gets discussed but I really really really hope to not have to tear this motor out again if I can help it.

New comment 4d ago

Taiton Cheever

1 like • 4d

Before you go to far I would also ensure the tick is not a exhaust leak coming from the header gasket. They sound identical and if you are not already make sure you use the MLS style exhaust gasket not the paper gaskets. If not, the 8psi drop at idle would not concern me however it having only 30psi at cruise would concern me with a 10296 pump. My car with this pump makes 50+ at idle and 70+ cruising. (This car has a oring'd barbell and Driven GP1 10w-30 oil) Do you have a oil filter cutter to open up the old filter and look for flakes? I personally would not recommend any 20w-50 oil unless it is a racecar or the bearings have been spec'd for 20w-50. I recommend 10w-30 or 10w-40 of your favorite brand. Things I would check for- 1. I would highly recommend checking pickup clearance with the bottom of your pan, you can do this by putting play doh on the bottom of the pickup (I put a ziploc bag over it first) then bolting your pan on then take it back off and measure how thick the play doh is. 1/8in to 1/4in is within tolerance. 2. If this is a gen 4 block, does it still have the oil pressure sensor screen? If so get rid of that guy, it can cause false readings if junk gets trapped in it 3. If its a gen 4 block, ensure the oil towers on the valley are 100% blocked off and not leaking. Either using orings on the valley pan or plugs that get hammered in. 4. Double check the specs on your oil pickup tube match the 10296 oil pump. The black oring is for a smooth pickup tube and the green oring is for a recessed pickup tube 5. What oil pan are you using? If its a OEM style pan, some have a oil pressure relief valve that can open and cause lower oil pressure.

Taiton Cheever

1 like • 4d

@Tm Reed Absolutely, let me know what you find! I'm invested at this point lol