low oil pressure 7.4L Chevy 454

D

drhughes

Cadet
Joined
Jun 19, 2005
Messages
7
I am getting a low oil pressure warning signal (light / beep) at low RPMs. When I throttle up and get it to higher RPMs the warning light goes off. The engine appears to be running well which makes me think it is electronic rather than mechanical. When I shut down and restart the oil pressure gauge is eratic; sometimes it goes to the mid-point and then goes to the red zone; other times it does not move at all; other times ot goes to full and drops to the red zone.

I have had several suggestions:

1. Change the oil
2. Check for a loose wire on the oil sensor on the block
3. Use a higher weight oil

What should I do first?

Regards, David
 
Alumarine

Alumarine

Captain
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
3,694
Re: low oil pressure 7.4L Chevy 454

2. Check for loose wire.

You should get your guage working properly before anything else.

You could hook a mechanical guage to the engine to check pressure.
 
C

calwldlif

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
348
Re: low oil pressure 7.4L Chevy 454

After wires check the sender
How old a motor ya got there?
Galley to sender could be clogged.
A mechanical gage would let you know
true pressure.
I would verify that the oil pressure is
good, then find out why it isn't reading right.
 
Don S

Don S

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
62,321
Re: low oil pressure 7.4L Chevy 454

Lots of things can cause the problem David, but it would really help in troubleshooting if the year, model , model number and serial number of your engine was known.
Changing the oil isn't going to help unless it has been diluted with gasoline or water or there isn't enough oil in the engine, or even if there is to much oil could cause problems.
But, like mentioned earlier. Putting a mechanical gauge on the engine and checking the oil pressure should be your first test.
If you actually have that low of oil pressure, every time you run it could be doing more damage to the engine.
 
lilmandavis

lilmandavis

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
618
Re: low oil pressure 7.4L Chevy 454

just think of it as the heart of the engine! nothing like having thrown rods, spun bearings, and of course lifters half the size that they were!! make sure that theres pressure.
 
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