1997 Chevy Blazer oil pressure?

Question

We just installed a new remanufactured engine in our 1997 Chevy Blazer and would like to know what the ideal oil pressure is at idle and at acceleration. If possible.....should the new motor still be lightly ticking after the first 100 miles?

Answer 1

The oil pressure comments are correct.

Do not let anyone tell you the ticking is okay. it is not!

It could be as simple as an out of adjustment rocker arm or a small exhaust leak or as serious as a bent pushrod, blown lifter, loose valve guide seat or early sign of a bearing not torqued correctly.

Get this taken care of immediately, many shops BS you until the warranty runs out.

New engines with hydraulic lifters (like yours) do NOT tick unless someone did something wrong or a part is failing.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Sunkiss, Dodgeman is right on the money concerning his oil pressure

numbers. With the standard oil pump the pressure will run 20-25 at idol and 45-50 anything over 1000 rpm. Brand new Chevrolet trucks today mirror those pressure readings. In fact, my old 98 S-10 V-6 with 33,000 miles runs the same oil pressure as the above.

Answer 3

no a new engine should be fairly quiet,but some engines take longer to break in than others do,as for the oil pressure you should be running around,25 or better at idle with a new engine,and around 45 or above driving it,especially since its probably a 4.3 those ran good oil pressure ,i own one and at idle it runs around 30 and driving it i run around 50 which is good,yours should run a good steady amount,the amount in the numbers will vary some,depending on how good the sending unit is,good luck.

Answer 4

An engine in a car is never an exact science.  You have components that have to be within a certain spec.  Too loose and you get noise and premature wear...too tight and things will begin to seize as the metal expands after heating up.

For nearly all GM vehicles (if I remember correctly), the factory spec.'ed oil pressure is (ideally) 10 psi for every 1,000 rpm and between 10 and 20 at idle (at operating temp).

It is entirely possible that your rockers aren't adjusted exactly right.  A little ticking is nothing to nitpick.  After assembling an engine, the usual practice for shadetree mechanics is to run the rails down and back them off until they tick, then tighten them half a turn.  (not an exact science).  I left mine a little loose (to where I had light ticking) when I built the small block for my pickup and had no problems.

A quick trip to a local garage that you trust can get you a mechanic to play the motor "by ear".  He will more than likely recommend a certain oil (that he and his family and friends swear by) and a certain brand of filter (same statement as before) to clear your problem right up.

Also, it will be a few thousand miles before your motor is properly "broken in".  Change the oil and filter at a couple hundred miles (to be sure the assembly lube or any remaining metal shavings from the machining process do not send your oil filter into bypass) and then again at 3,000.  You may notice the light ticking go away once you've broken the motor in.

Stick with what you're doing and practice regularly scheduled maintenance and you should be just fine.

Answer 5

Personally, I'd stay away from re-manufactured engines.  I've heard too many horror stories about them.  But then, I'm the type of person who would rebuild it myself.  When they re-manufacture them, they don't always replace all of the internal parts. (Like they should) The oil pressure should be somewhere between 40 and 60 psi.  Did your engine come with any kind of a warranty?  If so, take it back and have them take a look at it.  A ticking noise could be a bad valve lifter or some problem in the valve train.

Answer 6

oil pressure should be around 40-60 psi, the ticking that you hear is a weak lifter, sometimes remanufacturers only replace broken parts, they may not have put new lifters in our engine block.