94 bonneville oil pressure. :(
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,014
Likes: 172
From: Northern California







Sure couldn't hurt. I've ran heavier weight oils on my high mileage engines and have got lots of life out of it. My truck had 150k on it and it would drop down to 12psi at idle when warm. I switched to 20w50 and it helped the oil pressure when hot. I winded up changing the engine at 200k not because it knocked or seized but it wouldn't pass smog due to too much nox gas from ring blow by. I had a ford currier when I was a teenager that the oil light came on at idle. I put 20w50 in it and It fixed it for a while than the oil light stayed on all the time after a while. I drove that thing for a year before it seized up with my 17yr old lead foot.
i think its to early to be worrying about that on a 3800 that will least 300k most times. my bonny i bought it a few years old and it has has regular valvoline 10w-30 every 5k. its got almost 200 now and still gets the same mileage and still has the same oil pressure. i tried some high mileage at around 150 and it made it run rough and got 2 less mpg. my wife drives it and we use it on the weekends, so thats probably 3times a year
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True Car Nut
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,816
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From: Windsor, Ontario / Detroit, Michigan









You are still assuming this is a symptom of bearing failure, and I don't think that is the case. Changing your oil never hurts, but I still think it is a sender/gage issue. There is also a spring loaded relief valve located in the oil filter housing that sometimes gets stuck and causes a drop in oil pressure. Simple matter of pulling it out and cleaning it.
I always try to fix problems by taking the obvious steps and seeing where that gets me. In this case the obvious step is to change the oil, filter and sending unit. It MAY fix the problem, but it will also give you an opportunity to see if there is metal in the old oil. Make sure you drop the oil into a relatively clean container so you know any contamination you find came out of the engine, not from the container.
Don't increase oil viscosity. Any gain in pressure you achieve will be at the expense of flow. Are you using 10W30? If so, stick with that for now.
I always try to fix problems by taking the obvious steps and seeing where that gets me. In this case the obvious step is to change the oil, filter and sending unit. It MAY fix the problem, but it will also give you an opportunity to see if there is metal in the old oil. Make sure you drop the oil into a relatively clean container so you know any contamination you find came out of the engine, not from the container.
Don't increase oil viscosity. Any gain in pressure you achieve will be at the expense of flow. Are you using 10W30? If so, stick with that for now.
You are still assuming this is a symptom of bearing failure, and I don't think that is the case. Changing your oil never hurts, but I still think it is a sender/gage issue. There is also a spring loaded relief valve located in the oil filter housing that sometimes gets stuck and causes a drop in oil pressure. Simple matter of pulling it out and cleaning it.
I always try to fix problems by taking the obvious steps and seeing where that gets me. In this case the obvious step is to change the oil, filter and sending unit. It MAY fix the problem, but it will also give you an opportunity to see if there is metal in the old oil. Make sure you drop the oil into a relatively clean container so you know any contamination you find came out of the engine, not from the container.
Don't increase oil viscosity. Any gain in pressure you achieve will be at the expense of flow. Are you using 10W30? If so, stick with that for now.
I always try to fix problems by taking the obvious steps and seeing where that gets me. In this case the obvious step is to change the oil, filter and sending unit. It MAY fix the problem, but it will also give you an opportunity to see if there is metal in the old oil. Make sure you drop the oil into a relatively clean container so you know any contamination you find came out of the engine, not from the container.
Don't increase oil viscosity. Any gain in pressure you achieve will be at the expense of flow. Are you using 10W30? If so, stick with that for now.
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19bonneville97
Pontiac Bonneville
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Sep 6, 2011 08:24 PM





