04 Suburban oil pan, whew

[Sgt Gus]

She's got alot of miles...
I put 5.5 oz of seafoam in oil to clean up, and ran for 100 miles. I had a lifter making noise and it bandaided that. No noise immediately. Replacing oil pump o-ring and gasket. Oil pressure been low, but not dangerous, well sure didn't help (lifters).

 

[Sgt Gus]

From 20 psi to 38-40 psi now at idle

 

[Sgt Gus]

Well, no. Upon start she gets that 38 to 40 PSI but once warmed up to temperature I'm back down to 20 psi at idle so she's just worn out unless I want to mess with oil pump. Opinions?

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Did you check the pickup tube o-ring? There's also a kit that adds another bolt and flange. I'm not well versed in ls's that's just what I've seen. What's the mileage?

 

[Sgt Gus]

Yes, what I did was replace the pickup o-ring after seafoam clean up.
That was my bandaide.

 

[Frankenchevy]

Is 20 at hot idle bad? Maybe try a thicker viscosity of oil?

 

[Sgt Gus]

Is 20 at hot idle bad? Maybe try a thicker viscosity of oil?

Well, it's not good. Have some lifter noise when start up, briefly.
Thought about thicker viscosity, but if it's harder to get into hydraulic lifters then that's not really helping make sure top end is lubricated.
Just worry about lifter collapsing or bending, throwing a rob.
Silly really, she's got 332600+ miles. Worn out. An amazing engine.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Yeah you're chasing ghosts really. It is what it is at this point.

 

[TotalyHucked]

Man I wouldn't even worry about it, keep trucking. If the compression still checks good and isn't making alot of noise on start up (some lifter noise or piston slap, I would call completely normal and I've had that on several of those NBS trucks with half that mileage), 20psi hot is fine. That motor is far from worn out.

 

[Sgt Gus]

Man I wouldn't even worry about it, keep trucking. If the compression still checks good and isn't making alot of noise on start up (some lifter noise or piston slap, I would call completely normal and I've had that on several of those NBS trucks with half that mileage), 20psi hot is fine. That motor is far from worn out.

 

[Sgt Gus]

‍

That was supposed to be a guy shrugging his shoulders! Wtf! Lol

 

[Originalthor]

I got a buddy with a 5.3 with bad lifter tick. It likes to puff a pile of blue smoke too on start up random times. Been like that for years. Lol. We have lost all bets on when its gonna die cause it keeps going.

 

[Sgt Gus]

Just an update for those curious. Burb hasn't growled at start-up for awhile. I think after that seafoam clean-up, and been using Rislone since oil change has slowly helped lifters. Just fyi. Oil pressure still a concern to me, but it is what it is. Running pretty smooth engine wise. About 2k-2500k past oil change no lifter noise.

 

[89Suburban]

Holy oil sludge batman! Might not hurt to replace the oil pressure sensor, don't know if your era has the screens on them or not. I would imagine if it did it would be clogged up from that sludge!

 

[89Suburban]

This is a good read here, but like I said, this is for 07-14. Not sure about your gen. @Old77 ?

IMPORTANT: The Chronicles of Low Oil Pressure by 07burb

Warning: this is a LONG read but may hold valuable information for others experiencing this same issue. This is what I've experienced and what seemed to work for me. Things may be different for you. Let me start from the beginning....there's also an amendment at the end of this post ---In June...

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