Thread: Wierd Oil Pressure Problem, SBC 383

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Oil pressure seems to baffle at times. Mike saved me with the oil pump pickup to oil level point, and Roger covered the filter. In the case of the filter, something (too much volume of oil or defective filter media) could be causing it to fo into bypass mode at the higher rpm. As to the pickup level, you may be having an oil return to the pan issue if there is something plugging the openings in the heads/block that allows the oil to return to the pan quickly enough. Another thought might be your oil is getting too hot (for some reason you've not identified yet) and you're losing viscosity as a result.

Edit: Too many people go first to blaming the pump due to lack of understanding. In a simplified description the pump produces flow, not pressure. The pressure reading is a result of resistance to flow, and is better seen as a diagnostic tool.