Oil pressure on sbc 350

I have a sbc 350 in my 54 chevy and my oil pres was usually at bout 30psi at idle but today it was under 10 psi at idle but when im in gear and on the road it's up to 50psi so as I accelerate it gets higher psi.
So does anyone know whats going on here? What should I be looking at?

 

What's your idle rpm when warm??? Should be @ 700 rpm.... If you have an electric sending unit for your gauge, it might be going bad...

 

also running a lil hotter then usual

 

What's normal and what's a little hotter?

Do you have an electric or mechanical oil pressure gauge?

 

Don't hate me for stating the obvious, but you checked your oil level right?

 

10 PSI per 1000 RPM. If your worried......dropp some synthetic in it. Good luck

 

Normal is 180 hotter is 210, lol yea brotha I checked the oil level

 

How many miles on the engine? Usually when cam bearings get a lot of miles on them the oil pressure goes down. How long since last oil change? Oil may be getting saturated with fuel and is now thinner also causing lower pressure.

 

Cooling system may have a problem causing hotter operating temp, thinner oil and lower pressure.

 

Wow 210 is warm ....that's y the low oil pressure. Flush the cooling system new thermastat..my 327 gets low oil when she gets warm...10-15 at idle. Maybe just an electric fan?

 

Low idle oil pressure is a common issue on 350's like your 10# at idle. I've seen a lot of folks get tied up in their underwear over it and they have spent a lot of time and money trying to fix something thats not broken. Oil flow is the more important issue, if your pressure rises 10# per thousand rpm I would leave it alone and just drive it.

 

Hmmmm.... what brand of filter are you using? Had some very simular symptoms on a 350, with a Fram filter...switched filters problem went away...

 

My first guess is maybe the bypass is stuck open.

I have also seen this before when the pickup tube falls out into the pan

 

I have this same problem was there a solution found?

 

The problem is a excessive clearance in your engine. It sounds like your engine is borderline on the crank, fix your cooling issue and drive it and i would look into a nice rebuild, a new cam and a stock volume oil pump in the future

 

The 350 in my 61 apache was the same way from the day I got it until I sold it 6 years later, and it got drove daily. As long as it builds pressure it should be fine. I asked this question to every mechanic and drag racer, dirt tracker, etc... got the same answer.....dont worry about it if youve got pressure, its when you dont have presure you want to worry!!

 

At idle if you are making 10 psi and all is quiet you are fine. Only at speed is oil pressure critical. However a rapid degradation in pressure id a problem.

Since oil viscosity is inversely related to oil temp, as already stated git the coolant temps under control then look at the pressure again.

If you are doing the best you can with coolant temps, run a larger split multi grade and a known quality brand and product. At your local AP store buy Valvoline VR1 20-50 for the summer and if you must drive in the cold months order a case of VR1 10-30. VR1 has 1300-1400 ppm zinc for great cam protection.

 

the old guys went by "30 psi at 30 mph", if you got that, keep on going.

 

thaks I just really dont want to screw up a my new car. Also can someone explain how it is when you have to much clearance that you get less pressure I would think its a closed area and would have the same pressure just dont understand it all the way.

 

I think if you figure out why it's running hot, then your oil pressure will come up a little too. Does it run higher pressure when it's first started at idle? If so, then getting the temps down should increase idle pressure.