Oil Pressure and Lucas Oil

[chicklin]

I added some Lucas Oil in when I changed the oil last night and now my guage is reading 30+ psi at idle where it was somewhere around 20 psi before. It doesn't go up much (if at all) when driving at higher RPMS, so I don't think anything is going to explode. Is this something I need to worry about?

Also, I may have a little too much oil in there, I'm a little over the full line on the dipstick. Would this (maybe in combination with the Lucas Oil) cause the pressure to be high? Thanks!!

[pghjeeper]

If you added 6qts then the lucas then yes you overfilled it. Just take some oil out.

[chicklin]

No problem. Would being overfilled cause that big of a pressure difference, or do you think that it's the combination of the two?

[pghjeeper]

The Lucas will deffinatly cause an oil pressure boost when its cold get it hot and see how it does should be the same.

[brute4c]

I dont see overfilling changing the pressure that the pump develops...maybe I just dont get it but it seems the pump will only make so much pressure regardless of volume...well until there isnt any...

Overfilling it will cause other problems...like if the oil is too high in the pan, the crank and rods will come around and whip it which shortens the oils lifespan and robs power.

Keep the level at spec to prevent other problems.

The Lucas is probably the higher pressure source...whatever oil you run, like say 5W-30 or 10W-40...you could go to 20W-50 and see a jump in pressure without the Lucas...basically the same idea....put in a thicker, heavier viscosity fluid for the pump to chew on...old trick shady used car salesmen use to get more pressure out of an old car to sell it...

Lucas or heavier oil, a temp fix...sooner or later the reason for the low pressure will need to be addressed.

[chicklin]

Well, I didn't mean to imply that the pressure was low before, at least I don't think it was. I put the Lucas Oil in to try and help the seals b/c I was getting a little smoke at idle. It seems to be better, but changing the oil and running it some probably helped as much as anything. I think it had been sitting around a lot before I got ahold of it.

[pghjeeper]

Not to hi-jack the thread but I'm getting ready to change the oil what viscosity are most of you running? I wanted to run the Rotella T but its 20w50 seems a little to thick. My buddy who serviced these truck said they ran straight 30w and in the summer 40w.

[chicklin]

10W-30. I don't drive it a whole lot and most of the time it's in the fall and winter.

[brute4c]

5w30 in the cold winters here and 10W30 the rest of the year.

[randyscycle]

5w30 in the cold winters here and 10W30 the rest of the year.

In the Northern climes, is where I have seen a great advantage with synthetic.....especially at cold startup because it flows well.