Did something bad happen? Low oil pressure

I went out wheeling Saturday and everything was perfectly fine with my jeep. When I was driving it Sunday I noticed that the oil pressure was really low. I checked the level and it was down 2 quarts. I refilled it and the pressure is still low. The :v6: always had 60 psi no matter what. Now it gets up to 60 when I first start it cold and when hot it just gets to 20. I don't hear any knocks or anything. Could something have gotten stuck in the relief valve? I'm dreading the worst...

 

what is the PSI at idle?

 

Between 5 and 10 when hot.

 

On a Buick v6, 5-10 psi is actually about normal at hot idle.

 

really? I got about 20 and 30~35 at 2500 rpm. I have read that 20 at idle fully warm is normal.

 

I know its a totally different engine but the needle of oil pressure gauge on my 304 was always resting in the "0" stop pin at an idle for about ten years. haha. It would go up to 30 once you got over 1500rpm.

 

You might check your oil pump gears. A few (several) years ago I lost oil pressure in my 225. Got it home and pulled the pump cover off. Both gears dropped out, one was no longer pressed onto the shaft heading down from the distributor.

 

Once again this has been covered more times the knuckle pudding. A quick search or an answer from maybe someone that has been running Buick v6s for the past 30 years may help out.

 

Daryl, I started with V6's in 1971. I agree a search is in order. There is lots of info available here. as far as I know I'm the only person that has had a gear come off of the distributor drive shaft that drove the oil pump. Years ago I posted a picture of the gears and shaft. Nobody picked up on it.
Sure, lots of possibles, pressure relief, on my 198 I could blow the oil filter off in the winter, yes pressure relief was odd. Cover plate wear? I think I would begin with the pressure relief set up. Both of my v6's idle warm above 20 PSI.
Oil pickup in the engine? When I fixed the oil pump I also pulled my oil pan and couldn't figure out why my oil pickup looked like it was covered in felt.

 

I have run one buick 225v6. Rebuilt the whole thing myself. I have read that low oil pressure is an issue. I would immediately get a mechanical pressure gauge and plumb it right into an oil gallery, run it and check that before I did anything. I thought that 30~35 psi was a little low at 2500RPM, guess not.

you say you were missing almost half the oil from the crank case. Where did it go? it either leaked or burnt. Are you low on power?

 

Seeing you were two quarts low, you might try bleeding the air out of the tube to the oil pressure gauge. Unless you have the electric gauge, in which case the bleeding probably won't work.

 

I don't see what difference that would make. Air will transmit pressure to the gauge head.

 

but it won't read right.

 

If this were my engine I would definitely do an oil-and-filter change.

Then maybe check things against a second gauge, to be sure. And do a stethoscope exam of the lower end sounds.

Then keep my fingers crossed.

 

yeah.

60 psi seems like its way over the normal for that engine from all I have read.

 

Or a goofy gauge acting up.

From the original description, it sounds like it was reading too high at idle before, and now is giving conventional norms.

I don't see how a bad relief would cause 60 psi at idle.