Hey guys, I have recently changed the radiator in my Blazer, as well as the oil cooler line as they were leaking. The oil cooler lines continued to leak so my mechanic put some o-rings in them and now they don't leak a drop.

After all this I noticed coolant leaking badly and turned out it was the intake gasket. Had a good dealership mechanic replace that for me as well coolant/oil changed. Now, it's cold here, and it runs at 60 psi (oil) running down the road at 50 and right under 40 at idle. Is this bad??? My mechanic buddies usually say "better high than low" Should I be worried or does this mean I just have a good, tight nice running motor???

 

60 is good, yes always better high than low, there actually is no spec on the high limit, book just calls out minimums. As long as its above those then youre fine.

The only problem related to high pressure that i know of is related to running heavy weight oil with a high volume pump or replacing the pressure relief valve spring with a higher pressure spring. Any of these puts more load on the pump driveshaft wich is driven by the distributor gear.
60 psi really isnt abnormally high anyway so as long as you didnt put 20W50 in it then it should be fine

Minimum oil pressure specs for 2000 4.3 V6 with engine hot.

1k RPM 6 lbs.
2K RPM 18 lbs.
4K rpm 25 lbs.

 

What oil weight are you running? For cooler climates I recommend 10W-30 Mobil-1 synthetic or if you are not running a synthetic use 5W-30.


What is the fully warmed up engine temperature? It should be around 190F.


When you are reporting the oil pressure to us, is that after it is fully warmed and you have driven it for a while?
The pressure you state is common until it is fully warmed up and driven for a while.

 

check oil for water contamination (white milky)

 

How does that cause excessive oil pressure???

 

sounds like healthy oil pressure to me.

 

I'm almost positive all these newer model 4.3's run right under 210.

 

Sometimes with a higher than normal oil pressure reading, the oil pressure sending unit has failed. My 2000 zr2 at operating temp.of 190F runs 20-25psi with 5w30 at idle(630rpm).

TM

 

That sounds slightly low but is still within spec. Minimum psi is 6 at 1K rpm. I only get about 25 - 30 in the summer at idle when the engine warms up. Also, the stock gauges in these blazers is not of the highest quality. My temperature gauge reads right around 160 degrees when it is at 190.