there is a 350 in my 70 camino that was not built by me or anyone I know or can talk to. well the fairly fresh engine holds real good oil pressure all the time until the other day. I changed the oil and installed a new PF35 filter. the engine has an aftermarket bottom 'kit out'type oil pan on it . I really did not the capacity of it but knew it was higher. I installed 7 1/2 qts. and it showed almost one full on the stick. I can't verify the stick is right either, I was driving the car up the interstate and at anything over 3,000 RPM (4.10 gears!) the gauge starts to dive. if I stay into the gas pedal it drops to 20 and stays there. if I just cruise along steady as soon as I get to 3,000 it starts fluctuating and then at around 3200 it will drop 20 PSI. I slightly overfilled the the pan ,acccording to the stick, but it made no difference. I have read some nightmares lately about certain brand oil filters so I made sure to get a AC filter because this engine runs so high an oil pressure especially when cold.. it never did that before the oil change so just for giggles i am going to change the filter out but I am open to any other ideas too. There are no noises from the engine and the gauge is new , quality, AUTO METER. thanx , DAVE

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70 ElCamino ,350,4speed.
72 Cutlass Convt.(street drivers)
78 Triumph 750 bonneville. 4/S
wanna trade?

I'm kind of wondering if the pickup tube has vibrated out of the pump. This is fairly common, and on an engine that runs such high RPMs on the freeway, there is lot of high freq vibration that tends to cause problems such as this. You might try draining the oil and fishing around inside the drain hole with a piece of welding rod and see if it catches on anything loose at the bottom of the pan. If so, it's probably the pickup tube.

Oh, being a big block man of sorts I already thought of that too and I'll try 'fishing' it when I come back from the 130 mile trip I am getting ready to take in it :) . no I'm not kidding and i don't care. My trailer is hooked to the truck and I will CALL FOR IT if necessary. I changed the filter with no change. if the pickup dropped off though then why only over 3000 RPM though?, thanx , DAVE

I had a similar problem, it ended up being that I had too much oil in it. It would only happen when I would go above 3000RPMs, and the crank was slapping the oil making it foamy. When I just drained a little out the problem went away. The pain I have claims to be 7 qts, I put 6 1/2 in (that's a total with the filter also) then run it and check to see if I need more.

Thanks
Dave

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383 SBC 69 Chevelle 410HP/500Ft.lbs
Citrus Heights, CA
Team Chevelle Member #1070
http://www.x86Racing.com (Dave Silva 03)

Agree with Dave, sounds like the crank is whipping the oil into foam. When the foam hits the oil pump it quits pumping.

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Steve Strasemeier (70SS 396, Fathom Blue/White Stripes)
My 70SS (http://www.chevelles.com/decoder/about.html)

I had the same exact problem with a small block a few years ago. The pan I bought said it held 7 qts but at 6 qts the problem was gone. I spend quite a bit of time looking for the problem including new filter, new filter bypass, different guage etc. As soon as I dropped the oil level the problem was gone.

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My Car www.geocities.com/coopschevelle/ (http://www.geocities.com/coopschevelle/)

Well, you may be onto something there guys and i will try it and do some 'fishing' also.
To add to the bizarre problem I just retarded the timing 4 degrees for the weekend trip to the shore with it.. NOW! I can go to appx. 3300 before the problem starts, so i can cruise safely?? at 3000 to there and home ,BUT!!!! 3/4 way home and that little high speed vibration thing managed to loosen all the valve cover bolts and another moment of panic at a stop light. I had the fire extinguisher along but didnt need it . She got me home safely and I carted a large price home for someone else that lives near me because they couldn't carry it in their DUNE BUGGY! now my throwout bearing is screamin! overall a great weekend anyway.thanx, DAVE

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70 ElCamino ,350,4speed.
72 Cutlass Convt.(street drivers)
78 Triumph 750 bonneville. 4/S
wanna trade?