[OG68]

I recently bought a used 2015 Chevy Express 3500 van. Its primary use will be to tow a 7500# travel trailer.
It has the 6.0 engine, 6 spd automatic and 3:42s.

My question is, is it possible to add an Auto Meter Tach and how could it be done? It does have a digital tachometer thats buried in the vehicle information menu and shown on the drivers information display but I would like something easier to read, up on the dash or A pillar.

I also would like to add a transmission temperature gauge but I figure I can install the sensor in the oil pan unless there's a different approach.

My last question is oil pressure. The engine has 89,000 miles and pulls strong, however the oil pressure seems to be low at speed. When cold its 40 PSI. Hot and at 2000 RPM, 30-35 PSI.

My 5.3 Silverado normally has 60 PSI when hot and running and it has 200K on it. It would seem the pressure in the Express is a bit low.
Can any LS people explain? It wouldn't need bearings with 89K miles would it?

[77 Canamman]

For the oil pressure, I would verify with the use of a mechanical diagnostic gauge to ensure accuracy. It might be a wonky gauge or sending unit. Hot at speed should be 40 plus. These engines are pressure sensitive to oil filters, since they are so small. I would avoid E-core Delco and basic Frams. Surprised it doesn't have trans temp buried in the DIC. Most all late model GM trucks and like vehicles have that capability.

[george kujanski]

Agree on the filters for the 5.3 ....I get the NAPA gold (WIX mfgr), they always try to give me the tiny filter, but there is a longer one that fits, they just need to look deeper.

george

[OG68]

Just changed the oil over the weekend with a long Wix filter and 5-30 Mobil One. Van has been sitting for over a year with occasional start ups.

[gtohurstjudge]

I've been in the car repair business for 46 years and oil pressure problems is just
one of the myriad of LS problems we see quite often. The most common problem
is that the oil sending unit goes bad .........very hard to get to.......buried behind
the intake manifold. Another problem we see is that the screen underneath
the oil sending unit (inside the hole) gets stopped up with sludge and makes
the gauge read low. Another common problem is that the o-ring on the pickup
tube for the oil pump where it goes into the pump shrinks like the o-ring on
the space shuttle Challenger......this usually results in zero oil pressure. Also sometimes after covering all these bases the engine still doesn't have normal oil pressure, but this is more common at about 150K miles. Your other truck that reads 60 psi is lying to you.......none of these engines have that kind of oil pressure.
Your other truck has a bad sending unit.......we see these senders read high quite often. Normal pressure on your engine when warmed up is 40-45 going down the road and about 25-35 at idle.

[rustedgoat]

I've seen some ODB2 gauge displays, that you just plug in and select what gauges you want displayed. I don't know if that is an option or even applicable to a 2015.

[chevymad]

I was going to suggest an obdII solution as well. You can get an elm327 bluetooth adapter then use any android device as a gauge panel. For software I use Torque.

[OG68]

So after reading all these responses (and I thank you) plus a bit of internet research I have come to the conclusion that what I'm seeing is entirely normal and my Silverado a little over normal.
Made a quick trip to LA and back monitoring the oil pressure at 70-75 and during rush hour traffic. At no time did it drop below 25 PSI during the stop and go and was between 35 and 40 PSI at 70 (1800 RPM).

When towing the trailer up grade I routinely operate at 43-4500 RPM in the Silverado with the pressure at least 50 PSI. Just a little concerned pulling those same RPMs in the Express at 35-40 PSI, but then again I won't be in second gear either with the Van. With the extra torque and HP from the 6.0 it should get over those 6-7% grades in third.

I went through all the menu items in the DIC but no Trans Temp was found. So I'll have the trans fluid changed, add a bigger cooler than the factory unit, and will install a temperature gauge sender in the pan. Mount the gauge on the A pillar directly at eye level.
I also considered accessing the OBD II but my brake controller is plugged into that.

Thanks again.

[importsmasher]

I have a 2011 Express 3500 with the same drivetrain as yours. It's been a great vehicle. Oil pressure is similar to yours. I've got 284,000 miles on it, and it doesn't use a drop of oil between changes. The only significant issue I've had with the van is having to get the transmission rebuilt at 236,000 miles. It's even still got the original spark plugs in it. I know you're supposed to replace them at 100k miles, but I figured why bother until the gas mileage starts to drop. It still hasn't dropped. It tows great, whether it's our travel trailer or a car trailer, we've hauled stuff all over the place with it.

Importsmasher

[77 Canamman]

Originally Posted by importsmasher

I have a 2011 Express 3500 with the same drivetrain as yours. It's been a great vehicle. Oil pressure is similar to yours. I've got 284,000 miles on it, and it doesn't use a drop of oil between changes. The only significant issue I've had with the van is having to get the transmission rebuilt at 236,000 miles. It's even still got the original spark plugs in it. I know you're supposed to replace them at 100k miles, but I figured why bother until the gas mileage starts to drop. It still hasn't dropped. It tows great, whether it's our travel trailer or a car trailer, we've hauled stuff all over the place with it.

Importsmasher

The bad thing is that the coil packs are suffering jumping the larger, rounded gap. For the relative low cost of OEM Delco Iridium plugs, as compared to replacing a few of the coil packs @ $60 a shot. You will notice a performance and mileage improvement with the plug change.

My favorite side job as of late is doing plug changes on late model RAM HEMIS. Very few of them from the factory came with platinum or iridium tipped plugs. Most come with standard Champion or NGK plugs. The dealers charge $400 to do the 16 plugs. I have done so many of them I can have the job done start to finish in 1 hr. 45 mins. Customers are coming to me with 80k miles and a truck throwing misfire codes out the ass. Most of the time, a plug change is not the end of it. Damage has been done to the coil packs, and they need to be replaced too..

The old adage "pay a little now or a lot later" definitely applies...

[importsmasher]

Originally Posted by 77 Canamman

The bad thing is that the coil packs are suffering jumping the larger, rounded gap. For the relative low cost of OEM Delco Iridium plugs, compared to replacing a few of the coil packs @ $60 a shot. You will notice a performance and mileage improvement with the plug change.

My favorite side job as of late is doing plug changes on late model RAM HEMIS. Very few of them from the factory came with platinum or iridium tipped plugs. Most come with standard Champion or NGK plugs. The dealers charge $400 to do the 16 plugs. I have done so many of them I can have the job done start to finish in 1 hr. 45 mins. Customers are coming to me with 80k miles and a truck throwing misfire codes out the ass. Most of the time, a plug change is not the end of it. Damage has been done to the coil packs, and they need to be replaced too..

The old adage "pay a little now or a lot later" definitely applies...

Good point. I hadn't thought of that. I've had the plugs in my tool box for 4 years. We haven't driving it much the last few months, and I have been meaning to park it for a bit and do some maintenance; I'll be sure and change the plugs ASAP. Thanks for the input!

Importsmasher

[gtohurstjudge]

While we are talking about Chevy truck oil pressure........here is a
tidbit of difficult to find out knowledge regarding the 4.2 liter engines in the
The Chevy Trailblazers. The gauge for oil pressure, which all Trailblazers have is a phony gauge that is controlled by the computer, which is programmed to make the gauge read 55 psi going down the road and 40 psi at idle. These engines
actually run at 12 psi at idle as that is what they are designed to do. True oil pressure at 3,000 RPM is about 40 psi max. The engine is designed this way
so that the oil pressure can control the variable valve timing in these engines.
The sending unit is not a unit for a gauge, but is actually an idiot light type sending unit. The computer monitors this idiot light type sender and considers
12 psi to be normal.........but get this..........turns on the no oil pressure light on the
dash at 11 psi!!!!!!!!!! If the engine drops down one pound of pressure to 11, the
phony gauge on the dash goes from 40 to zero and the computer shuts off the engine if you keep driving the truck very far. GM will not tell you this as it is a
big secret not to be let out to the general public. In order to perpetuate the lie,
they made the threads on the oil sender a non existent special size that no
manual oil pressure gauge will screw into. I discovered this deception by cutting the bottom off a sending unit and drilling and tapping a hole in the top of the cutoff piece so I could manually confirm the actual oil pressure on the engine. On high mileage 4.2 engines that drop down to 11 at idle and kill the engine, it is necessary to just leave the oil sender unplugged........some of my
customers have driven their supposedly zero oil pressure at idle engines for years after I left the sender unplugged. GM did this because they knew the general public would see the 12 psi at idle oil pressure and go back to the dealer demanding a new engine. Even with the oil sender disconnected, the gauge on the dash will still read 40 psi at idle and 55 going down the road!

[77 Canamman]

Fortunately, most of those Trailblazers have gone to meet their maker around here. That's one of those "why bother" to have a "gauge" in the cluster if its essentially fake.

https://www.trailvoy.com/threads/4-2...ge-isnt.21429/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQGB1NF4288

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I_i2mQTcz4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4qm...t3gwNwAhaUze4F

[OG68]

Came across this last night. Auto Meter has a tachometer kit for distributor less engines, specifically the LS. Pricey though.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R96WY66...v_ov_lig_dp_it

[Gastiresandoil]

Just have to find the wire to the computer that deals with RPM. I put a aftermarket tac on my 04 gto and just spliced into one wire. The other two wires were for the power and grounding. I'm almost positive you can do the same for the tranny temp and oil pressure, just have to get a wiring diagram and splice into the wires.