I bought a 2000 Suburban yesterday 5.3 with 180k miles. Vehicle has been well maintained, according to the maintenance records, and has not been abused.

Well on the way home from work today I pulled up at a stop light and noticed the low oil pressure light was on. Looked at the gauge and it was either on zero or right at it. I didnt hear any engine noises, at that moment. As soon as the light turned green and I took off the gauge jumped up to 40+ psi, like Im assuming it should.

Each time I'd slow down after that to stop or take a turn the gauge would drop down to 17-20 or so.........with the engine running perfect!

As soon as I got to the house I popped the hood, revved the engine, and heard a weird noise coming from what seemed to be the passenger side head area. .........all the while the gauge continues to jump.

well, 5 minutes ago I started it up and the gauge dropped pretty low. I gave it a quick rev and the needle stayed at 40.......wtf is going on?

Oh and I haven't heard that noise since

My question/questions are, has anyone experienced this before? What all could it be? Im going to change the oil tomorrow, anyways, because the oil consistency is sort of weird.......watery I guess you could say.

Thank you in advance

 

Welcome to the forum,
Watery consistency oil if its not milky (from contamination with water) is usually from being thinned out with fuel, does the dip stick smell particularly like gas?
as for the oil pressure I would be concerned, having it checked with an external gauge would be a good idea as it may be time to replace the oil pump.