please read.. oil pressure problem

**flybird** · 06-20-2011, 10:56 AM

My oil pressure is maxing out for no reason, and its worrying me. its a newly rebuilt engine with nearly 3,xxx miles on it. I've looked up the possibilities and some of it doesnt worry me then some of it does.

For ex. bad sending unit, "not so bad", bad oil filter, "just replaced a 1000 miles ago", or internal engine oil pressure system, "well shit, there goes $3200 out the window."

The engine is under warranty but when i called the guy i could hear in his voice that he doesnt want to mess with it and going to make up some bull shit excuse. I am taking it to Firestone to get it checked out but does anyone else have this problem???

***SMWS6TA*** · 06-20-2011, 11:36 AM

mods can you move this to the General Help or External section so he can get more help for this.

Is this is for the V6 Firebird in your profile? I ask because many on here will think LS1.

Op, what kind of rebuild was it? A stock rebuild/ performance build?

I guess what I'm asking is what did he do?

What is the gauge reading?

***SMWS6TA*** · 06-20-2011, 11:40 AM

Smittro is our V6 guro, hopefully he steps in.

**flybird** · 06-20-2011, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by SMWS6TA

mods can you move this to the General Help or External section so he can get more help for this.

Is this is for the V6 Firebird in your profile? I ask because many on here will think LS1.

Op, what kind of rebuild was it? A stock rebuild/ performance build?

I guess what I'm asking is what did he do?

What is the gauge reading?

Ok heres mostly everything
"new gm 3800 long block, oil pump, lifters, gaskets, thermostate/coolant, spark plugs, lower radial hose, shaved heads, water elbow fillings, donut gaskets, pcv valve, head bolts, fuel ing.

**Smittro** · 06-20-2011, 01:26 PM

Okay first things first..

Is the sending unit any good or is it the old one?

Second, you should'nt put much faith in the factory guages..

Thrid grab an after market mechanical guage, remove the sender and thread in the mechanical guage fittings..

Then setup the guage so you can watch it. See what it does under a gradual progression of throttle. Be carefull that the belt does'nt grab it or you'll have a whole new set of issues to contend with..

On my 01 it ended up being the factory guage, as I had great presure through the curve with the manual gauge, but the factory cluster oil guage was dancing all over the place.

If your oil pump was dieing or dead you'd know right now.. Because of the nature of the 3800 oil pump setup where it's nothing like the old distributor driven pumps with a long tube and a pickup. The 3800 oil pump is simply an offset gear that "wobbles" around in it's housing @ the front of the engine.

Also if the oil pump has issues the rollers (lifters 3800 is a roller engine) will start to chatter right away, and there would be an imediate noticing of an issue.

Service engine light would be flashing like crazy also.. A simple manual guage can be had for like $20 bucks, I'd start there.. let me know what happens..

**Smittro** · 06-20-2011, 01:35 PM

Oh and what weight oil are you running? 10w30 is recommened from factory..

***SMWS6TA*** · 06-20-2011, 01:36 PM

Thx for jumping in Smitro.

It's been over 10 yrs since I last worked on the 3800

**Smittro** · 06-20-2011, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by SMWS6TA

Thx for jumping in Smitro.

It's been over 10 yrs since I last worked on the 3800

No prob.

**Smittro** · 06-20-2011, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by SMWS6TA

Thx for jumping in Smitro.

It's been over 10 yrs since I last worked on the 3800

I have a feeling it's the guage, the oiling tract in the 3800 is'nt all that complex and if ran dry the lifter keeps will shatter letting the roller lifters rotate in their bores and the noise would be crazy.. The engine would never make 3k prolly would'nt get out of your driveway..

**Smittro** · 06-20-2011, 01:51 PM

Hopefully though the builder did'nt use teflon tape on the sender as this could crack the houseing but then again there would be oil everywhere, alot of oil, a shit ton.
Just tossing out ideas. But more than likely it's a guage issue.. Happens to the LS1 guys too..

**flybird** · 06-20-2011, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by Smittro

Hopefully though the builder did'nt use teflon tape on the sender as this could crack the houseing but then again there would be oil everywhere, alot of oil, a shit ton.
Just tossing out ideas. But more than likely it's a guage issue.. Happens to the LS1 guys too..

Im not sure what viscosity oil was used when firestone changed it. But i will let you know what happens when i find out whats wrong and if i fix it. Thnx alot for the help man.

**Smittro** · 06-20-2011, 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by flybird

Im not sure what viscosity oil was used when firestone changed it. But i will let you know what happens when i find out whats wrong and if i fix it. Thnx alot for the help man.

No prob. Let me know what you find. If I'm offline you can shot me a PM, I'll get an email and I'll get back to you asap..

**silverWS6** · 06-20-2011, 08:47 PM

Is the gauge always "maxing out" or just under acceleration? What's it at during idle? Cold start? And what's it reading when its warm? We need to know what the gauge reads to see if it ridiculous and also what you exactly mean by "maxing out", don't mean to sound like a jerk brotha

**flybird** · 06-26-2011, 02:07 PM

I found out what the problem is, its just a bad sending unit. Not only did i find that out i have a bad "knock sensor" code P0332, bad "throttle actuator control moduel" code P1518, bad "fual tank pressure sensor" code P0452, bad "EVAP system" code P0449, and a few more codes.. My engine light never came on, it may be broken? Im not sure. but once i took it to the shop to see what was wrong with my guage they showed me all these codes that came up.. This car, i tell ya..

**flybird** · 06-26-2011, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by Smittro

No prob. Let me know what you find. If I'm offline you can shot me a PM, I'll get an email and I'll get back to you asap..

bad sending unit it was, also had some codes pop up while getting tht check out.

**Smittro** · 06-26-2011, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by flybird

I found out what the problem is, its just a bad sending unit. Not only did i find that out i have a bad "knock sensor" code P0332, bad "throttle actuator control moduel" code P1518, bad "fual tank pressure sensor" code P0452, bad "EVAP system" code P0449, and a few more codes.. My engine light never came on, it may be broken? Im not sure. but once i took it to the shop to see what was wrong with my guage they showed me all these codes that came up.. This car, i tell ya..

As my 01 Camaro (y87 3800) rounded 80k the nickle and diming started with more friequently and then electrical issues. I followed them right down the line and any mechanical problems got fixed right away. I did every last thing by the book and to the letter. It became a tiresome never ending cat and mouse just to keep it stock.

I started getting suck fixing things that would go wrong while the effer just sat there.. 1000's of dollars and non of it mods?!? Good bye..lol

I loved it prolly too much but the maintainance schedule was becomming rediculas, PS pump @ ~30k, axle howl by 50K, BCM issue by 60k and 80k and 100k this time taking the wiper pulse board with it. I just got sick of it, I am sorry to say.. Dead coils and fuel pump @ 80k, ground issues, Monsoon junk by 40k, fans tht would come on @ start up and stay on, coolant leakage issues, sending units (take your pick) guage issues, and on and on. I fixed every last mother loving thing as more and more issue became repeats I was done.. Traded/sold her and bought an H3. I am sorry but even though I'm now ~1L smaller and have 1 less cylinder, my Hummer is 1000x the vehicle my Camaro ever was. I had huge plans for it (camaro) like the next guy, a ground up. It just was'nt to be.. I already have a 20 year old project car which is also much more of a vehicle than my Camaro was.
Maybe only 2x as much, but of much better construction even still....

I still love my f-bodies and as a 4-time owner of such (two 4th gens and two 3rd) the likelyhood of another sitting in my drive again is a near fact to happen. HOWEVER, this time it will be a 3rd gen, the last of the "real" f-bodies...IMHO..

**TransAmX2** · 06-27-2011, 05:44 AM

Originally Posted by Smittro

HOWEVER, this time it will be a 3rd gen, the last of the "real" f-bodies...IMHO..

not to derail, but as a former owner of 3x 3rd gens and 2x 4th gens (currently 1x of each) why do you consider 3rd gen the last of the "real" f-bodies? (not disagreeing, just curious)

**Smittro** · 06-27-2011, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by TransAmX2

not to derail, but as a former owner of 3x 3rd gens and 2x 4th gens (currently 1x of each) why do you consider 3rd gen the last of the "real" f-bodies? (not disagreeing, just curious)

They where a sleeker design, better platform for modding, and handled much better.. You could litterally throw them into a corner.. They actually sat low instead of "looked" low.. With the drive line more inside the unibody rather than just "stacked" on top of it..

Interior wise, @ 6'2" I can lock my knee on the foot rest and my legs are strait out when driving. In a 4th gen my knees are on the dash with one knee having to rest on the radio bezel.. Drove my third gen from Pittsburgh to Seattle non stop. Would'nt want to try it @ my hieght in a forth gen..
There's a reason they dominated "IROC" and the 4th gen did not.

**flybird** · 07-22-2011, 05:56 PM

Message to Smittro: well it is a bad sending unit, then my bird broke down on monday going to a job interveiw.. I lost oil pressure.. Took it to my mechan who rebuilt the engine, said it maybe a oil pressure switch, so he replaced it, still had only 8psi of oil pressure.... So now hes going to pull the oil pan next week to see why my engine isnt pushing oil.

**JayTA98** · 07-22-2011, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by Smittro

They where a sleeker design, better platform for modding, and handled much better.. You could litterally throw them into a corner.. They actually sat low instead of "looked" low.. With the drive line more inside the unibody rather than just "stacked" on top of it..

Interior wise, @ 6'2" I can lock my knee on the foot rest and my legs are strait out when driving. In a 4th gen my knees are on the dash with one knee having to rest on the radio bezel.. Drove my third gen from Pittsburgh to Seattle non stop. Would'nt want to try it @ my hieght in a forth gen..
There's a reason they dominated "IROC" and the 4th gen did not.

have to agree about the lenght im 5'11" and i feel the same. An extra 1 1/2' would be nice.