I'm looking for some advice. When I bought my 88 GTA this summer, the dealer told me that the digital oil pressure gauge was bad but that they had checked it and it had plenty of oil pressure. I discovered, however, that at about 4000RPM the gauge would come up off of zero. So, thinking that the sender was bad, I took it to a local independent shop. They put a gauge on the engine and confirmed that it had good pressure so they replaced the sender. That helped on gauge readings - it would come up to about 20psi at 2000RPM but would drop to zero at idle. So, I assumed that the digital gauge wasn't reading correctly and put about 3000 miles on it. Last week I had it at the local Pontiac dealer and told them to check the gauge out to see if it could be fixed. They reported back that the gauge was right! They said that at idle it had 3psi and at 2000RPM it had almost 20psi. Their "solution" to this problem was to replace the engine with a "factory refurb with a warranty".

I had read on this site that someone experienced a problem similar to mine and the cause turned out to be the oil pickup tube had fallen off. I asked the shop manager about this and he said that to pull the pan required pulling the engine out, and that if you were going to go to that much bother, you may as well replace it.

Well, not having $3300.00 on hand, I'm going to continue driving it. It can't cost much more to replace a burnt up engine. I'm also thinking about getting a fourth opinion, but don't know how much good it will do.

What would you do?

-Farren

 

If it's a low mile engine, it may be worth pulling it and fixing the problem--if it is the pick-up tube. If it's a high mile engine, your bearings might be worn enough to cause the low oil pressure. I drove a 79 cutlass with a 305 chevy for 3 years with 0-1 psi at idle and about 25psi at 5000 rpm(mechanical guage) without a problem--that engine wouldn't die. It had 120,000 when I first got it. It's a tough decision...how many miles are on it anyway?


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82 camaro--original steering wheel, brake/gas pedals, seats--everything else modified
82camaro

 

I wish I knew how many miles it had. The odometer says 35,000, but the title says 135,000. I have no way of knowing if someone once assumed that because of its age that it must be over 100,000. To look at it, you'd be inclined to believe the 35,000 but I'm guessing the 135,000 is right and that it was just VERY well cared for.

If it is the bearings wearing out, is that any less expensive to fix than replacing the entire engine?

I've been thinking that if the engine is worn out, having it pulled and rebuilt with just a *bit* more power. I probably won't, however, since that is my daily commuter and I don't want to affect the MPG too much. Getting 18MPG now is bad enough!

-Farren

 

Put a direct reading gauge on it yourself and see the truth. If that's not possiable take it to someone else that can for a second opinion. Never spend more then $1000 without a second opinion let alone $3500!

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86 Camaro Sport
383 Speed-O-Motive Crate Engine, Trick Flow Heads, 58mm Accel TB, 3.73 Auburn Pro, SLP Cold Air Induction and Headers, Dynomax Cat-back, Serpentine belt setup, Dual IROC Fans.

http://www.sethirdgen.org/octride.htm