i tried to start my 84 Z28 today after replacing the head gaskets and lost most of my oil just cranking the thing? any ideas?

 

front or back of motor? very possibly from the distributor area or the back of the intake. this is a very crucial area to be sealed. the distributor housing gets pressurized oil to it and the lifter valley can be filled up with oil. These usually leak on acceleration though when oil is forced to the rear of the motor. You may also have valve covers not sealing. best thing to do is look and see where it's coming from and trace it to the source.

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Kyle Osterholt
Okarche, Oklahoma
ASE Master Certified
86 T/A 383 TPI
89 TTA #1002 T-top/Leather
89 TTA #1358 Hardtop/Leather
80 T/A Pace Car
73 Opel GT
73 bronco

 

rear of motor, damn i don't want to pull this all apart again, if the distributor isn't set right could this cause it?

 

Not sure, but isn't there an oil pressure switch on the back of the block on that year for the choke? You may have sprung a leak from the sender/switch.

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-Joseph
ASE Master Automobile Technician
Scoggin-Dickey Chevrolet

1967 Camaro (Vortec Heads, GM Vortec Intake, ZZ4 roller camshaft) --- Planning T-56 Install in the near future
1992 Firebird (Weiler Vortec Heads, LT4 Hot Cam, GM Vortec Intake, 3000 Stall, 3.73's, Auburn Posi)

 

does it screw into the block by the distributor and look like a small canister?

 

I doubt the oil pressure sender is craked or the o ring gaket for the distributor is bad.
Most likely the manifold gasket is leaking. Did you use those 2 piece of crap gaskets for the middle of the manifold? Or did you use silicone? Silicone is much better and should be used instead of the gaskets. My guess is the center of the manifold is not properly sealed and thats where the leak is comming from.
SSC

 

It will be right at the rear of the intake manifold, more to the drivers side. Kinda under and to the side of the Distributor. It could be one of two different senders/switches. One is small and has 2 spade connectors on the switch, this one would be for the oil light and to supply voltage to the choke with the engine running. The other one is large and will only use a one wire connector, this one would be for the oil pressure guage.
I do not know which one your car would have at the rear of the intake though

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-Joseph
ASE Master Automobile Technician
Scoggin-Dickey Chevrolet

1967 Camaro (Vortec Heads, GM Vortec Intake, ZZ4 roller camshaft) --- Planning T-56 Install in the near future
1992 Firebird (Weiler Vortec Heads, LT4 Hot Cam, GM Vortec Intake, 3000 Stall, 3.73's, Auburn Posi)

 

BTW if you lost all that oil when you were cranking it did not leak out the intake gasket end seals, It would have to be running as usually only crankcase pressure will push oil out for that kind of leak at the ends of the intake. And yes silicone is much better for the manifold end seals, not that ugly orange or blue though, thats some nasty stuff. The valve cover gaskets would be a possibility though.

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-Joseph
ASE Master Automobile Technician
Scoggin-Dickey Chevrolet

1967 Camaro (Vortec Heads, GM Vortec Intake, ZZ4 roller camshaft) --- Planning T-56 Install in the near future
1992 Firebird (Weiler Vortec Heads, LT4 Hot Cam, GM Vortec Intake, 3000 Stall, 3.73's, Auburn Posi)

[This message has been edited by Joseph@SDSC (edited May 11, 2001).]

 

yeah I sealed the intake with a small bead of silicone and then the gasket on top of it.its all over the tranny and leaking down to where the oilfilter is. damn what a messy error on my part, so much for degreasing the engine yesterday

 

I would say that it is your valve covers, probally in the lower rear corner. YOu have the kind with 4 bolts?... and not the centerbolt ones right?... Well, do like i did, and go spend $35 on some fel pro permatorque gaskets... you cant overtighten them, they stop most valve cover leaks and they can be used again many times.

 

the valve cover? no way it would leak that much. you sure that the oil pressure transmitter isnt leaking. thats what it sounds like to me, its high pressure oil that is going to make a mess like that.

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85 IROC 350 11:1keith blacks,.555lift erson roller cam,1.5 crane roller rockers,edelbrock intake,holley 4150 750dbl pumper, nitrous oxide,full length heddman headers,true dual exhaust, 11"stall converter, 700R4, 3.73 locker

 

I will bet both my ********* that it is the sending unit. When I changed my rod bearings in car on my 350 powered 79 Capri, I snapped the sending unit right off. When I was done, I fired the car up and when I noticed I wasn't getting oil pressure, I shut it down. I looked under the hood and had oil all down my firewall trans and oil filter. I only ran it for about 5-10 secs but I lost 4 liters of oil in that time. Also on my Camaro when I put a new intake on, I crackedd the sending unit. I had oil pressure according to the gauge, but ther was this "mysterious" stream of oil puddling on the floor by the oil filter. I fixed both by putting a mech. gauge in. These are easy to break. I would suggest putting more oil in, weasel your hand around the sending unit ( unless you can see in there!) and have a buddy crank the engine. Almost guaranteed your hand should come out covered in oil.

Good luck

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85 Berlinetta Iroc exterior NOW 454 powered, 4.10 gears, 275/60/15 Hoosier Quicktimes and a PILE of other goodies..........YES, it's street driven!

check it out at http://www.bsronline.net/members/rob/rob_specs.html

[This message has been edited by CrazyRob75 (edited May 12, 2001).]

 

Yeah, those sending units have an 'extension' on them. If you rested your hand on it or bumped it with the head when you removed it, it would simply crack. I had a massive leak there also, but it was just my sending unit leaking.

 

yeah it was the sending unit ( pain in the a$$ to get to it) was not properly tightened down, thanks guys i was really lost on this one

 

Now go enjoy all your hard work.......Go lay a couple of BIG patches!

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85 Berlinetta Iroc exterior NOW 454 powered, 4.10 gears, 275/60/15 Hoosier Quicktimes and a PILE of other goodies..........YES, it's street driven!

check it out at http://www.bsronline.net/members/rob/rob_specs.html

 

wish i could, she won't crank, have a feeling that the distributor isn't aligned properly, oh well. the head gasket led me to do the following 262XE comp cam, port &polished heads, milled and lathed, hardened pushrods, port matched and gasket matched to performer rpm intake with a 600 cfm edelbrock carb. Fluidampr harmonic balancer and march power pulleys up front, also accel HEI vac. adv. blueprint distributor W/ super coil and super comp. full length headers. SHOULD RUN A TINY BIT BETTER I THINK. let you know what kind of 1/4 times i get with this combo hoping for low 14's.

 

Wow! THat's alot of crap for adding into a head gasket change! It sounds like when you get it going, it will be strong!
I was going to vote for the sender, too, but I see you got it now!

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Working on:
'84 Z28 LG4 305 with 200,000 original miles!
Added dual elec fans.
145 MPH IROC Speedo
Building 430 HP 350 (ZZ430)
using primarily GMPP parts.
Short block sitting on a stand. (Man, those Fast-Burn heads sitting on it look good!)

Starting to look like the Kicker poster child!

ASE Certified Master Tech