Hey guys,

I have these 4 annoying little probs with my car and if anybody could help me solve em, I would really appreciate it:

1) My car keeps smoking on startup, maybe the first 5 secs or so, anywaya the valve seals are leaking right? How hard is it to replace them cause my TA burned up all its oil in 3 months time?

2) My oil gauge sits at 0 during idle (cause no oild left) but when I rev the engine it goes up till about 30 then settles back to 0. Why does this happen, just curious?

3) When I make right turns, I hear squeaking in the back of the car, what could this be, I'm thinking shocks, right? What can I do to fix this?

4) Finally... When I rev the engine above 4K and then let go there is a noise from the back exhaust, sorta like a backfire, is this casued by fouled sparkplugs (or something else in ignition) or something in the exhasut system? BTW It doesn't happen if I don't rev to 4K.

If somebody has some time please answer my questions... Thanks all

-Max

 

1. The smoke on startup is most likely valve seals. They're not hard to replace, but could be intimidating to someone who's never done it before or has little engine experience.

2. If your oil pressure is actually at zero, you have a lot more to worry about than the gauge. But anyways, oil pressure should go up when you rev the engine. (It should just go higher than 30.) If you mean at a steady RPM it'll rise to 30 then drop back to 0 without letting off on the gas, well... Maybe (just theorizing) it sucks all the oil out of the pan. While it's doing that, the pressure goes up. But when it runs out of oil, the pressure's going to drop back down to zero.

3. mmm not sure

4. Could be a hole in the exhaust somewhere... Or maybe valve float? Not TOO sure.


In any event, you need to get the oil problem taken care of. Are you sure ALL the oil is gone, or is it just too low to register on the dipstick? (Either way, it's a bad problem.) If it is the valve seals, that's a pretty sorry condition they must be in.. Are you leaking oil anywhere else? Bottom of the car, valve covers, etc.?

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89 iroc-z 305 tbi
k&n filtercharger, open element air filter. nuffin' else

 

Thanks for the help,

Anyways there is still oil left in the pan, about half an inch on a dipstick. Oil doesn't drip out of the car it only burns on startup, thats why I don't want to do on oil change before the problem is fixed, or the same thing will happen very soon.

I do have relativley little engine experience but I am a quick learner, so if somebody could point me in the direction of an article on changing these or explain it to me, I would appreciate it.

-Max

 

I'll forward you the instructions I received...


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89 iroc-z 305 tbi
k&n filtercharger, open element air filter. nuffin' else

 

Answers
<ul>[*]1) It's impossible for valve seal leaks to use that much oil. My '86 would smoke like a damn diesel when I started it and there was no change on the dipstick after 3000 miles. Your car is burning oil, plain and simple.
[*]2) You probably have a turned bearing somewhere. Look for your car to start knocking soon, just before the bearing siezes.
[*]3) Shocks usually rattle more than squeak. Chances are it's a shock, but you really need to do a visual inspection.
[*]4) Some mufflers will backrap, Flowmasters are common for this. You may have an exhaust leak but I doubt it as they usually cause a howl rather than a backfire.[/list]
No problem, Max.. hopefully you didn't just buy your car like that..

Turned main or rod bearings can be caused by bagging your car when it's cold, running it low on oil, hard cornering when low on oil, too low of viscousity of oil which thins at high temps and provides inadequate protection..

just some thoughts, good luck dude...
Colin

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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

[This message has been edited by ColinOpseth (edited July 14, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by ColinOpseth (edited July 14, 2001).]

 

Thanks for more help,

Problems 3 and 4 are now fixed but from Colin wrote 1 & 2 sound pretty serious... and I did just buy my car like that (3 months ago when I just grabbed the first TA I saw and overpaid for it too...)

I only drove about 5 miles home after the oil gauge started jumping, and I never abused the car while engine is cold.

So... I have a car with a siezed bearing and one that bruns oil, so how do I fix these problems. Are these serious problems? Is there an easy fix for these or is this going to cost big $$$?

-Max

 

I don't think you've spun a bearing, you'd have a knock after the 3 months you've owned the car, if you did. Low oil pressure would be caused by excessive bearing clearances, but you should either get a mechanical gauge and tap into the pressure to verify what the readings really are, or have a local shop that you trust do it.

Shot valve seals and worn guides will pull a lot of oil through them, you'd really notice this on decelleration while holding a gear...lotsa blue-ish smoke following ya You could also have an intake gasket leak as well, that would cause the same symptoms. Incorrect functioning of the PCV system can do it as well.

If she smokes while accelerating, then most likely you have a ring problem.

Once the motor is warmed up, take the oil fill cap off tha valve cover, see if there's lots of smoke coming out which would indicate blow-by (rings) or a steamish vapor (PCV).

If your low oil pressure is infact real, then you'll have to detremine if it's the bearings or pump, both of which would require pullin the pan, both of which would cost you some $$ to do at a shop.

If it is the rings...the engine needs to come out, if it's the bearings and it were my engine, it'd come out.

Best to do the preliminary checks and diag first, then make the call.

 

Thanks for the suggestions,

Since some of this stuff is going over my head I am not going to try this myself.Since I dont have a knock the bearings intcat, but if I understand correcly you're saying that either my gauge is faulty or I actually have low oil pressure and then its better to let a professional look at it.

As for the symptoms it ONLY smokes when started cold, doesn't smoke any other time at all. I'm going to call one of my firends who knows F-Bodies over tomorrow and have him check it out. Thanks for the help guys.

-Max

 

heh, i didn't.. my car made no noise at all, and with a mechanical gauge at idle it had 8psi of oil pressure.. and i put 5000 miles on my engine (not bagging it, though)

and i have my old bearings to prove... my crank had to be ground .030 just to get it back into shape..

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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

 

Colin,

You spun a bearing after driving with 8psi of pressure for 5K miles? Does that mean I'm in relativley good shape if I drove under 10 miles with the low oil pressure?

BTW Where can I get a mechanical oil pressure gauge, approx how much would it cost?

-Max

 

For your oil pressure problem, you may want to replace the oil pressure sending unit, it may be bad. when mine was bad the oil pressure was all over the place, but i am sure that it could register in the way you are describing too. It's very simple to replace. It solved my problem. just an idea i hope it helps good luck with your other problems too.

 

no, the car was sold to me with the problem. I know because when I test drove it the guy said "look at that oil pressure, i'ts like brand new!" and then when i got home (2000 miles) i changed the oil and the oil pressure was over 5psi less than before. obviously he'd put some additive in there to make the oil thicker.

no, as soon as the oil pressure started hitting a touch above the redline i stopped driving it period. that is probably why my engine didn't let go period because as SOON as I noticed that something was seriously wrong i pulled it off the road.

i used a gauge from my El Camino and used that semi-clear nylon oil pressure line with some brass fittings.

I'll attach pictures of my oil pressure so you can see how my setup looked.. good luck man..

here's the pics:
www.IROC-Z.org/3rdgen/IROCZ1.JPG
www.IROC-Z.org/3rdgen/IROCZ2.JPG
www.IROC-Z.org/3rdgen/IROCZ3.JPG

my old digital was a piece of crap, you can barely make out the large numbers. It was idling at 4psi in that picture.

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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

 

actually if his sensor went bad the gauge would zero, look at the IROCZ1.JPG in my previous reply, you can see that my oil pressure gauge zeros to the top when the sender is unplugged.



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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

 

Wait...

If my oil press. sender went bad it would always be at 0? Because it drops to 0 as soon as the car heats up to 220F and stays pretty constant, at 15psi when its cooler.

So can somebody review the possible preoblems for me, as far as I understand its either:

- Faulty pressure sender
- Spun bearing in the engine
- Not enough oil left

If somebody can tell me for sure which problme it is, and how to fix it, I woudl appreciate it.

BTW Colin, if I dont have an El Camino gauge to use, do you knwo where I can pick up a tester mechanical one?

Thanks,
-Max

 

well, my El Camino had aftermarket gauges, i just yanked it off, lol..

any old car will have the standard oil pressure gauge which didn't use a sender but used oil pressure lines..

you could hit a junkyard and snag pretty much any oil pressure gauge from a vehicle and try it out..

I don't know enough about oil pressure sending units to give you a definite answer.

This is what I did with my car:
<ul>[*]changed the sending unit (rear of intake, on the driverside of the distributor)[*]changed the oil with 20w50 and put on a brand new AC Delco oil filter (PF35)[*]tested oil pressure with a mechanical gauge[/list]
I would try to do those things in that order and see if it clears up. If not, you've got problems..

hope I helped you out man,
Colin

 

Thanks for the advice,

Today I changed the oil (10w-30 Mobil 1) and replaced my old ac Delco with a Fram (Strauss didn't carry AC Delco) and the exact same problem is still there, the pressure stay s at 15 and drops to 0 when engine heats up. Could this be an oil pump not actually pumping the oil into the engine?

Can anybody please help me, its driving me insane

-Max

 

BTW The oil press sender is kind of behind the intake under the distibutor on the DS and has a weird plug connected to teh top of it, right? Or am I looking at a totally different piece? Also where can I get a new one of these units? Auto store, or boneyard?

-Max