i have a 1990 rs 305 v8 tbi camaro and i've noticed recently that the oil needle is resting in the red zone. what does this mean? how do i fix this? any help greatly appreciated

im sry i think i may have posted this in the wrong board

 

what do you mean by the redzone? like over pressured or not enough? (i havent looked at my gauges in like a week so i cant remember where red is) Check your oil levels and if they look good your gauge is just dumb, check into a new oil pressure sending unit and if you want to go the extra step get an autometer gauge for it too

 

its in the red where the 0 is. id assume its indicating note enough

 

I dont know how you can measure oil pressure by looking at the level on the dipstick? Apparently they didnt put that on the ASE tests I took. I would recommend, if available, that you hook up an oil pressure gauge to this. Measure the oil pressure. If it is within spec, replace the sender. If you cannot find one (harbor freight sells them for 10 bucks) go ahead and replace the sender, its less than 20 dollars. Become friends with a mechanic, then you can get access to gauges and scanners and whatnot pretty easily.

 

thanks for replying. do u think it could just be the gauge? after thinking about it my gauges are all pretty messed up. eg. rpm gauge reads 40 and goes off the scale when i accelerate, gas gauge goes up when moving and down when i come to a stop then levels out when not moving, and the oil one seems to also go up as im moving. the car seems to run fine. in yalls opinion do u think its just the gauge?

 

Read above. No amount of guessing, or level checking, or online assurances will tell you if the car has oil pressure. HOOK UP A GAUGE! Sorry, I didnt mean to yell, its just you cant beat it into people physically through the internet, so I have to raise my voice instead.

 

its straight. ive never heard of harbor frieght before. do they have stores? can i get a gauge like the one u stated at napa or advanced auto for about the same price?and once i do get the gauge, if it comes out that the pressure is too low wut would be the issue and the fix?

 

napa or vatozone would both sellone, it will be more expensive. You can buy an el cheapo like thats made to go inside and hook it up temporarily under the hood. Those are like 12 bucks or so. If the oil pressure is low, bad news. You are probably looking at a rebuild. Unless it is a 305, then its time for a three-fitty.

 

thanks for all your help. yea if its low then ill just get a 350. wanna get a 383 down the line anyways. this brings me to my next thread. 305 to 350 swap. i have a thread there asking these questions about the swap. mayb u could shed some light on that as well for me

here is the thread maybe u could take a look at it for me
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/engi...-350-swap.html

 

so i got the external oil gauge but i cant seem to figure out how to hook it up

 

O.K. i am not trying to slam you . but it sounds like you are not a mechanic . find one of your friends who knows some mechanics . if the engine is running and not makeing bad sounds , more than likely you have a bad oil press/ fuel sensor . it's located above oil filter on driver's side . it's not hard to change remember to use teflon tape on threads . good luck .

 

yea def not a mechanic. ive changed the oil filter on this car before so i know where that is. u say that the sensor is above it? so should i be able to access it from the top side of the hood? the gauge that i got has a positive and negative wire, im guessing for a back light. it also has a white transparent tube. my guess is that this goes into the block somewhere and will give me the pressure, just can figure out where it goes on the engine side

 

1 step at a time . first replace sensor ( be careful 20 yr. old plastic on elect. connection will be brittle ) the sensor will be just above oil filter with wires going to it . no you will not be able access from the top . its down and dirty . clean area around sensor , use wd-40 or good penatrent on base . remove sensor , replace , connect wires , start and check press. . if you have press. wich i feel you will , return mech. gage , get your money back .

 

i agree, get an aftermarket gauge and hook it up temp to see if you got out psi, or you can actually install it, a note, an eletrical aftermarket gauge is easier to install and you are not limited to how long the oil line is, if you go with a live (mechanical) gauge buy the copper line to connect it and throw away the plastic line

FYI i never go under 30 psi with 142,000 on mine

 

well i went to my buddy who also has a 3rd gen and picked up this book from him. its a 1985 camaro workshop book straight from GM. i looked through it and was able to find where the sensor cep the engine it showed wasnt mine. i looked closer and i wasnt able to find my engine at all(which i believe is the LO3) but i was able to find a diagram of the L69. i think the two are very similar. the diagram placed the sensor in front of the distributor. i took a pic. could this be my sensor? if not the next step is what you both said. here is the pic

http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...71_11_full.jpg

 

Nope thats not it. It should be next to the distributor on the drivers side of it. Many blocks also have the tap on the front of the engine behind the water pump. It will look like a plug screwed it, thats all it is. Hook it up and test it before you replace the sender.

 

ok thanks. im going to check this out in the morning. ill let u know how it goes

 

cool man. Report back.

 

The gauge is $15 or so?

That's how much the sending unit is. It's a bit annoying to get to, but it doesnt require any disassembly or special tools. You got a '90 L03, should be pretty similar to mine. It's a 92 L03.



It's the black, plastic thing above the oil filter with teh wires coming from it.

Just pull the plug off(grab the clip so it will come off, you may not be able to see the clip from the angle you're looking at it, so just know it's there. It's a little plastic clip, nothing to it), and put some giant channel locks around it and hold as tight as you can and unscrew the old one. Then just screw the new one in.

Just make sure when you put the pliers on it that you're grabbing it by the metal part beyond the plastic casing. It's a pain in the butt since there's not much room, but a little patience and you can get it done. The hardest part for me was threading the new unit into the hole, since you can't actually see it from below. But like I said, a little patience, some channelocks, and put your favorite cd on and you should have it done.

Just put a new sending unit in, they're so cheap it's stupid not to try that first. When you build your new motor, and you put that old sending unit in it, you're gonna get a false zero oil pressure reading which can cause a LOT of unnecessary headaches unless you realize right away that it's just the sending unit. Assuming it's bad, of course, but I'm betting it is.

But hey if you can get the gauge to work for you, great. If you get zero oil pressure then you'll just put an old sending unit that's notoriously prone to failure back into the new motor, and if you get good oil pressure, you'll need a new sending unit anyway.

 

Why throw parts at it? Why not go ahead and test the oil pressure to make sure its within spec? Its not hard to hook up a gauge and see.

 

i think i found it, is this the correct part?

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...71_12_full.jpg


o dang i didnt see the comment by infernal. sweet. thanks so much man. thank u all. i really appreciate it. cant wait to have my baby on the road

 

well, did you find out, do you have oil pressure?

 

no not yet. issues getting the stupid thing off. does it just unscrew or do i have to unscrew the bolt as well?

 

well i finally got it off. i hooked up a after market gauge and let her run and sat in the cold next to her watching the pressure. im happy to tell u guys that she stayed at a constant 25 psi 20 mins straight(before she would drop to almost nothing in 10 mins or less). so tmrw ill be stopping through advanced auto parts to get her the new sensor. im currently on spring break now as well so i have decided to go ahead with the red tail light conversion as well . i really wanna thank u guys for all the help. there is no way i could have done it myself without some guidance from u guys. thanks agian.

 

Why throw parts at it?

1. The Oil pressure sending unit is a whole $15, that's cheaper than most gauges.

2. The Oil Pressure sending unit is notorious for failing.

3. It's not hard to replace the sending unit at all. Annoying, but not hard.

4. If the mech gauge had told him he had good oil pressure, then he'd have to buy a new sending unit anyways.

5. If the mech gauge told him he had zero oil pressure, then he'd either have to spend $$$$ to rebuild/replace engine, and reuse an old prone to failure $15 sending unit on a brand new engine and have to replace it eventually anyways...

I mean I see your point, but these sending units are so cheap and the problem is either a $15 gauge or a rebuilt engine here... It's not like it's a complicated set of scenarios we're dealing with. Even if the sending unit was fine I wouldn't reuse it on a new build, motors are expensive and sending units are cheap.

But that's just my thoughts on it.


That said, if you've got a mechanical pressure gauge laying around, then feel free to hook it up and use it as a diagnostics tool, that's fine. Its a handy thing to have around on the rare occasion you need it. But for someone who is admittedly not a mechanic, I dont think he'd have much more use for it.

 

yea ima keep the gauge i bought just in case u know. i got one other car(dodge neon) and hopefully a new 3rdgen will be added to the family soon

 

Thats the whole point, isnt it? If he is going to be working on his own cars he needs the tools to properly diagnose. That gauge will come in handy for years to come and work on several different cars. in fact, one day he may have a car that doesnt have such cheap components, and thats the day that the 15 dollar oil pressure gauge is worth a lot more.

Im a mechanic, so to me its second nature to test everything three times and replace something once. A good idea, and I say it all the time, is for people to make friends with mechanics. You never know when borrowing a fuel pressure or oil pressure gauge can save your ***.