How bad is it....

[Saleen407]

...when your oil pressure gauge is at zero, and you hear a NASTY chattering sound coming from the motor after 2000 RPMS??????????

My car has been running a little bit on the hot side these last few nites that I took it out. Usually, its around a quarter way up the temp gauge, but it managed to jump up to 1/2 and at most 3/4 the way up...

So, I brought the car home today, and checked my antifreeze level, and my oil level. Antifreeze was okay, so i left it alone. Oil was a bit low, and all I had was some 5W-30 in the garage. (I usually run 10W30) I added half a quart of 5w30 and drove about 8-10 miles, no issues. Car warmed up the the halfway point on the temp gauge too.

After 20 minutes I get back in the car, and I have no oil pressure at all. If i drive it it sounds fine, unless I rev past 2K. Any idea WTF could be wrong?? I doubt its the gauge, because of the noise I hear from the motor.

Maybe the sending unit? Did I cause this possibly by adding 5W30 instead of 10W30???

[turfmn]

How many miles on the engine? You may want to try some 10w40.

[dodgestang]

1. If your oil pressure ever reads zero when the motor is running immediately shut the car off to avoid MORE damage than is already done.

2. Put a new oil sender in and start the car for a MOMENT to see if you get oil pressure. If you thinned out the oil too much you might just be hearing the valve train more than normal but most likely you have toasted the motor and it will need to be torn down and inspected.

[Saleen407]

Brian, the motor has around 102 or so on it....

dodgestang-option 2....toasted the motor? You really think so? it drives fine under 2K for some reason...

[rathmir]

maybe the oil pump is weak? im assuming the oil level is correct? you might want to drain it and refill it with 10w30....or even 10w40. do you have any leaks, and oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil? coolant will be the first thing to come out when draining the pain because oil floats on top of it.

[dodgestang]

If you are running without oil pressure (pressure of zero) regardless of if the car 'sounds fine' up till 2k....you are or have already destroyed bearings.

If your sender is broken, then you are not running with zero oil pressure

If you are running with a broken oil pump and your pressure is just really really low, you most likely scored the bearings anyway as soon as you heard a noise.

[Saleen407]

If you are running without oil pressure (pressure of zero) regardless of if the car 'sounds fine' up till 2k....you are or have already destroyed bearings.

If your sender is broken, then you are not running with zero oil pressure

If you are running with a broken oil pump and your pressure is just really really low, you most likely scored the bearings anyway as soon as you heard a noise.
I really hope somehow you're wrong, and all I need to do is replace the pump.... :(

[dodgestang]

I really hope somehow you're wrong, and all I need to do is replace the pump.... :(

I do too.

[DynoJoe]

Put a mechanical gauge on it, if it does not read then chances are the pump went south. the noise should be in the top end , if you hear it lower then it is more than likley you have some kind of bearing failure. If thats the case it is anot all bad news. These motors are ressistant. ou can sometimes get away with just grinding then crank and reringing it wich is relativley inexpensive. If the oil pump is bad you need to figure out why . More then likley due to bearing failure. Hope this helps

[Saleen407]

I finally had the car checked out by a friend of mine today. He hooked up a mechanical gauge to the car, and had no pressure at all. ZERO :( When I started the car up, it sounded horrible. Extremely loud clattering sound from the top end of the motor, prob due to the fact all the oil had settled in the last few days...

After that, we took off the distributor. It was very loose, which wasnt a good sign according to him. Looking into the hole in the block, we could see the shaft of the pump in place. Tried to prime it, but no luck with that either. Turns out the shaft was snapped, and it fell out of place when we tried to prime it.

At this point, the car is in the garage, without a dist. in it, and a rag plugging the hole in the block. I got his opinion, and the opinion of an engine builder i know, and they both suggest ripping the motor out of the car, and upgrading. Choices I have would be a 306, 331 or a 347...which would be sweet, but big bucks.

I don't think it's worth the 550-700 bucks to just change the pump and shaft hoping thats the only issue. With 102 or so miles on the 16 yr old motor, maybe I should just save up, and fix it up? I want to keep the stock block, unless I really should upgrade it, but i'm not sure.

Most of you guys have known me for a while, so I'm looking for some advice on how to handle this situation. Car is NOT a race car, just soemthing to get in a cruise around here and there. I had planned on ordering an S trim in the next week or two for it, but this shit just ruined those plans. So, if anyone can give me some tips or advice on what to do, I'd really appreciate it....

I know I posted this on 2 other boards, and thats only because everyone is scattered around lately. Thanks a lot everyone..

[DynoJoe]

Take it apart and see what ya got. The stock motor is capable of amazing things so if nothing is hurt too bad I would just rering it. If you need a crank that would not be the worst thing. Cut the ridge in the cyls if there is one and hone the block. It should be salvagable. They run the best when they are loose.You will spend very little money to do this. If you wanna do some upgrades then spend the money on the heads.Even on a budget some neckdown swirl polished valves and some port work will go a long way. Deck about 40 thous off the heads to raise the static compression or a clean up cut if you are gonna run a blower. Upgrade to some ARP headblots and maybe a custom grind cam. This will be budget concious and still be fun to drive.I use the 18 year old pistons that came out of my block even now. Hope this helps- Joey:-D

[Saleen407]

At this point, I am really thinking about building a motor for the car. Only reason being, I planned on spending 2500 for an S trim this week, plus whatever else I needed to make that work out on my car...So, I figured why not take that money I had for the s/c and put it towards a motor build...

The engine builder I know, and a friend of mine, have suggested either a 306, 331 stroker, or a347 stroker...I dunno what the difference is between these other than cubic inches :) I know I have the option of keeping the stock block and working that... Or, should I go for a new block/rotating assembly and work from there?

A friend of mine looked online and found a few things I might want to look at, and of course I want YOUR opinions as well. My main goal for my car is this: I want to get in, and go, and not worry about tuning this and that, or why is this not working, etc., etc.. I race at most 2 times a year at the Nats, and the car is mostly a cruiser, whether its local/highway driving. So...here's the parts I was recommended to look at:

Eagle Brand 347 Rotating Assembly $1750
347 info (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=ESP%2DB14036030&N=700+400075+1010+4294908331+4294832636+4294891030 +310066+115&autoview=sku)
All parts are forged, and pistons will work with s/c or nitrous in the future...

Eagle Brand 332 $1840
332 info (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=ESP%2D14014030&N=700+400075+1010+4294908331+4294891030+310066+429 4832635+115&autoview=sku)

FRPP Sportsman Block- $909

Set of AFR185cc heads… $1350

Rocker Arms Pro Magnum (Comp Cams) 3/8 Stud Mount $260

Cylinder Head Bolts ARP probably

[DynoJoe]

Sounds like a good plan :-D You can never go wrong adding cubic inches. Prolly a 331 for street duty or the 306 if you plan on doing alot of driving. The 347 is good too. My brother drove his car every day with a stroker motor.