I just finished a 3800sc and i used a firebird oil filter housing. When i removed the housing and filter I found it to be all dry only 5 drops of old oil. The engine ran a total of 10 minutes all together. It sounded fine i did oil change 10w30 . The relief spring is good i took it out but the nipple os still in. I removed the housing to install a 98 gtp housing. Is the nipple being stuck in causing the whole filter and housing to be dry? The after market temp and pressure sensors never read, i know now cause their never was any oil filtering through. What now? Bty its a 97 3800sc

I am surprised it ran then. Here are some things to look at.

1) The oil pump has completely failed (Common on the 3800s) - Meaning nothing is being lubricated... Don't run the engine to you replace it

2) The oil pressure relief valve is stuck shut (Could have happened) - This valve regulates oil pressure in the engine. I believe It is supposed to limit to 60lbs of pressure in the 3800 (I might be wrong about that number). Under normal operation, once 60lbs of pressure is met, the valve is supposed to bypass the oil filter and dump the oil back into the sump pan to relieve some pressure.

2) Clogged oil galley (probably not) - If an oil galley was clogged, the back pressure on on the oil pump would give the engine a really rough idle it even started at all. At least that is how it is in most cases.

[This message has been edited by fieromatty (edited 05-15-2015).]

Good practice is also to fill your oil filter with clean oil when changing it...this ensures uninterrupted oil flow when starting the engine for the first time after an oil change. Of course, ironically, not doing this step may have actually helped you catch a serious problem. Definitely do not run this again until you have tracked down the problem.

I'm reading all i can about this I'm going to put oil in the h filter. The Sat almost a year. I ran with old oil for 5 min. Then 5 min after New oil. The oil looked normal and oil did come out the filter. The screen may be clogged, pump is out but Google says these hardly ever go out, the lines inside the engine are clogged. Any ideas how to unclog the lines? I wanted to fill filter but if housing is dry i don't see how that's going to work. I turned crank shaft by hand i don't see any oil. Can i put compressed air in maybe to unclog it? The engine is out already. I hate to remove the oil pan i heard people say don't do it unless it's broken. I can pour some oil under valve cover, but i think it will just go to sump. Don't the rocker arms splash oil around when oil moving through? Any idea's any one i don't want to remove crank shaft cover unless i really have to

Resist the temptation to cut corners. Do the right thing and pull the oil pan off and inspect your oil pump. Maybe you'll end up spending less time and effort doing it than trying to figure this out some other way.

Pull the front crank shaft case? Remove oil pan? What do i look for?

I just saw a video i think i installed the relief valve spring backwards. The little cup goes out not in the engine lol is this right?

quote Originally posted by johnguzman1212: When i removed the housing and filter I found it to be all dry only 5 drops of old oil. The engine ran a total of 10 minutes all together. It sounded fine...

I don't see how the engine could still be "fine" if there was no oil circulating for ten minutes... or was the oil circulating but simply bypassing the oil filter?

quote Originally posted by johnguzman1212: I just saw a video i think i installed the relief valve spring backwards. The little cup goes out not in the engine lol is this right?

Oh man, that sucks! Yea like I said, oil will bypass the filter if the valve is closed. And the valve only lets oil flow in one direction. If you installed it backwards, you probably found your issue.

When i would run engine it was only for 10 seconds each time twice for 1 minute i hope their was no damage.

If you were bypassing your oil filter you may be lucky and get away with no damage. 10 minutes with NO oil flow will definitely do some damage.

If the valve was in backwards, no oil was going to the entire engine. 10 Minuets with no oil circulating definitely took some long term miles of the motor, but you shouldn't be too bad.

quote Originally posted by fieromatty: 10 Minuets with no oil circulating definitely took some long term miles of the motor, but you shouldn't be too bad.

I dunno about that. I can't see any engine surviving unscathed after ten minutes of running without oil.

I put valve in correct now and i can see how it works and if no valve then oil just went straight thru spring cause i can see where when the cup moves down the oil passes in front so i think oil went unfiltered I'll find out next week if any damage done and weather oil goes through filter

quote Originally posted by johnguzman1212: I put valve in correct now and i can see how it works and if no valve then oil just went straight thru spring cause i can see where when the cup moves down the oil passes in front so i think oil went unfiltered I'll find out next week if any damage done and weather oil goes through filter

You could make that more difficult to read by removing all the spaces between the words......

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My auto correct is messed up and i can't put any spaces in my sentences on face book. I forget i can on here. This phone sucks