Pull your oil filter housing (1) off the engine. Have a look at the orientation of the oil pressure relief valve spring & piston. Once you pull the oil filter housing off, if you see the spring (4) first, it is installed backwards! The spring (4) goes into the timing cover, then the piston (3), & finally the oil filter housing bolts on. if it is backwards, you will loose oil pressure and then engine damage will occur. This is what killed my Whodumbass engine.

This is also a good time to the do the oil pressure valve spring mod too!

It is supposed to look like this:

[This message has been edited by BV MotorSports (edited 08-19-2013).]

That information is incorrect....lol......you edited, I edited.....regardless, we both have the same answer

Dave

[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 08-19-2013).]

While on the topic of oil pressure, what is a good oil pressure for 3800? Mine starts out nearly maxed (~80) when cold, then after 15-20 mins at full operating temp it sits around 50psi, maybe 45.. This is with 10w30 synthetic. I'm not so sure how accurate my gauge is, sender is a brand new AC Delco {88' Fiero one}.


Edit: Also I can't believe how much trouble you went through having this swap done, this is why I do everything myself, I always get screwed in the end when having stuff done by others or mechanics. And the cost is farr less, my swap didn't cost much over 3k, and I am confident in the quality of the build.
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86 Fiero GT 4spd - L67 swap: VS cam, GenV. Needs exhaust (ETA 9/13) Build Progress
98 GTP - Some mods

[This message has been edited by sco77 (edited 08-19-2013).]

...and the hits just keep on coming. yeesh.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 08-19-2013).]

quote Originally posted by bmwguru: That information is incorrect....lol......you edited, I edited.....regardless, we both have the same answer Dave

LOL in my haste to post it, I explained it incorrectly. Also in speaking with Jeff @ Engineered Performance in Atlanta. This is a VERY common problem with Whodumbass engines.

Edit to add:
sco77 Thats perfect for the 3800 if a bit on the high side when cold.

[This message has been edited by BV MotorSports (edited 08-19-2013).]

The oil pressure sounds good for a fresh, tight engine.
My SBC had the same pressure when it was fresh, and
it dropped after a few years.

Damn....my spring is missing completely! Wait, where the heck is my engine...its missing! What the....where the heck is the car???

My car when cold is all the way to the right and drops down once the engine is hot.

I don't want to highjack this thread, I posted in another thread and only got two hits. I have a 3800SC series lll and out of no where my oil pressure gauge ( after market ) started reading high ( 100 Pds ) Does anyone have any ideas what the cause would be? Gauge , sending unit , etc. And where would they be located ?

Sending unit should be located down on the oil filter adapter on the 3800 engine

quote Originally posted by IIKool: I don't want to highjack this thread, I posted in another thread and only got two hits. I have a 3800SC series lll and out of no where my oil pressure gauge ( after market ) started reading high ( 100 Pds ) Does anyone have any ideas what the cause would be? Gauge , sending unit , etc. And where would they be located ?

Could be the sensor or the oil bypass piston is getting a bit sticky in its bore. 3.8's have a gear mesh oil pump so its going to make X amount of psi per X amount of RPM not matter what. The oil pressure spring can alter the pressure as well as a few other things. Mounted near the passenger side strut tower, between the axle and crank pulley.

quote Originally posted by BV MotorSports: Could be the sensor or the oil bypass piston is getting a bit sticky in its bore. 3.8's have a gear mesh oil pump so its going to make X amount of psi per X amount of RPM not matter what. The oil pressure spring can alter the pressure as well as a few other things. Mounted near the passenger side strut tower, between the axle and crank pulley.

Is that in the pic, in the first post ?

Yep

quote Originally posted by johnyrottin: Damn....my spring is missing completely! Wait, where the heck is my engine...its missing! What the....where the heck is the car???

Hey, John, I've got a spring you can have. I think it came off the exhaust system. Will that work? When you get the chance call me about the Joel Project, Please.

Did anyone even get a 3800 back from Dean? From what I gather more are missing than were returned.

They were returned alright, just not to the PPL that owned them.

quote Originally posted by mptighe: Did anyone even get a 3800 back from Dean? From what I gather more are missing than were returned.

I have a Dean 3800 SC Series II engine that runs well until it eats the fuel pump. Hopefully a DW200 pump will cure this habit since it was on pump number there prior to the DW200 pump.

Nelson

quote Originally posted by hnthomps: I have a Dean 3800 SC Series II engine that runs well until it eats the fuel pump. Hopefully a DW200 pump will cure this habit since it was on pump number there prior to the DW200 pump. Nelson

You probably need the Fuel pump hot wire mod.

quote Originally posted by hnthomps: I have a Dean 3800 SC Series II engine that runs well until it eats the fuel pump. Hopefully a DW200 pump will cure this habit since it was on pump number there prior to the DW200 pump. Nelson

This doesn't sound right, unless you got some really crappy pumps or ones that aren't adequate for the engine.. Sounds a lot like it wasn't originally installed correctly or wired correctly.

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86 Fiero GT 4spd - L67 swap: VS cam, GenV. Needs exhaust (ETA 9/13) Build Progress
98 GTP - Some mods