I just replaced my oil pan gasket, when starting up after filling with oil my pressure gauge stayed at 0. I shut it off right away, but I’m wondering what to do next. Any ideas on what to check? The pickup and screen looked good when the pan was off.
Okay I just disconnected the coil and fuel pump relay and cranked the motor, no change, it is not building oil pressure. Is there anything else to check besides pulling the pan again?
I can’t imagine it would be plugged with seeing some major goop in the pan when you changed it. Suppose the pickup tube could have fallen off…. Pull a valve cover off , see if oil is making it up there.
1- Remove all spark plugs so the the engine spins faster and crank it 10 seconds at time until you get oil pressure. Make sure you do it with the key in the ON position so the gauge is powered up and can read.
2- I'm assuming this is a distributor 2.8L. Remove the cap and mark the position of the rotor on the distributor housing. Mark the distributor housing to the block for reference when installing it back. Remove the distributor. Get a drill with an extension and a socket to match the hex size of the distributor shaft and with the drill spin the pump until you get oil pressure. Install distributor and rotor back matching the marks you made on the block and housing
[This message has been edited by La fiera (edited 10-30-2022).]
Thanks for the suggestions, I will try these next weekend when I can get back to my car.
My follow up question on this is:
Would there be any reason my oil pressure would take awhile to build after dropping the pan? Should I start by trying to build oil pressure or should I start by dropping the pan and seeing if the pickup tube fell off?
Yes I am relying on my gauge for oil pressure. Before dropping the pan my oil pressure and gauge always reacted as I would expect.
Now it's reading zero. I wouldn't think anything would have changed with the gauge, but stranger things have happened. (Patrick, you may remember my last thread on here where I had two plug wires switched....)
My initial thought (which may very well be wrong) is that it would make the most sense to drop the pan again, as it seems most likely something like the pickup tube fell off during installation.
Does it really make sense to go through the trouble of pulling a valve cover just to confirm that oil is or isn't reaching the top of the motor?
Yes I am relying on my gauge for oil pressure. Before dropping the pan my oil pressure and gauge always reacted as I would expect.
Now it's reading zero. I wouldn't think anything would have changed with the gauge, but stranger things have happened. (Patrick, you may remember my last thread on here where I had two plug wires switched....)
My initial thought (which may very well be wrong) is that it would make the most sense to drop the pan again, as it seems most likely something like the pickup tube fell off during installation.
Does it really make sense to go through the trouble of pulling a valve cover just to confirm that oil is or isn't reaching the top of the motor?
Thanks again for the help.
Normally, I am not one to pipe up. But you seem to be suffering from the same case of panic brain that I frequently suffer. Unless you noticed the pickup was loose and wobbly while the pan was off, the likelihood of it falling and you not noticing is very, very low. The likelihood of you accidently snagging a oil sending gauge wire, or something coming dislodged when the pan was removed, in my opinion seems much more likely
Furthermore, you are relying on one of the least reliable gauges (in my experience) in the car, to determine the status of a very important function of the engine. I wouldn't trust a Fiero electric gauge if it told me the sky was blue.
What I would do is find your sender and make sure everything is all hooked up right. And if it is, but is still showing no oil, unscrew the sender and screw in an el cheapo advanced auto oil pressure gauge in its place. This would be far easier to dinking around the valve covers and squirting oil everywhere. Crank the engine and see if the gauge bounces, you shouldn't need to remove the plugs to crank fast. It should build something.
Unless you noticed the pickup was loose and wobbly while the pan was off, the likelihood of it falling and you not noticing is very, very low. The likelihood of you accidently snagging a oil sending gauge wire, or something coming dislodged when the pan was removed, in my opinion seems much more likely.
That's exactly how I feel about it.
But yeah, you don't want to make assumptions either way. Temporarily attaching an aftermarket mechanical oil pressure gauge (if nothing seems obviously wrong with the factory setup) to confirm oil pressure is a good idea.
I just hooked up a mechanical gauge, and still no pressure. Anyone have any thoughts?
Well damn.
Before dropping the pan, I'd try what is suggested below. I use a modified junk distributor (powered by a drill) for this purpose.
quote
Originally posted by La fiera:
I'm assuming this is a distributor 2.8L. Remove the cap and mark the position of the rotor on the distributor housing. Mark the distributor housing to the block for reference when installing it back. Remove the distributor. Get a drill with an extension and a socket to match the hex size of the distributor shaft and with the drill spin the pump until you get oil pressure.
I'm guessing you did not remove the pump, while the pan was off. But if you did... IIRC, there is a driveshaft that goes between the distributor and the oil pump.
I would be inclined to pull the distributor, and use a prime tool to pump up the oil pressure. The pump might be trying to start without a prime.
I don’t believe so, I didn’t remove the Distributer, and I don’t think I touched anything when I removed the oil pan. But obviously I messed something up.
Thanks for all the help on this thread. I am going to try to prime through the distributor, and if that doesn't work it's back to pulling the pan to see what's going on. Unfortunately it's going to be about 4 weeks until I can get to it, so I will have an update here then.
Sorry everyone, I have been off of the forum for a few weeks. Got married and went on a honeymoon. My plan was to work on it again this weekend but I sliced my hand open pretty good last night and got a few stitches.
Can't catch a break over here but i'll be back at my barn this weekend. Progress may be slower with a bum hand but hopefully it is feeling better by then and I can get a few things done.
Sorry everyone, I have been off of the forum for a few weeks. Got married and went on a honeymoon. My plan was to work on it again this weekend but I sliced my hand open pretty good last night and got a few stitches.
Sounds like you've got more important things to be concerned with (both good and bad) than the car... or us. Congrats on the marriage!
Sorry for the long delay in posing on this thread. I have been busy lately as mentioned above, and have not had the time or energy to work on this.
Finally getting back to the Fiero this weekend, my plan is to test for oil pressure one more time, then pull the pan back off to figure out what's going on.
I'm shopping around for an oil pan gasket to make sure I'm prepared, is there any good answer on what the best gasket is for an early style 2.8? RTV or just the cork gasket? There is a lot of conflicting information on these.
Thanks! I'll reply with my findings once I make some progress
The oil pump may have lost its prime. As mentioned try driving the oil pump with an electric drill. It may take a minute or so to get the pump packed with oil.
------------------ formerly known as sanderson 1984 Quad 4 1886 SE 2.8L 1988 4.9L Cadillac 1988 3800 Supercharged
I just did as suggested and primed it with a drill. I now have great oil pressure, but I did pick up a pretty loud tick, it sounds like it’s coming from the valve covers. Lifter tick I’m assuming. Any ideas on what to do?
I would remove the spark plugs and pull the fuel pump fuse. Crank the engine for 30 seconds making sure there is oil pressure Then repeat the test driving the oil pump with an electric drill and see if the noise has gone away. The theory being that the lifters need to see some oil.
------------------ formerly known as sanderson 1984 Quad 4 1886 SE 2.8L 1988 4.9L Cadillac 1988 3800 Supercharged
How long would it take for oil to reach the lifters? I had it running for probably 1-2 minutes with it ticking
It should take 5-10 seconds but, maybe they got air for all that cranking. Just start it and let it run as long as you have oil pressure, they will pump up.
Congrats on the marriage!
