BAM! then no oil pressure, but only at idle
04-21-2007, 10:13 PM
#1
Teching In
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
BAM! then no oil pressure, but only at idle hey guys, I am having a problem with my girlfriends camaro that has me a little stumped. Its a 98 3800 auto with about 117k on the clock. I havent had a chance to actually look at the car for myself just yet, but what she is describing to me has me a bit stumped.
Heres the story I got: She wanted to pass someone, she pulled into the passing lane and floored the car. She said it started to accelerate, so it wasnt like something broke on the impact of the tranny downshifting and sudden rpm increase, and after a few seconds of acceleration she heard a bam\whoosh sort of noise. I wasnt there and have yet to look at that car, but she said it sounded like a hose burst open or something. So she pulled into the turning lane to get the car off the road. While at the light she said she "knew it wasnt running right" , then she noticed her oil pressure was in the red and the check guages light came on. She said there was no ticking or knocking, just that the idle was low like the car was going to stall. She said when she gave it gas the oil pressure would come up, but she described the needle as erratic. The whole way home the car behaved this way. driving fine(except according to her witha noticable lack of power, but no unusual noises or misfires), but dropping at idle.
I am thinking it cant be an oil pump or oiling system problem because the lifters werent making any noise and one would think a broken oil pump wouldnt be affected by engine rpms. I am considering the possibility that the only reason the oil pressure is even dropping is because the idle is dropping dangerously close to stall. When I asked her if it started ticking at all when she was stopped, or if it just seemed like the car was going to stall, she said she didnt let it sit like that because she thought it would "kill the car" so every time she was stopped shed either double-foot or pop it into nuetral and give it a little gas.
heres the kicker, she drove it to work the next two days to and from work and it ran fine, she said wasnt even going to bother telling me about it untill tonight it when it started doing the same thing again. She only drove it to and from work those 2 days and her job is maybe 10 minutes away from her house, so the car never had a chance to get up to temperature, which may or may not have something to do with it. When I picked her up tonight she said she was so frustrated with it she didnt want me to look at it untill tomorrow, which is why i havent looked at it for myself yet., so I guess I dont know what I am even expecting to get by posting this here, I guess I just had to talk to someone about the problem because its on my mind and she didnt want to deal with it right away. any ideas guys? ll post tomorrow on what I find.
Heres the story I got: She wanted to pass someone, she pulled into the passing lane and floored the car. She said it started to accelerate, so it wasnt like something broke on the impact of the tranny downshifting and sudden rpm increase, and after a few seconds of acceleration she heard a bam\whoosh sort of noise. I wasnt there and have yet to look at that car, but she said it sounded like a hose burst open or something. So she pulled into the turning lane to get the car off the road. While at the light she said she "knew it wasnt running right" , then she noticed her oil pressure was in the red and the check guages light came on. She said there was no ticking or knocking, just that the idle was low like the car was going to stall. She said when she gave it gas the oil pressure would come up, but she described the needle as erratic. The whole way home the car behaved this way. driving fine(except according to her witha noticable lack of power, but no unusual noises or misfires), but dropping at idle.
I am thinking it cant be an oil pump or oiling system problem because the lifters werent making any noise and one would think a broken oil pump wouldnt be affected by engine rpms. I am considering the possibility that the only reason the oil pressure is even dropping is because the idle is dropping dangerously close to stall. When I asked her if it started ticking at all when she was stopped, or if it just seemed like the car was going to stall, she said she didnt let it sit like that because she thought it would "kill the car" so every time she was stopped shed either double-foot or pop it into nuetral and give it a little gas.
heres the kicker, she drove it to work the next two days to and from work and it ran fine, she said wasnt even going to bother telling me about it untill tonight it when it started doing the same thing again. She only drove it to and from work those 2 days and her job is maybe 10 minutes away from her house, so the car never had a chance to get up to temperature, which may or may not have something to do with it. When I picked her up tonight she said she was so frustrated with it she didnt want me to look at it untill tomorrow, which is why i havent looked at it for myself yet., so I guess I dont know what I am even expecting to get by posting this here, I guess I just had to talk to someone about the problem because its on my mind and she didnt want to deal with it right away. any ideas guys? ll post tomorrow on what I find.
04-22-2007, 11:14 AM
#3
TECH Resident
iTrader: (12)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: TX
Posts: 863
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
i had that same problem when i got my car. the oil pressure needle wouldn't stop twitching! checked my oil and realized how low i was not to mention how OLD it was! i would floor it and the car would just shut down and i'd lose oil pressure.
check your oil. actually, CHANGE your oil and look for leaks.
if i were you, i'd go to the seafoam thread and invest in that and then do an oil change. if you can, change all the fluids including the tranny. after you seafoam the car you may want to get new O2 sensors as well since the gunk that comes out the exhaust may burn them out.
that should fix the problem.
check your oil. actually, CHANGE your oil and look for leaks.
if i were you, i'd go to the seafoam thread and invest in that and then do an oil change. if you can, change all the fluids including the tranny. after you seafoam the car you may want to get new O2 sensors as well since the gunk that comes out the exhaust may burn them out.
that should fix the problem.
