the corvette randomly gets no oil pressure and shuts off. i'm guessing its a fail safe that the car shuts off when it thinks it has no oil pressure. i'm hoping its just a faulty guage and not the actual oil pump seizing. the car only has 15000 miles on it. anybody else have experience with this kinda situation?

 

i tried searching to no avail by the way. but i'm still hoping this is a common thing

 

Bad news is that this not common.

What have you checked or done ? Have you checked your oil level ?

I would check oil level, put a mechanical gauge on it check pressure, check oil filter for clogs.

Most oil pressure problems are the oppoiste of yours, the guage gets pegged at 80 PSI due to a faulty sensor behind the intake manifold.

 

I would start by changing the oil and paying attention to anything unusual in the oil.
Then I would replace the oil pressure sender

 

Change the oil right away and look through the oil for any small metal pieces. If you do not change the oil yourself take it to a good repair shop and have them examine the oil. You average Grease Monkey will not care or take the time to look at. If you find any small metal shavings/pieces, the damage is done and have most likely spun a bearing.

Normally when the oil pressure send unit goes out, it will read zero or 199psi, but the motor will continue to run. Since your motor is actually stopping, I think you actaully have a no oil pressure issue rather than a bad sending unit. Get it look at soon rather than later.

Keith

 

wow no way. i figured it was just a bad sending unit or guage. we just bought the car from a dealership that i didn't particularly like but it was a good deal and they sell alot of cars. the car had 14K on it was owned by a doctor who didn't have the time to drive it and didn't want to see it just sit. it was on consignment on their lot. the motor isn't making any wierd noises and runs very smooth. just randomly shut off a couple times and said no oil pressure. my dad took it to a shop the other day. we'll see what they come back with. im hoping its just a sending unit because this will devastate him. this was his "want to buy cool **** before i die" car (he's 56) and if it needs a motor he'll be just completely devastated

 

I though the pcm would cut the motor off if it has 0 oil pressure?

 

my dad isn't the most car saavy person tho. he lives in new jersey and i'm in florida so i've only heard the car over the phone but he said he had them change the oil before he bought it and he took it to a mechanic to get it checked out before he bought it. the car might be shutting off for something else too and he just thinks its oil pressure because the light comes on because the motors off (i think that happens right? haha i've never really looked at the idiot lights with the car off)

 

really thats what it sounds like to me. something electrical because the car isn't like chugging to a stop and shutting off. the guage just randomly goes to zero and the car shuts off like it normally would if u turned the key.

 

Could be an electrical problem, but the oil pressure dropping to zero and shutting off is a saftey to protect the motor.

What is the oil pressure when the car is at idle ? It should be around 30 PSI and between 40 and 50 under normal driving.