zero oil pressure...
zero oil pressure... alright, was perfectly fine during the 1200 mile trip from houston to milwaukee. was fine last night during the normal cruise to the hangout. Go to start it tonight, and the car had zero oil pressure and had the check guage light come on then too obviously. car seemed to idle fine still though, but i didnt let it run long enough to find out. car has a small cam, so it's hard to tell if the lope is the motor bogging itself down from no oil. car still reads good for oil level. how could i check to see if it's just the sending unit without having to just drive the car and risk fudging it up. car is a '99 6speed Z. Thanks
Chris
Chris
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,889
Likes: 1
From: Lincolnton, NC
The first good sign you have is that it started and idled fine. The second was that there was plenty of oil in it. You can check your oil pump by running it a little then checking under the valve cover for oil. You can try looking through the oil cap hole with it running to see if oil is circulating. Otherwise you'll have to remove a valve cover. Good luck.
I wouldn't drive with no oil pressure if I was you. I thought the 98-99s have oil pump problems. Did the oil pump get replaced with the cam, or was it removed and put back? The o-ring should have been replaced either way. Has the intake been removed recently? It is common to break the sending unit when intakes are taken off. These oil pumps have failed too often, to risk it though.
oil pump was not replaced with the cam. just weird that there would be no signs of the oil pump failing. it was getting great oil pressure sat. night. That's the one thing i really keep an eye on when driving these cars cause i knew it hadn't been replaced. I was always worried about my '98 having something going wrong but it never did.
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Joined: Jan 2002
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From: Stuart Fl
Ive heard of similiar situations with the 98s. My buddys was fine, then came out next morning fired it up and had zero pressure and check gauges light. I definite ly wouldnt start or drive it anymore to be safe. At least you werent in the middle of nowhere!! Good luck!
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Joined: Nov 2002
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I had the same exact experience with my 2000 TWICE, then I changed the oil pump and it never happened again.
First time happened at about 10k miles. Great oil pressure all the time, but when I went to start it up the gauge read zero. It idled fine, didn't sound extra noisy, but with my LM exahust at the time, who knows... I drove it for about 45 seconds then it came back up.. probably a terrible idea in restropect but it was under warantee.
Took it to the dealer, said they could find nothing wrong, replaced the oil sender (supposably)... At about 20k it happened again! This time I turned the car off right away. By this time I aware of the oil pump "pressure relief valve" problem the 98-00 had. I was sure this was it since it only happened on initial startup and the pressure all other times was fine. I restarted the car later, and the pressure came back.
I went back to the dealer, they said they never heard of an oil pump problem like the one I described. Idiots..
I said screw it, I bought a 2002 pump, put it in myself, and all has been fine since...
I would say, just replace the pump and don't ever worry about it again.
Tommy
First time happened at about 10k miles. Great oil pressure all the time, but when I went to start it up the gauge read zero. It idled fine, didn't sound extra noisy, but with my LM exahust at the time, who knows... I drove it for about 45 seconds then it came back up.. probably a terrible idea in restropect but it was under warantee.
Took it to the dealer, said they could find nothing wrong, replaced the oil sender (supposably)... At about 20k it happened again! This time I turned the car off right away. By this time I aware of the oil pump "pressure relief valve" problem the 98-00 had. I was sure this was it since it only happened on initial startup and the pressure all other times was fine. I restarted the car later, and the pressure came back.
I went back to the dealer, they said they never heard of an oil pump problem like the one I described. Idiots..
I said screw it, I bought a 2002 pump, put it in myself, and all has been fine since...
I would say, just replace the pump and don't ever worry about it again.
Tommy
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ok, went back and checked it out and it still runs and idles fine. drove it around the lot a bit, but never out of first gear or above 1500 rpm Just odn't have the ***** to test it that much. But i let it run for like 5-10 minutes. So...
the question is, how long could a motor "run" before starting to knock from no oil and then seize up? I know I should just replace everything, but i don't want to invest any money into this motor when i'm trying to save for a new one. thanks
Chris
Just odn't have the ***** to test it that much. But i let it run for like 5-10 minutes. So...the question is, how long could a motor "run" before starting to knock from no oil and then seize up? I know I should just replace everything, but i don't want to invest any money into this motor when i'm trying to save for a new one. thanks
Chris
TECH Addict
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 2,662
Likes: 1
From: LaConner WA
Stop starting your car. You have NO oil pressure doesn't that tell you anything at all ? Are you waiting for a rod to start knocking to confirm that you REALLY don't have any oil pressure ? These oil pumps fail just like you described, my '01 did the same thing. This information is all over the internet. I'd tell you just to replace your oil pump, but now you've run it for 5-10 minutes and there's no way that no damage has occurred. Do whatever you want now, I'm not sure it matters anymore.