To be perfectly honest, the 3rd Gen Camaro gauges are extremely "iffy." I've had my 91 RS for about a year or so now, and I'm tapping on about 190k miles on it. I'm running the car into the ground, however, I've noticed my Tach is always about 1-2k over the real rotation. I've noticed my gas gauge fluctuates depending on how hard I chomp on the pedals. I've also seen my temp gauge wiggle, the oil pressure gauge skyrocket and drop to ridiculous levels, and even my damn speedometer is about 10 mph over my average speed.

If you plan on keeping that car, and possibly replacing the engine and whatnot, I'd think about picking up some Autometers (pretty pricy, but damn well worth it), a new Oil Pressure Sensor, change the thermostat, fuel filter, etc. etc. etc. Anything can screw with your gauges, but, when your gauges suck in the first place, it doesn't matter if everything on the car is perfect, you won't be getting accurate readouts and you'll be flying down the highway at a buck twenty and **** your pants when you see your temp hit 260.

 

Oh, I plan on installing a custom aftermarket cluster definately.

 

I don't know if it makes any difference or not, but my engine never gets hot, even after being driven for a while or idling for a long time the temp stays around 190... if the engine were "about to blow" because it didn't have enough oil pressure, wouldn't it be getting very hot very often?

 

If you would take your car to a repair shop first thing they would do is put a hand held oil pressure gage on it.Any part store should have one. Or
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92687

Step one. Figure if its a engine issue or a gage issue.

If its a Gage issue you can throw parts at or get a book and a volt meter figure out what up.

You should have 10 PSI per 1000 RPMs Min. to prevent damage. The first noise you would hear at idle is the lifters tapping. The probelm isif you hear any nosie from the bottom end of the engine it is too late damage is done. Most of the damage would happen under load while you where driving. A bad main brearing can be quite at idle right up to the time it spins and your motor seizes. Rod bearing will get real noisey when reving the engine.

FYI if you have that much damage the it effects engine temp most likely the motor will never turn over again.

 

Maybe I should record my engine at cold to hot so you can see if you hear something. The engine sounds ok to me, the temperature is perfect always. It never goes above 180ºF unless I'm in bumper to bumper traffic behind another car.

 

OKm I know its been forever but here's an update.

I had the pressure checked with a mechanical gauge, and it turns out that the dash gauge is showing ~15 pounds less than actual-- the actual oil pressure starts off at 30 and after running for a long time drops down to where it idles around 15 (at around 750rpm, I think), but the dash gauge reads 15 at cold start and quickly drops to zero.

So, it looks like I'm ok, at least for now, aside from the fact that unless I have the gauge or sending unit replaced, I have no way of knowing if the oil pressure really drops to zero...

Thanks for the replies!

 

oh, youll know if it drops to zero... lol. Engines like their oil

 

so i now this post is a little old but im having the same problem with my 91rs 305 tbi 174k
oil pressure reads fine for about 15 - 30 min then drops to 0 then only moves when i rev. and when i do rev it it only goes up about a quarter of the way up. i need to fix this soon since i wanna roll it this spring/summer then rebuild in the winter.

i was sitting at the burger king drive thru when my pressure dropped to 0! im like shxt. i already paid im bout to leave my food here and drive home. but i was fine made it home actually later restarted the engine and let it idle for bout 15 then drove it and the same thing : oil pressure drops when the engine is at temp.
can someone give me a part # for the pressure sensor i cant seem to find one on autozones site. and the people at the store round here are tards.
ive also told this could be a head gasket which prompted the rebuilding/upgrading idea in the first place. weve got the tools and the time for a rebild i just dont wanna drive my s10 all summer cause i got my camaro apart.
im cleaning the garage sunday then doing this with an oil change and new fuel filter on tues so il post a pic of where the sensor is for reference.

any help or the part# would be appreciated thanx

 

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductL...17&PTSet=A

Really not to hard to find. You can even buy it here and pick it up at your local parts store, Advance Auto Parts, Kragen Auto Parts, Checker Auto Parts,Murray's and Schuck's. It is sometimes a few dollars cheaper online.

Vince

 

n/m i found it ill post pics once its all done so no one else has to worry about this prob