I got a 1988 Camaro with a 302... I noticed my oil pressure guage isnt working shows no pressure. I thought maybe my oil pump is out? I checked the dipstick and it shows oil up high on it.

Is there a way I can check if its the oil pump with out pulling it?

Thanks

 

If oil level is way high, drain some out to the right level. Too much oil can cause engine damage.
If you really had zero oil pressure, your engine would be clacking and clanging a lot. Is it? It's quite possible your gauge could be lying to you. Check your connections from the engine to gauge.
If you need to check the pump, pull the distributor and get an oil pump primer (shaft inserted into a drill connected down to the oil pump). You can use an old distributor shaft with the bottom gear ground off, if you have one. Run the drill, and you should start to feel resistance, and oil should pump up into the heads under the valve covers.

 

I think we're missing some stuff here. An 88 with a 302? If so, how long have you had the car? Are you talking about the stock sending unit style gauge or an aftermarket mechanical one?

 

My bad lol. I have a bronco which has a 302...

Its a chevy 305!!!!. Its a stock guage and my oil level is correct. When I start the car I have a slight slight noise in the lower end. No lifters are knockin or any thing.

 

any one know where the oil sending unit is located?

 

Drivers side, right above the oil filter boss. You need to get to it from underneath the car.

 

Well I pulled the oil pump and noticed it was clogged with plastic/gasket pieces. I also noticed the oil pump shaft retainer was broken. every thing else seemed fine. So I am curious if any one else thinks the shaft retainer could have been causing the problem. I am no expert but it looks like the retainer helps keep the shafts together with out alot of wobble or play?

 

Sounds like someone may have overdosed on the RTV during a gasket replacement, or was sloppy removing old gasket material? The plastic retainer for the pump does keep the shafts "locked" together. But even if cracked, they were still meshing. If there was that much crud in the pump screen to clog it, oil flow would be restricted. When you say "clogged" do you mean completely, or "some"? If it was bad enough to register zero on your gauge, I would be concerned about the condition of your bearings. While the pan is down, you may want to pop off the main and rod caps and give the bearings a once-over.

 

It was clogged enough to restrict some oil flow. I cleaned it real well tested it and now the oil pump flows good. I also took your advice and checked all bearings some had wear so I replaced them all(the kit was cheap enough!!!) There was no damage to the crankshaft so I figured I got lucky.


After bolting it all back to specs... I noticed the oil guage does not work which I thought it did. So now I may have a bad guage or bad oil sending unit or what ever.


atleast I got the oil pump cleaned up and replaced the bearings.


Thanks

 

if there truly was zero oil pressure and it was fuel injected (tbi or tpi), it would not run more than 5 seconds. the fuel pump is referenced to oil pressure as a fail safe. if there isnt a minimum of 5 psi, the fuel pump will shut off. on my 86 305 tpi, the sending unit for the gauge was located on the top rear of the block, driver side, next to the distributor. its not hard to replace if you dont have huge hands. if that doesnt fix your problem, pm me, i have a spare, working oem gauge.