OK I am curious about the oil pressure that a 3.8L should run. Sarah my 1999 Camaro has a 3.8L with Auto and ever since I have owned her the oil pressure has been steady at 60lbs, right in the middle of the gauge. Do any of you guys/gals out there with 3.8s read the same?

Here is what happened. When I bought the car, My friend and I though the engine was blown due to the massive amount of oil that was under the car and the noise it was making. We tow it home and find the oil filter's gastet is pushed out of the seat and pretty mangled up. We assume that the Jiffy Lube that changed the oil messed up putting the filter on since the gasket looked really tweeked. Now I am not so sure.

Today I head out to do my thing and about 100 yards out of the driveway the check gauges light is on and no oil pressure. No strange noises so I am thinking my sender crapped out on me. I had just checked the oil the other day and it was fine... I have a lifter that hangs every now and then but after a few minutes it usually quiets down. I drive a little farther and I start smelling burnt oil. No funny noises yet. I open the hood and find that the oil is comming out of the filter just like before. I carefully drive home and take the filter off. The gasket is pushed out of the seat in the filter and the oil escaped there. The filter was still tight, everything seemed fine except a small part of the gasket was blown out. This time is was not all twisted up and mangled so I pushed it back into the seat and spun it back on the engine. 4qts of oil and the engine starts but the oil pressure is now reading 120!! This lasts for a few and then tapers off to around 60 but a little lower at idle but will shoot way up when I rev the engine. After she warmed up completely the oil pressure is now below 60 and will move up to 60 at 25+ mph. It does not go over 60 any more.

I am thinking that all is well and there may have been some debris that clogged a passage and cause the pressure to spike and blow out the gasket. After putting new oil in the car she is nice and quiet for about 20 miles or so of normal driving, now I am getting a rod knocking especially at lower rpms when the oil pressure is lower. My oil has and still is a sweet golden color just a little darker than what comes out of the bottle. I dont leak or burn any. And I have an AC Delco oil filter on the car, my oil change is due in about 200 more miles. The oil was 10W-30 and now it is 5W-30, This time of year the 2 weights are the same so that should not be my problem. I am going to drain some oil out and put in some 10W-40 to hopefully keep the pressure up enough so that I dont lose the engine right away.

Any ideas on what can cause the gasket to blow out like that and what is everyone else doing for oil pressure on their 3.8L engines. and last does your gauge move much?

Thanks for the help.
Massey

 

On the 96, the oil pressure is running about 1/4 gauge at normal operating temps, pushing 60 at startup, not sure exactly how many miles are on the engine since it came from a donor car. On the 98, the oil pressure is at 60 cold and just below it normal operating temp.

The original motor in the 96 had a bearing that had spun and the oil pressure would shoot up really high and bottom out but never stayed high long enough to push out the fliter gasket.