I have had a suggestion to try inspecting the oil pump and do an oil pressure test, which is supposedly a common problem on 3800s, a former GM Service Manager told me today.

 

I would do the pressure test first. It is A LOT less work and if the pressure is good there is no reason to inspect the pump.

I have not seen a lot of people with 3800 oil pressure issues on this site. LS1 yes and to some extent the LT1's even a few 3.4s but of all the 4th gen motors the 3800 seems to be the most solid, oil system wise.

 

Ok, here's a proposed solution I may try, anyone here have good results this route?

 

Well, I threw a can of Seafoam (16 oz) in the crankcase so let's see how that goes...

 

Dealer shop is wanting to do an oil change and put a factory AC Delco filter on it, to troubleshoot & ensure it has an anti-drainback valve, which the Purolator Classic filter DOES have. I just changed oil & filter it made no difference in noise. Seems foolish if you ask me, they already verified the noise, and my extended warranty covers lifters...

 

When I went thru my 3.8 I went ahead and changed the oil pump (more like a gear). It wasn't hard. But it takes a while to do. I did however notice afterward my oil pressure is much more healthy. If all you have is a slight noise when you start on cold days I would just live with it.

 

Well, the valve covers were removed by the Chevy shop and they said the rollers are a bit stiff and they want to replace lifters, and they recommended that I change my oil a bit more frequently. Now the whole point of the GM Oil Life System was for it to tell you when to change oil… Now I should second guess it?! �� *rolls eyes*

 

Of course... Those dummy lights are annoying. Especially within the 80s-90s. It's like they thought people were stupid or something. They put a friggin dummy light on everything. At LEAST vehicles have gotten more efficient over the years. I have an '05 KIA sportage V6 (Pretty damn good vehicle IMO) that clacks for about 1-2 seconds on cold starts. Then it goes away completely. There really isn't anything I can do to stop it. As long as you change your oil every 5k miles you are good. Motors with some miles on them tend to make sounds. It's the sounds that stick around after warm up you gotta worry about. I am probably telling you something you already know. So I will shut up now.

Joe

 

My lesson learned from all of this is every 15k mi. or so, it seems like a good idea to put a can of Gumout Multi-System Tune-Up (seems better than Sea Foam: http://www.gumoutproveit.com/compare ) in the oil to clear out build-up which accumulates, and you cannot see without opening up the engine. I also just found this gem of an article, spot-on: http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...c_lifters_fix/

Here are the tear-down photos, seems "normal" for a run hard 101k mi. 3800 engine to me, others agree? Extended warranty is trying to deny coverage claiming inadequate maintenance (oil changes) -- what a joke and so untrue. I am attributing the buildup seen to the majority of stop and go driving I tend to do in this car -- way more city driving and little highway driving -- does that pass the sniff test? Are lifters ever considered wear items?

 

WOW. Now those are some dirty valves/lifters. My car has 100k miles and mine were no where near that bad. In fact mine looks really good for some reason. I guess people actually did do a good job keeping the insides going good. I religiously change oil every 5-7k miles. Any more than that and the black sludge is what you end up with *in your pictures*