# big problems with 94 camaro Z28



## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

alrighty... here's my issue...
I have a 94 Z28 with the LT1 350 V8
now... 
when i start it up, the oil pressure gauge is reading fine and is right in the middle of the gauge, and the more it warmed up, the lower the gauge got, and after a few revvs of the motor, the needle was hovering just above the 0 at idle

now...
I checked my oil and it was still full, so the only thing that i can guess is a bad oil pump or headgasket

ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED

thanks,
TJ


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## Midnight Tech (Dec 31, 2001)

What weight oil are you running?


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

10w30


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

i should also point out that i had this problem in june... and i've been away at college in the meantime... just got back and wanted to start it up... but before the problem mainly happened under load... but since i blew out my rear tires (take a guess how) i can't drive it


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## Midnight Tech (Dec 31, 2001)

See if you can get one of those "tester" gauges that screws in place of the sending unit and make sure it's not lying to you. If it reads the same, get ready to replace the oil pump.


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

aight.. so you dont think it's the head gasket at all? i mean.. there's no smoke in the exhaust which is a tall-tale sign of a gasket issue... and i'm hoping it's as easy as an oil pump... but i wont be able to get a tester switch...

also... when i drove the car and it was under load... it did burn off some oil... i have no idea where it went (absolutely positive it was not in the exhaust, and there is no leak) that is issue numero dos


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## bruiser (Jul 30, 2005)

Why would you suspect a head gasket? If you see clouds of whitish smoke coming out of the exhaust, or the oil looks like a milk shake, coolant keeps disappearing, then you might have a blown head gasket.

Check this site: www.camaroz28.com/forums/


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

honestly the only reason why i'd suspect a head gasket is just as a worst case scenario... i got this car as a trade for a 99 ranger with a blown engine and blown clutch and for a 98 explorer that needed at least 2500 put into it just to pass inspection... so i'm just expecting the worst but hoping for the best... that quote comes in handy.. lol


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## Raylo (Feb 12, 2006)

Head gasket doesn't sound like a real possibilty. If there are other symptoms it cold be bad coincidentally but if you have oil in the pan you should have oil pressure... unless the pump is bad... or unless it is clogged with say the remains of a thrown connecting rod bearing. Happened to me on a 1987 Z28. :-(

But you won't find replacing the oil pump to be an easy job. The oil pan has to come off and I believe you will have to undo the motor mounts and raise the engine a bit for clearance. Then the oil pan gasket shares a seal with the front cover. Fun, fun, fun....

I have a 1994 Z-28 but I haven't had to drop the pan myself yet.


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

well, i got a 383 stroker kit for it anyways, so i might as well do the teardown at the same time, 

so just to be sure... ya'll are saying that the possibilities are a bad oil pump, a bad gauge, or a spun bearing?

just to be sure i have it narrowed down


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## Raylo (Feb 12, 2006)

Well, a spun bearing should be evident by metal shavings in the oil and you should be able to confirm or rule out that one pretty easily. But if that is what happened I'm not sure I'd be doing a stroker kit w/o thoroughly checking out the bores for scoring from the debris. Hopefully you just have a bad gage.

383 kit sounds good. Good luck. I put in a LT4 Hot cam about a year and a half ago. I had to loosen the oil pan and drop the front down enough to pull the front cover. It would have been a major pain to totally remove it. I also did C5 front brakes. Much better braking.

BTW, here is a great Camaro tech resource. 

http://shbox.com/page/index.html


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

ok.. i have an update....

i went out today to check up on it, and it did the same thing, where at the start the oil pressure was up right in the middle, and as it warmed up, the gauge slowly dropped lower and lower... to when about a half hour later.. it was hanging just about the 0 at idle... same issue... but this time i noticed that my heat gauge had gone up a considerable amount... past the midpoint and inching higher towards danger zone... 

would this be a blatant sign that the oil pump is going/gone?


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

Raylo said:


> Well, a spun bearing should be evident by metal shavings in the oil and you should be able to confirm or rule out that one pretty easily. But if that is what happened I'm not sure I'd be doing a stroker kit w/o thoroughly checking out the bores for scoring from the debris. Hopefully you just have a bad gage.
> 
> 383 kit sounds good. Good luck. I put in a LT4 Hot cam about a year and a half ago. I had to loosen the oil pan and drop the front down enough to pull the front cover. It would have been a major pain to totally remove it. I also did C5 front brakes. Much better braking.
> 
> ...


and ichecked the oil, no shavings, how much of a difference did that cam make for ya? because that's a big upgrade i want to do.


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## Raylo (Feb 12, 2006)

It is normal for oil pressure to drop a lot as the engine oil gets up to temp. If you are running 5W-30 it might get pretty low indeed and be considered "normal", especially for an older engine. I use 10W-30 myself.

Cam didn't make a huge change for me but it runs great. I didn't dyno it before or after to get real numbers. But I wanted to keep it fairly simple, i.e., no new injectors, no headers, no new throttle body, etc. I just did a basic reprogram and left everything else stock.
It passed MD dyno emissions testing with flying colors.


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

where does your camaro's oil pressure gauge stay at idle?

the only reason why i'm confused about this is because when i revv it up, the oil pressure goes up to just above the first notch

but i didnt think it was normal for it to be just above the 0 at idle, just seemed to low

also i should point out that i do love camaro's but dont know much about them.. lol.. so this could be normal


also, it's about 25 degrees out, and when i had the hood popped, and after it warmed up, there was some smoke coming up, i couldn't figure out where from, it looked like it was from the upper intake manifold, but i couldn't be sure... now i dont know if that was just because it was that cold out or if there's something else going on

did that cam give it that staggered idle with the brap brap brap? (i know that isn't the best way to describe it, but i hope you know what i mean.. lol)


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## Raylo (Feb 12, 2006)

You'll learn fast. These almost all have intake manifold leaks, especially at the rear. Kinda tricky to get a good bead of RTV down to seal it reaching out trying to lower the manifold on it squarely.

Yes, the cam has a nice, but not too drastic, lope. No problems with vacuum.


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

Raylo said:


> You'll learn fast. These almost all have intake manifold leaks, especially at the rear. Kinda tricky to get a good bead of RTV down to seal it reaching out trying to lower the manifold on it squarely.
> 
> Yes, the cam has a nice, but not too drastic, lope. No problems with vacuum.


alright... so i won't have to replace the manifold itself, just the bead.. right?

also, i'll be getting some help with all this work... the school i go to is a really good automotive college (i'm not there for automotive.. go figure) so i can get their help with this, but i'd rather go in there with knowledge of what the issues are rather than just going in blind.


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## bruiser (Jul 30, 2005)

Go to the site I linked to and sign up. Lots of GM tech heads over there.


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## bruiser (Jul 30, 2005)

I see you signed up at CZ28. On weekends it slows down a lot. You could do a search on "low oil pressure" and see what results you get.


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

bruiser said:


> I see you signed up at CZ28. On weekends it slows down a lot. You could do a search on "low oil pressure" and see what results you get.


yessir.. thanks a million for the recommendationray:... i have my ? up there and i've gotten almost the same answers as on here.. so i have it narrowed down to either the oil pump or the gauge... appreciate it big time


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## leonardjudy (Jan 20, 2008)

i know this sounds silly but what brand of oil are you using,cause if your useing a cheap oil it will break down fast,,,you get what you pay for,,,


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## camaromanalways (Jan 19, 2008)

i think i used castrol... i can't exactly remember. all i do remember is that i got it half off because my buddy got it through his shop.. lol.


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## tommy951 (Jun 25, 2009)

I am haveing the same problem my oil pres gague is reading just above 0 at idle but were my problem differs is i have a knocking sound so naturally i thought rod bearing so i draind the oil but suprise suprise no metal shavings even ran a magnet threw it still nothing so now im lost any ideas.


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## Raylo (Feb 12, 2006)

Wow, a really old thread resurfaces! Knocking doesn't sound good. Even if you don't see metal in the oil you might pull the oil filter and cut it open. If you get some blown bearings most of the crap will end up in the filter which blocks it up causing drop in oil flow and pressure.


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## tommy951 (Jun 25, 2009)

yea i did that i think that the guy i got the car off of drove it after the oil pump stoped working and then fried the bearings now im in the process of removing the oil pan wich is turning in to more of a project than i thought any idea on how i can take the oil pan off without breaking my back .


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## Raylo (Feb 12, 2006)

The old chicken or the egg dilemma.... Usually... usually, a bearing will fail from abuse or whatever and then clog the filter causing oil pressure to go away, not the other way around. But I guess the oil pump could possibly fail.. Never seen one of these OPs fail all by itself but anything is possible...

Good luck getting the oil pan off. I think you will need to undo the motor mounts and jack the motor up high enough for clearance. Even with that it'll be a bear. But if all the bearings are shot and it was driven w/o oil pressure you might as well get a new motor.


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## tommy951 (Jun 25, 2009)

wich brings me to my next point u know anywear to get a new lt1 or maybe an ls1 for a decent price in good condition ?


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## Raylo (Feb 12, 2006)

I don't know of any myself but there's got to be gazillions out there. You would have better luck finding one at a Z28 or Camaro forum... or just a Google search.


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## jason smith (Jul 15, 2010)

mine was doing this and i just changed the oil now it reads perfect idk if its the same my oil was just getting thin


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

Closing this old thread.

BG


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