stopping from about 85mph today after realizing i wasn't going to make a light i slammed my brakes, petal as far as i could push, and the pavement was aparently good enough not to kick the ABS on ...

so i stopped harder than i ever had before, and when i came to a stop i notice my oil guage fly to zero, the red "check guages" light come on, then the oil pressure went back up to normal (between the 1st line and the middle line) and the light went off (this was at idle now, engine at operating temp).


WTF !??? scared me pretty bad. engine seems to be running fine, hasn't done it again. what happened / is it bad?

 

If you were engaged in an extended, high-g stopping manuver, it's very possible the oil sending unit wasn't picking up enough oil to maintain the pressure. It basically has to do with where your oil was in the pan at the time vs. the pickup point. That's my guess as to what happened.

 

Have you checked your oil level lately? Maybe it's a bit low, and all the oil sloshed to the front of the pan, and the pressure sensor got no oil for a couple seconds?

 

oil level is just over half way up on the hash marks (5.5 quarts)

i might put the extra .5 quart in there ...

 

You're fine. It will happen to nearly every car under that circumstance. It's happened to me numerous times while testing out my brakes. The oil is simply "pushed" to the front of the pan and the sensor only can read what it sees.

What we should be addressing here is why you were doing 85 coming up to a light...


jk

 

i don't believe so

 

I posted this same problem in the lt-1 section. Some people said the pick up came off. I called to very reliable f-body shops and they said the same thing as you guys. The oil go's to the front of the pan and the sensor can't react that fast. Hopefully the shops I talked to are right.

 

where is the sensor?

 

in the oil pan............

 

the oil pressure sensor is in the oil pan? i thought the oil level sensor was in the oil pan and the pressure sensor was at the top of the engine

 

actually on mine..the level senosr is in the pan and the pressure is right above it on the block near the oil cooler assembly........... 94 and later models, i think got it jammed at the back of the intake....

either way you are correct.... level in pan, psi somewhere on the block ...

my bad... duh..........

 

the sensor is right behind the intake by the firewall. If you change it good luck, it is not fun. There is a 3 wire connector and the sensor itself

 

For th LS1/LS6, the oil level sensor is on the side of the oil pan. The oil pressure sensor is on the top of the block behind the intake manifold. The manifold comes off fast & easy - I wouldn't try to replace the level sensor without removing the intake just for that reason alone.

 

Run 6 quarts of oil all the time. This is not related to the oil level sensor, but oil pressure. If it were the level the pressure would not have went to 0. Shat happened is that all the oil sloshed away from the pickup, and there was no oil lubricating the motor. It probably wasn't hurt, but do this often and it will be.

I recently spun a rod bearing on a road course, so this is important. The oil level was in the middle of the hash marks. I usually ran 6.5 quarts, but let it get low.