I have an 87 iroc z28 5.7 and for some reason my oil gauge is chillen at zero. it tends to go up when on the throttle but not very high??? is this a big problem or do i just need to change the oil, or add some?? let me know if you need more information on this cuz ima newbee. Thanks!!!

 

First thing - check the oil level!! Better yet, if you haven't done it recently - change the oil and filter

Is the valvetrain making a lot of noise? If it is, don't drive the car until you get it checked out more thoroughly. If it's "normal" sounding, you may just have a bad sender / gauge.

 

First, make sure you are full of oil, or change everything, then check the pressure sensor. The oil pressure sensor is on the back of the block(driver's side) right underneath the distributor. Check the wire going to that and make sure it's tight on there. If it is and your gauge still isn't working, I'd take the sensor out(it screws in so it's not hard to take out), you'll probably have to pull the distributor up a tiny bit to get it out. I'd put my finger over the hole(if you can reach it) and have someone try to start the car. You'll feel pressure if your oil pump is working. If you don't feel any pressure, either the shaft going to the oil pump has moved and is no longer engaging or your oil pump has just gone bad. If you don't feel like messing with the distributor to get the sensor out, the other surefire way(that I know of) is to pop one of the valve covers of and run the engine for a couple seconds. If the oil pump is doing it's job, you'll see oil shooting out of the pushrods and onto the rockers.

 

i had this problem once and it was just the sender that went bad....plus if your oil pump or shaft went..you'd hear it...the lifters ,rockers and everything would be making alot of noise...if it does that kill the car right away!...

 

Generally when oil pressure readings are low, but do change with RPM, this means that you are low on oil, or unable to hold pressure (bad gaskets in oil system). Fill you oil and check the problem agian, if no good, check your gaskets on oil pump and pan and check the lines for oil.