just installed 383 solid roller. i turned the motor over a good bit while checking compression prior to install thinking this would help prime oil pump also. after install motor fired right up but no oil pressure. if i unplug sending unit and turn key on the gage pegs so i'm assuming it's ok. how can i be sure pump is working without risking damage to motor?

 

get a oil pump drive for a drill and spin the pump over with that would be the safe way. Did you bluid this engine??? and if so did you put the dummy distributor plug back in??? After all that's what drives the pump.

 

no i didn't build this motor myself. call me stupid but how and where do you spin this pump on an lt1?
thanks

 

On a old SBC you could take out the distributor and get to the drive with an LT1 you would have to take the intake off.

Before I did that I would get a mechanical oil gauge and just see what you really have. The electrical ones are a joke. Replace your sender and T in a mech. one while your at it.

Good luck.

 

If he really had no oil pressure wouldn't the pcm shut down ignition. Thats the point of the oil pressure switch, right?

my 88 camaro would randomnly just shut down, found out later that it was just this switch acting up. I think it plugs into a hole in the oil pan.

 

Even though the factory manual mentions the pressure switch, I don't see how it is possible because we only have one wire going to the sensor. I believe the sensor is capable of giving the info (since it has three terminals), but since there is only one wire in the harness connector, it only feeds info to the gauge.

The sensor in the oil pan is for low oil and not pressure. It merely lights a dash light and does not feed info to the pcm.

 

like I said I'm comparing it with my old 88 camaro. The switch in it was a pressure switch not a level indicator, so it actually read whether there was pressure in the engine or not. The gauge fed from an entirely different sensor. I just assumed that the LT1 functioned the same way.

 

Gotcha.

 

I thought if the car was getting 0 oil pressure it would shut off the fuel pump? I could be wrong

Cody

 

turns out like a dumb**s ididn't put in the drive unit. guess i was not thinking about it since lt1's don't run the std. dist. anyways lots of oil now. BTWthe engine definitely runs w/o oil press. (not for long) LOL
thanks for the help

 

It does not for the reasons I posted above.

 

WOW, I hope that engine runs and last a long time for you, but if the guy missed something that important what ELSE do you think he missed?? Did you get a warrantee???