5.17.24. The oil pump is located in the front cover of the engine behind the vibration, dampener pulley on the crank. Have you owned this car the whole time? & put on all the 300,000 miles? Have you change the oil often? It makes a difference. With 300,000 miles I am would be looking at something different. If you can do the work yourself, that’s one thing, but you could have a sticking Pressure relief valve in the oil pump.

@@stevensapyak7971 no i bought it about a year ago, have changed oil twice, last time was MAYBE 3k ago?? it was owned by an older family for almost 10 years, it was maintenanced regularly and came with receipts. i’m the 3rd owner (i’ve only put 10k on it) 294k-304,500k) its been doing the low pressure light, sense before last oil change i did. both times i’ve changed the oil the old oil isn’t glittery and just how you expect good old oil to be. i’m just trying to figure out what/how i should go abt it.

@@Mo.Sk8er 5.18.24. I just woke up and took a piss, & I saw I had a reply. I believe your car has a series 3 engine in it. It could be that the reason the oil light came on is there is a sensor in the oil pan sticking out of the side make sure that it’s plugged in. It could be going bad. The best way to go about It is to hook a mechanical pressure gauge to your oil pump sending unit, it should be near the oil filter base. There is a transducer screwed into it. (Thread pitch is 1/4 npt X 18) If you don’t know what I’m talking about you need to have someone that knows cars or a mechanic check it with a mechanical pressure gauge. You should have an oil pressure read out on your dash information center, what is that telling you in psi❓

@@stevensapyak7971 yeah i know what your talking about it’s closer to my oil filter and it’s easy to get to when you take off the tires. and i have nothing on my dash that shows me oil pressure, no modes to go to, the only oil thing i have on my dash settings is my oil life percentage. so i think your right im gonna have to take a pressure gage to it.

@@Mo.Sk8er 5.18.24. You don’t have an oil pressure gauge or you don’t have a drivers information center that you can scroll through to see what your oil pressure is? If you have a oil light on your dash that would probably be the oil level monitor that’s in your oil pan. What is your dipstick telling you for oil? If your car has lifter noise or a rod knock or bearing noise then it definitely is a low pressure situation, but to be sure you need to put a mechanical gauge on it. You have to know what it is actually putting out at the oil pump or the oil filterarea where the pressure transducer is.

1.21.24. If you pulled the front cover off to replace the front cover gasket, then yes it would be the cause for the low oil pressure light being on. How many miles does the engine have on it❓Did you do anything to the oil pump, or pressure relief spring/ piston? You may be able to prime the pump that way however, I believe a better solution would be to introduce clean oil under pressure through the pressure transducer port. ⚠️Update, the thread pitch for the Oil Pressure Transducer port is 1/4”npt x 18

It has 280,000kms, so relatively high mileage. But she ran smooth prior to the engine cover removal work. Still didn’t hear anything terrible happen on start up, but oil pressure light and dash “low oil pressure” warning remain. When I pulled the filter it was full with oil. Maybe there is air in the system. Can the 3800 oil pump be primed like an LS, and feed oil through the pressure sending unit port?

⁠@@taintless69 1.21.24. You can pressurize the discharge side of the oil pump by utilizing the port that the oil pressure transducer is in, however that does not prime the suction side of the pump. Did you pre-fill the oil filter with oil before you started it up? If the oil filter was dry when you started it up and it has oil in it now that means it’s pushing oil through the system.⚠️ you may have an issue with your oil pressure transducer! If the engine is not knocking, I would pull that oil pressure transducer out and hook up a mechanical oil pressure gauge in its place. like I stated earlier the threads are 1/4”npt x 18 in the oil filter mount cover. Pick up a 1/4”npt x18 male to 1/8”npt 27 female adapter fitting, to mount the mechanical pressure gauge with 1/8” tubing and see what your oil pressure is.

1.8.24. The spring fits inside of the piston. Are you sure you have the piston in the correct position? That the spring is inserted in the front cover recess 🕳️hole with the piston on the end, facing the Oil filter, cover piece. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve done this, but I don’t recall there ever being a pin, holding the piston in place.

1.7.24. I believe what they are referring to is the crankshaft timing chain gear on the front of the crankshaft, timing with the camshaft. The oil pump is not timed in any fashion.

1.7.24. There is a dot on the oil pump rotor that is driven by the crankshaft, but I believe that it only will index one way.

10.1.22. I doubt it. It’s a collet type device made for pulling out bearings in their holes.

8.16.22. Did you try hooking up a mechanical pressure gauge to see what your pressure is? Is the engine making a knocking sound or ticking sound like the lifters are not pumped up? My bet it’s the Pressure transducer that is hooked to the oil pump mounting.

6.16.22. You could have your oil pressure sensing transducer leaking, does your dash indicate like 128 psi oil pressure, if you have a Digital type dash read out❓And are you sure it’s engine oil and not power steering fluid?

@@stevensapyak7971 I thought it was that but I just had my power steering pump replaced I thought it wasn't put on right but it turns out it's engine oil and it's coming from the same place

@@deman593 6.16.22. If it’s engine oil, it could be leaking from around your front cover mounted to the engine block that houses the water pump and your oil pump, or it could be the gasket for your oil filter mounting base, That mounts to the front cover like I showed in the video.

5.8.22. If you have the front cover already off, try using a propane torch and lightly heat the head of the Torx head screws, then take a small ball peen hammer and tap on the Torx head screws with the Torx driver installed.

3.26.22. Oil filter base mounting…….😌

3.20.22. The pressure relief system is quite simple consisting of a calibrated spring and piston that relieves over pressure if the oil pressure gets too high, also if the piston and cylinder for the pressure relief system gets gummed up with carbon, or people don’t change the oil enough, it can bleed off oil pressure, due to it sticking, and then you won’t have enough for the main bearings, rod bearings, lifters, pushrods, and rocker arms!

1.3.22. What make car & model, with engine? What is your dash information center reading? If it’s like 128psi it is the pressure transducer, that’s quite common. Also how many miles are on the car and engine?

@@stevensapyak7971 I've got a 2001 park ave and I'm wondering the same thing. Does this oil pump have a screen on it? I've heard they get clogged easy. I've got a 0 psi reading on the dash but oil light is constantly blinking

@@jefftech3898 9.16.22. Yes the oil pump pick up has a screen on it and they can get plugged, is your engine making knocking noises, like your lifters are not getting pumped up? If your oil pressure is so low that your lifters are not pumping up, your valves won’t be opening up very far and your engine will be running quite shitty!

@@stevensapyak7971 thanks man, I can take the main oil cap off the front all the way and see in to there and everything looks to be moving fine. No knocking yet and runs smooth at idle. New oil change but I wanted to replace the sending unit

@@jefftech3898 9.16.22. If you had zero oil pressure your engine would be knocking real hard, if you can hook up a mechanical pressure gauge to your engine, specifically where the pressure transducer is on the oil filter housing, then you will know exactly what your real pressure is. I believe your pressure transducer or sending unit is Bad.They normally fail high meaning you’d have like 128 psi

6.17.21. One gasket between the oil filter housing and the engine block.

12.11.20. There’s nothing with the oil filter that would cause your car not to start, however if you have low oil pressure you would possibly be causing damage if the transducer that’s attached to the filter housing is reading correctly, they are known to read high-pressure when they fault out when in reality The oil pressure is not high but normal, but the only way to check it is with a mechanical pressure gauge with the engine running.

@@stevensapyak7971 ok thank you , my issues would be something else then , crank but no start after I changed the engine , I took off the oil filter housing reason why I asked that

@@sneakdza 12.11.20. You said that you changed the engine, is it a 3800? The crank shaft position sensor on these engines are troublesome sometimes they will give you a no start condition and then all of a sudden they’ll start or you’ll be running the engine on the road and then all of a sudden it just quits. Sometimes your Tachometer starts Bouncing crazily Due to it being driven from the crankshaft position sensor through the ECM

@@stevensapyak7971 yes 3800 series 06 Lacrosse , I just now got it to run , ended up changing the injectors out , was getting power & ground in all the right places so that was last thing to try out to see wha it would do & it ended up solving my issues , injectors must’ve got clogged up

@@sneakdza 12.11.20. Thanks for posting the follow up of the resolution of your problem with that 3800.

11.18.20. What’s you’re question......🙄

6.16.20. It’s Joe Bonamassa, Tea for One, a Led Zeppelin cover🎸

5.16.20. That’s Joe Bonamassa’s 🎸So Many Roads®️playing in the background 💁🏻‍♂️

Geff Lynn 9.18.19. I always replace the DexKill™️ with the mixes with any kind type. I also flush it @ 2yrs/30k miles, for trouble free service. The problem is the maintenance schedule the manufacturers put forth, is a marketing ploy to make it appear that it’s a low cost operating vehicle! Unrealistic in practice for all intents & purposes.

@@stevensapyak7971 Good to know and agree on the "unrealistic" part. Love the 3800 but maintenance is required. Have 198700K and have had to replace the plenum 3 times due to EGR melting breather hole! Not so bad but just a time factor. My 1999 Eighty-eight runs cooler with Peak Extended Life for some reason. Dex 223 Peak 219 degrees. What tipped you to replace the head gasket? Any symptoms? The 88 (pre Peak and presently) starts fine but many times after it is hot it starts but spits and sputters (kinda like it is running rich) but it stabilizes after several seconds and runs fine. Ideas? Thx

Geff Lynn 9.20.19. I use ATP upper plenums, sourced thru RockAuto. They have a metal sleeve inserted in them to keep from melting the plastic or composite EGR port! ........ For the Series II Engine.

Geff Lynn 9.20.19. Your throttle body may needs to be cleaned? I changed the head gaskets because the engine was very dirty internally, due to poor maintenance practices! I had it down so it was not much more to do the heads.....ie .... valve job an valve stem seals.

one off 6.10.19. If you want to pre lube the engine, you need to plumb in a pressurized oil source at the oil pressure transducer......located at the oil filter mounting . I do not know what thread pitch the transducer is, but that’s the most accessible point I’m aware of,offhand. ⚠️ update…the thread pitch is 1/4 NPT X 18

@@stevensapyak7971 ok. My oil pump went out and now it knocks. If I replace the oil pump and prelube the engine, will it still knock?

one off 6.10.19. Sounds to me like you have rod bearing or main bearing issues. Just replacing an oil pump and pre lubing will not fix your issue❗️

@@stevensapyak7971 dammit. New 3800 time

As far is I've seen only old ppl and squares say that

Both?

@@chadmartfeld Did you complete your hill billy high school ? I doubt it. Music and dope is probably all you know. If that's a fact like yourself won't get beyond minimum wage.

5.23.19. It depends on how many miles are on the engine, and your bearing clearances.........40psi at idle on a cold engine, ballpark figure.

juck huo 9.11.18. I’m glad that this video was helpful to you, I try to show things that would be of interest to people. Also I reference another video on how to fix a problem with the 3800 oil pump seal leaking, look in my comment section❗️

Van Schliestett 6.29.18. I don’t believe that you would have any success in trying to clear the blockage with a soda/vinegar solution. How many miles are on the car? .....The radiator may be partially plugged!.....your water pump may have it’s pump impeller worn away!......the thermostat could be an issue?......Look at the easy stuff first........is the serpentine belt slipping?......belt tensioner weak?.....did you perform a block/radiator flush?....dump the DexCool!!! And use the mixes with any type of coolant. ...... Oh also the heater core needs to be flushed separately!! 🔧 .......Oh yes!......make sure that the cooling fans are running when the temperature is at around 210 Degrees!......it could also be the thermo switch that tells the PCM to turn on the fans!!!

Yeah , I've worked on This for over a Yr. Flushed sev Times , Water Pump is about a Yr old, Radiator is about a 1 1/2 Yr old , T-Stat is 3 mo old , Fans are running, Belt is now Currently has Bars Leak in Sys and will not Cool adequatly after running about 20 Min in this Hot Weather. I can only conclude the Ports You showed are Clogged. My next attempt is Prestone Super Flush.....In Terms of Vinegar/Soda , is There a Dilution Ratio for Vinegar ?....FRUSTRATED !

Van Schliestett 6.29.18. Take a video and put it on KZbin, I’d like to see all the things I mentioned in my reply!

Van Schliestett 6.29.18. You need to perform a pressure test on the radiator/cooling system!......also a leaking radiator cap will not allow the system to build up to 16-18psi to keep the coolant from boiling!!!.......extremely important‼️👌🏽. Flush the system again an do not use Barr’s Leak‼️‼️

IT'S FIXED !!........I did a Flush using a 4 to 1 Mix of Distilled Water with "Simple Green" Concentrate Soap. I still think You have found The Source of why 3800 Gaskets blow.......I think I have found the Solution once the Head Gasket Sealer repairs the Head and Intake Leaks. It just needs a Washout. Take Note of how well Simple Green cleans Alloy Wheels and think of what It does inside the Block.

Ivan Acosta 2.12.18. Rock auto sells a kit for the internals of the gerotor style oil pump, that is located in the front cover.....also keep in mind that in order to Have oil reach the rocker arms, it has to travel through the hydraulic lifters and pushrods!.....if they are sludged up oil will not reach the upper rocker arm area! You need to check the oil pressure with a mechanical pressure gauge!......how many miles are on it?.......One other thing to check is the oil pressure relief piston is not hanging up! I reference it in the video.

Steven Sapyak the pushrods not clogged up or nothing everything got cleaned when new heads got put on my motor, but im having a real hard time finding the oil pump part number in order for me to buy the correct one i just ordered the part number 10342 off autozone website but still think its wrong

Ivan Acosta 2.12.18. Rock auto has a Sealed Power part #22453572 that’s for your Pontiac........❗️

Steven Sapyak yea but thats the internal kit im trying to get the whole oil pump

Ivan Acosta 2.12.18. You would need the front timing cover, I doubt you could source one new,....but you may get lucky!........why are you replacing the front timing cover?

As far as I've seen only old ppl and squares say that

chue xiong 8.15.17. The arrow & Front indicates placement towards the water pump.......per Fel-Pro. 🔧🎯

Thanks!!!

El Gringo Loco 8.11.17. By pumping oil in the oil pressure sending unit, it fills the oil galleries in the engine not the oil pump, as its after the pump & oil filter.

Steven Sapyak Is there an opening that I can fill the pump through? If I run enough oil at high pressure through the pressure sensor port, won't at least a little bit backfill the pump?

El Gringo Loco 8.11.17. It may leak back a slight bit, by the aforementioned action, but there is no practical way to access the suction side of the oil pump system. ⚙️🔧

I just took timing cover of 3800 '03 impala due to coolant leak thru TC gasket.Looks like I need new gasket between TC + oil filter adapter, plus I want to check & clean the pump. But how to prime? My Alldata subscription says nothing about prime but does say to lube then pack gears with Vaseline, I assume that's for priming the system? Have/did you do that? A comment above said it will waste the pump but I don't believe that, Vaseline is a pure pure hydrocarbon. I'm thinking while the cover TC cover is off I could drill and tap a 3/8 or 1/2 npt hole into oil adapter at the pump in side, which would allow for priming with a long hose held high above gear level. Melling has a video showing that on their LT1 pump which has same type gears and a prime pug port like I'm thinking of doing.

Don Agneta 8.18.17. Look up the link to Peter K. Video I have in my reply comments❗️🎯 it's an excellent action to incorporate for the timing cover!! As for Vaseline, it is ok to use. Also grease works too. Sounds like the priming action will work. 🔧

Ken Page 3.29.17. If your referencing the series II Buick 3800, then yes, they are a superb V6!.......As for the alloy oil pump housing located in the front timing cover, they are fine as long as you make sure that you change the oil & filter religiously!.....Oh ya, make certain that the L.I.M. Gaskets get changed out with the metal framed ones from Fel-Pro or Magnum or the aluminum G.M. Type, don't settle for plastic ones! The plastic upper plenum is another area that I change out with one from GreyWorks, that I source from RockAuto. Also people make the grievous mistake of going way too long on their coolant change/flushing. It eats the head gaskets! 2yrs/30k Miles is my regimen. 🇦🇺 🇺🇸

Steven Sapyak Thanks for all the good info. This is my first modern car (2004 VY2 Commodore Wagon) So far I love it! Chose it because of the fully cast iron pushrod v6 + 4L60-E auto. Always gets full synthetic Nulon 10w-40 oil. Has ~245,000km on the motor. Plenum on ours is alloy I think. See my server for pics. shazam.zapto.org go to igal. Regards, Ken - vk4akp .-.-.

Ken Page 4.6.17. I tried to link up to your site but it would not connect. 🙄. You described the upper plenum as aluminum, the series III engines in the states went to that as well.......too much trouble with the plastic ones! ❗️. They are a bargain, compared to what newer cars are selling for! The 4T60e/4T65e has weak points also. Just do not go any longer than 50k miles before the filter &Trans fluid is completely changed! 🕖🤞🏼

Hi, sorry the noip redirect was set wrong (https instead of just http) site should load for you now. And yes I've watched a few rebuild videos on the 4L60-E transmissions. So aware of the weak areas. When / if mine dies I'll look into a rebuild with stronger / corrected parts. Our Holden Commodore's are rear wheel drive too btw! :) .-.-.

Google... ecotec v6 ... And click images. You will see plenty of pictures of the alloy manifold and plenum. :) .-.-.

Innovative Solutions 3.21.17. The 10mm collet blind hole slide hammer I purchased from Amazon worked great for disassembly of the lifters. And your correct, cheap tools are in most cases, not a value!.........The 3800 SuperCharged engine is a great bargain! 👌🏽