Bad news!!! Looks like the Crank and bearings are next

Bad news!!! Looks like the Crank and bearings are next on the to-do list!! Replaced all that stuff. (Oil Pump, Super Charger, Lower Intake Gasket set, Water Pump, Power Steering Pump, and all the money in related gaskets) Only to find with the proper oil, and a new oil pump, it still has low oil pressure at an idle!! So Friday I'll start that, if I can manage to remember to take pics I can maybe do a write-up if anyone needs. Luckily I can do it myself, I can only imagine what a shop would charge. Parts will total no more than 150.00 so that's not too bad.

But I would like to get a new oil pan if they are not too expensive, any tips? If not, I'll go pull one from the bone yard.


Wish me luck!!!

How low is low? Have you put a mechanical gauge on it yet? Did you try a heavier oil?

Are you planning to replace bearings without turning the crank? I recommend against that.

I would not rebuild one of these. Just get a boneyard bottom end and replace it. It is pretty well proven over time that the bottom end of an average 3800 is good for well over 200K miles.

On the other hand, if you have access to the appropriate machinery, and can do it yourself, then I'm surprised to see you even have to ask most of these questions!

If you can, look for an oil pan from a later model - somewhere around '03 or '04 they switched to aluminum for the oil pan instead of plastic.

PICS & WRITE UP, PLEASE!!!!

96Super wrote:

But I would like to get a new oil pan if they are not too expensive, any tips? If not, I'll go pull one from the bone yard. Wish me luck!!!

New aftermarket oil pan can be ordered from ZZP for $79.00 and new OEM from monsterpartsonline is around $100.00.
I looked into it recently myself because I have a chronic leaking oil pan gasket.
Replaced gasket twice and still drips. I highly recommend you get a new one as opposed to used unless you can find an aluminum one. They are cheap enough.
I'll look up the OEM P/N for you and post it a little later.
Sorry to hear about your bearing issues.

deekster_caddy wrote:

they switched to aluminum for the oil pan instead of plastic.

Maybe I read this wrong... laughed a bit though. The stock pan in his year is not plastic, it's steel.

You should be able to use the aluminum pan off either a Bonneville or a GP. If you have the choice, I'd suggest the Bonne as it's nice and flat versus the rounded bottom of the GP. The flatness aids in jacking the motor for belt replacement etc.

Rick, I had done the gasket about 4-5 times with every available goop and checking the pan etc. In the end I found it to be a loose rear engine cover. The bolts are on with something like 5 ft lbs of toruqe and appear to come loose on nearly every motor I've seen or talked to people about. Each time they complained about a bad pan gasket that didn't stop leaking with new gasket, it seems to be the rear cover.

BillBoost37 wrote:

Rick, I had done the gasket about 4-5 times with every available goop and checking the pan etc. In the end I found it to be a loose rear engine cover. The bolts are on with something like 5 ft lbs of toruqe and appear to come loose on nearly every motor I've seen or talked to people about. Each time they complained about a bad pan gasket that didn't stop leaking with new gasket, it seems to be the rear cover.

Thanks for the tip Bill, I'll look at everything a little closer when i get it up on the lift.
The previous times were on the ground and difficult to analyze.

BillBoost37 wrote:

deekster_caddy wrote:

they switched to aluminum for the oil pan instead of plastic.

Maybe I read this wrong... laughed a bit though. The stock pan in his year is not plastic, it's steel.

You should be able to use the aluminum pan off either a Bonneville or a GP. If you have the choice, I'd suggest the Bonne as it's nice and flat versus the rounded bottom of the GP. The flatness aids in jacking the motor for belt replacement etc.

Rick, I had done the gasket about 4-5 times with every available goop and checking the pan etc. In the end I found it to be a loose rear engine cover. The bolts are on with something like 5 ft lbs of toruqe and appear to come loose on nearly every motor I've seen or talked to people about. Each time they complained about a bad pan gasket that didn't stop leaking with new gasket, it seems to be the rear cover.

Just tighten up the bolts on the rear engine cover?

Thanks
Bert

is the oil pressure sending unit good?


Albertj

The tough thing about the rear cover is ...it's not visible, and the seeping only appears to happen right near the oil pan, so even my first look....I swore it was the pan gasket. It's one of those things that after you figure it out, you share with all your friends.

You could tighten the bolts..if you could get to them. Only way to get to them is to pull the engine or trans.

On the bearings, I also agree that you should not try to change them w/o machining. Most likely they won't last long.

Quote :

The flatness aids in jacking the motor for belt replacement etc.

Are you suggesting the pan be used as a jack/support point? I never do this; I use the block instead. It would seem the oil pan gasket would be more prone to leaking after compressing the gasket by supporting the engine's weight by the pan.

Thanks for all the replies. I plan on buying a crank/bearing set. Would be a new/machined crank with new bearings. But, compared to what I just did, I would say this will be faster and easier.