Thread: Help with an oil problem and fuel pump issue

Okay looong story here, so my gp finally ticked over the 130K mile marker as of last month an issue has arised. This being my low oil light popping on. So lets go through the list of things.

So last winter my fuel gauge stopped functioning below about a quarter tank and I assumed it was the fuel level sending unit so I bought a new pump and housing online and installed it monday, that fixed my SES light as well as the gauge but for some reason the gas mileage has dropped...I dunno wtf is up with that.

Also when we put new tires on the car last summer we found a flat spot on one rim and the other was bent a bit so that caused a tie rod end and a control arm bushing to fail so I replaced those with servicable versions last week and that fixed a lot of it the suspension problems but that damn flat spots still causing a vibration on the passenger side. So if anyone has a pair of the OEM 16 inch polished torque stars please tell me. Otherwise I would deffinetly want the 18 inch GXP wheels or the 17 inch polished off the later models. Pleeaassee help with this I'm so damn tired of searching every nook and cranny for versions of these rims that aren't complete **** or cost 2 arms, a leg, and a testical.

Then I went on to fix the damn oil light. First of all theres been a slow and I mean slow oil leak that we can't quite trace in the car which has begun sometime between my last oil change and my most recent one 2 weeks ago, all we know is it builds up around the oil pan so I'm thinking maby the oil pan gasket possibly the intake but I dunno for sure. As for the low oil light, it would only come on in certain temperatures and the oil deffinetly wasn't low as we checked the level every day for 3 days. So I had O'reily's order me a new oil level sending unit. Installed the new sending unit in two days ago. First thing I noticed is the aftermarket one didn't quite match up the top is flat on the OEM model and the new AF version is rounded also there as a lot of crap on the threads of the old one. The threads aren't exactly as steep on the new one either. So we pulled out the OEM one and put in the new one, and suddenly where there was once no leak, a leak sprang up. So we pulled it out and put tephalon tape on it and the leak was still there. So we pulled it out again and put some RTV on it and put it back in and the leak stopped mostly but was still small, and thats what i'm driving on right now. I got out to my car this morning and found a decent sized oil puddle where there hasn't been one ever even with the tiny leak from before. Soooo any suggestions cause I'm just about stumped here and kinda wish I hadn't sold my engine picker a year ago otherwise I'd be scheduling off work next weekend and pulling the whole damn motor cause I love the car but I just want everything to be fixed, to bad the previous owner was such a **** to it. They didn't even polish the rims and when I changed the fuel filter it was the first new part the car had seen aside from oil filters since the day it was built. My first thought was the oil pump case where that sending unit goes might cracked but I dunno and I really can't see to much down there.

The oil leak - you need to pinpoint where it is leaking from. It could be valve cover gaskets, oil pressure sensor, oil pan, rear main, front cover, etc. Clean the engine really well with degreaser and find out where the leak is. Hard for us to tell over the internet without seeing the car.

For the fuel pump issue - the only thing you are dealing with now is a loss of mileage? Hard to pinpoint that. Shouldn't change with a fuel pump change. I would make sure you maintenance on the rest of the car is up to snuff. Good spark plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, PCV valve, etc, etc.

If the oil pressure sending unit is leaking, change it.

These cars have a very stout oil system in them. Aside from leaks, most 3800s do not experience oil related problems.

You said you changed the low oil level sensor. Not the oil pressure sending unit.

Two completely different things.

So wait, you had a low oil light, but changed the oil pressure sending unit?

The level sensor is in the front of the oil pan. Sticks right out the front. Again, completely different from the oil pressure sending unit.

As a general rule of thumb: If your low oil pressure light is on, consider changing the oil pressure sending unit. If your low oil level light is on, consider changing the oil level sensor.

If your oil pan is leaking, the leak should be fixed by changing the oil pan gasket, yes. If the valve covers are leaking, changing the oil pan will not fix the leak.

And it is possible to change the oil pan with the engine still in the car, but the engine needs to be raise 6-8" at least to make room for it to come out. It is quite a process and many find it easier to pull the engine to replace the oil pan.