After 2 hours on the phone trying to gather parts for a new engine, It seems i made a deal to have an assembled shortblock delivered to me by next Thursday. It would be record time if somone comes through and makes it happen. Keeping fingers crossed.
I still havet check to be sure its not a bad gauge or poil pressure sensor… that would be funny. Cubes have changed a little, compression a little as well. Thinking of a cam swap too… always a gamble.
Why not try something different… Isnt that what youre all about?
its a lil different… but different means too downtime.
If your getting an assembled short block then there should be less down time than rebuilding the old motor… But you will probably want a new tune
just check the oil pressure sensor…they are FAMOUS for going bad and their only like $30 to replace lol
That destroys the fun of the new purchase! LOL… I will check it before I disassemble. Im gonna make a minor cube/compression/cam change. It will be similar to last… the change is not necessarily for more power, just a change. Of course I’ll retune… I have EFI live.
Question is when sensors fail…do they just fail, or work a lil… I have zero pressure at idle, and like 10-15 lbs at 3k rpm.
Some work a little bit, but throw the numbers the ECU is getting wayyyyyyy off.
it depends…
I have seen some that dont show any PSI idling or driving…and I have seen some that show way too much…
if its at 0 on a idle, it would most likely be a spun crank bearing, and you would notice a knock right off the bat…and since you drove it home that night after it went, the knock would have gotten pretty damn loud…
if it was your cam that went, you would be throwing misfire codes and such…and the car would obv. idle like shit…
problem is, if its NOT the oil pressure sensor and something in your engine is actually fucked up I dont not reccommend starting it at all to diagnose the problem better because 0 oil pressure = fucked up turbos.
you have EFI live??? Could It tune my car? :runaway
when you were loading it on the trailer it had a metallic zing to it. and from what you were saying this problem has been on going.
what do you mean by metallic Zing???
also I was thinking…without starting the car and just seeing if your oil pressure unit is bad just get a new one from a auto parts store and put it on…take out your injector fuses and crank the car over…if the car builds oil pressure, it was just a bad sensor…if the sensor isnt bad, go return it to the auto parts store.
mine sometimes gets low in my ls1, but ive had it put on a real oil pressure gauge and its read normal. Most gauges on our cars are dumby anyways.
Some good points… but I beleive it to be the cam bearings… this would not mess up the way the car runs or idels as cam position stays the same. I dont think its a main, as thats a different sound. There was zero metal in the oil, which is interesting. I found an oil leak at one of the turbo return lines and was definately a few quarts low…though, oddly, the oil level read fine on the dipstick, even after I lost pressure.
I didnt drive the car home as someone suggested, I trailered it.
I decided not to play doctor now, I’ll play when the motor is out. The new one is already on order so I might as well drop it in… freshen up this one and have a spare or sell it. The parts in the current motor are excellent, so I kinda wanna keep it for a rainy day.
Besides, all this is PLAN B. Plan B always is part of this game and this was no surprise, as the tranny destructions were no surprise. My only surprise is that the 4000 lb air conditioned, bose sterio’d quiet family truckster can do some damage to some fat tire, big cube race designed cars. After all, its a domestic, not a Supra. 
It’s all in the name of fun… and effin money… cars are money pits… I wanted to spend money on twisties, not this!
if it was a main bearing oil press. would b down at idle and erratic while driving. if it was a main u would not hear it. if it was a rod bearing u would hear it and oil psi would be about the same.
BUT WTF DO I KNOW!! ;D WERE’s MY WELDER??? :nod
The Trans Am breaks and you’re playing doctor YOURSELF within 24 hours. Your M3 has been broken since you bought it and you’re just getting around to paying someone to fix it. :lol
i’d be interested to kn ow what block/motor setup your dropping into the car…
if you want it to be confidential I completely understand…but you could shoot me a Private message and I will keep my mouth shut :crackup
I wouldn’t exactly call an IP roll cage and fire suppression repair work :lol
Yeah, Jesse confused himself with me… My M3 runs fine with the new battery… oh , and clutch…and um that stuff. Fire supression is just for fun to make the people at the redlight behind me scratch their heads when i pull it for no reason at all. Wait… will that M3 pass inspection? 
I’m really not a secret keeper… very few things are not out in the open in my life.
I chose the Gen 4 Iron Block, stroked 4" and bored .065 over … not because thats what I wanted, but because its what i could have in a week… the builder does nascar and circle track stuff… and this is the shortblock alot of the circle track guys are using for durability… so he had in stock. All I needed to do was special order some coated dish Mahle pistons, or i coulda had the motor this week. It’s coming out of Michigan.
I I had my druthers it would have been the gen 3 iron block so i could use the same head bolts and not have to swap the front cover and cam sensor and lifter trays, which are all different on the Gen 4. The Gen 4 is said to have better oiling and less windage as well as being stronger… The short block can handle 1000 hp, and only limited by the rods. For another…gulp…$600 the block would take 1300. In reality, I find 700 the place to be until it becomes absolutely necessary to make the turbos work… the weight of the car and the traction are limiting factors… It makes a nice street car… not sure I’ll continue to rock the slicks for much longer… but I was waiting on some fast imports…and was forced on some domestics when no imports showed.
yeah, with shawn outta the game theres not much that can run with you from the import crowd except the poopra and some synapse big turbo hondas which are conveniently sleeping lately. that and the “big turbo” STi that cant seem to stay together longer than 4k miles at a time… that MIGHT give u a nasty run on the street… if it ever comes back out.
good deal. I know alot of big time boosted F body guys go to the Iron blocks. The LSx series engines hold heat too long, while the iron blocks release heat/take longer to heat up and are much stronger even when they do. Sounds like your trans am is gonna be even more then a beast then it already is…with that much power tho, why would you take the slicks off? you will go through street tires/drag radials within a few weeks lol…I hope to one day have my SS boosted :runaway