3800 series III supercharged V6 Firebird swap: oil pressure?

[dzcook98]

Hey guys, update on my swap and a question i need to ask real quick:

So i just finished swapping in an L32 supercharged V6 from an 07 Grand Prix GT into my 01 Firebird. Just started it a few days ago, and it started up first try! it sounds real healthy, with no ticks or weird missing noises.

however, for some reason, my oil pressure gauge is reading 100 psi, which is concerning to me. I already replaced the sensor, which dropped it a few ticks, but still right around 100 psi.

Is this a normal idling psi for this engine? Could it be tune related (I had Intense Racing reflash my pcm)? if not, any other suggestions as to how drop it?

any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[alex553]

Should drop after it warms up, mine would peg on start up

[dzcook98]

I did let it warm up, good couple of minutes. Radiator fans kicked on an everything

[ssms5411]

Mine reads about 90 to 100 on startups and drops to 40 to 60 when hot. 10w/30 oil about 90 degress on startup and let the temp get to about 176 degress.

[LETZRIDE]

Oil pressure is not tune related. However, some of our cars (I think 98+) were more of a dummy gauge that was not considered accurate. Have you put on a mechanical oil pressure sensor to measure what your true pressure is at?

[dzcook98]

I haven't tried the mechanical gauge yet. Will have to give that a shot.

I also did a once over on the oil filter housing, just to see if it was clogged up or anything. There was some rtv kinda stuck on the spring. Hoping that mightve been it. If not I'll pick up a mechanical gauge.

Thanks for the advice guys

[LETZRIDE]

Check the mechanical gauge for sure. Also any crap can cause issues in your oil system as well.

I am in KPA here in Canada- are you sure it is 100psi? I tried to look up the US version of the gauge cluster and I thought they only go to 80? I don’t know the conversion between the two.

[dzcook98]

sorry for the late response, but we got the oil pressure figured out. Got it down from 100 psi to about 70. the reason its still higher than normal is because we are using a thicker consistency oil.

Last thing I need to to get the bird road worthy is get some thread tape so that my fuel pressure regulator doesn't leak, and I need to run some cleaner through the engine, to get rid of some of the carbon build up from where the engine has sat for God know's how long.

Thanks for all your help guys! Can't wait to be hearing that SC whine coming from my bird lol

[LETZRIDE]

What got it down in pressure some? Removing the crap that you found or something else?

[ssms5411]

Check the mechanical gauge for sure. Also any crap can cause issues in your oil system as well.

I am in KPA here in Canada- are you sure it is 100psi? I tried to look up the US version of the gauge cluster and I thought they only go to 80? I don’t know the conversion between the two.

Yeah, Mike mine on a 96' goes to 120 psi, don't know about the later models. Mine on startup sits about 90 psi, maybe more, but after driving it in the heat it drops to 30-40 psi. But at idle Im usually 40-60 psi. This is with 10w30 oil synthetic.

[dzcook98]

Sorry for the late response, again haha. I've been busy enjoying the boost on my car. To answer Letzride's question, yes clearing out the gunk in the filter neck dropped it down a little bit. I am also running a thicker/premium oil in my car, which is making the psi a little higher than normal.

The only thing the car is doing now it'll idle a little rough at a stoplight. I'm tuned to idle about 750rpm, and occasionally it will drop to 500 or under. Got the codes scanned the other day and its telling me I got a bunch of 02 sensor errors, and a bad ignition coil. Not worried about the 02 sensors, so i think its safe to say that its just the coil causing it to misfire occasionally.

Overall, I am thoroughly impressed with this swap! It definitely feels a lot lighter on its feet. Feels close to around 5ish seconds 0-60, even though I'm still on the stock 3.08 rearend.

Thanks everyone for the help! More to come with this build in the future

[ssms5411]

Good to hear, throw some 3.73s in there and you'll be flying.

[ssms5411]

You have any pics of your swap?

[dzcook98]

Cleanest shot of the engine bay I got.

Next performance mods are gonna be X-pipe true duals, 3.6" SC pulley, 3.42s with posi, and a retune.

This is a street/strip car. 3.42's are the better gearing imo, since I'm going to be dailying it for a while.

Once I get a second car to beat on, I'll do a cam swap, bigger injectors, smaller pulley, and maybe a T56 swap when the 4L60e finally gives lol

[dzcook98]

I have a ton more pics and vids and stuff on Instagram @3.8sc_firebird if anyone is interested