Oil Leak - Guage Fluctuating - Need Advice

[Zarkonan]

Car:
1980 L82

Facts:
Oil guage (thats pressure right?) fluctuating up and down.
Found a small spot of oil on the garage foor after this.
Checked the oil and its really low.

Diagnosis:
Do I simply have a leak? Can i put a quart in to get me to the shop (how do I put oil in this car anyway (Hey I warned you I was a newbie))

Anyway to determine if its an oil pump problem?

Could it be an oil filter problem?

Any help from the experts in this forum would be greatly appreciated. I'm a new corvette owner with very very very little experience in repairing this car.

Thanks in advance!

 

[80convertible]

Was this the first time you had check the oil level? I have all sorts of small leaks but no major problems. SBC with 2 piece rear main seal is notorious for leaking a little. Unless you have a major leak, just add some oil...to the fill line on your dip stick and drive to the shop if that's what you want to do. Better yet, give the old vette an oil change yourself.

I had never worked on a car let alone a vette when I bought mine. In fact the only thing I had ever done to an engine is change the air filter. Learning is part of the fun. Changing the oil is really quite easy. You need to visit a parts store and pick yourself up an oil catch pan, oil filter wrench, oil filter and 5 quarts of oil9 (assuming a standard 350 with normal oil pan). Unless your engine has new gaskets, I would advise staying away from synthetic. Will leak to much with worn gaskets. I use 10W-30 all season long.

If you have a standard shop manual such as Haynes for corvettes, you will get good instructions and some pics on changing the oil. When I'm doing something for the first time, I like having pics.

Welcome to the club and vette ownership.

 

[80convertible]

Also, gauge fluctuation is usually caused be either a faulty gauge or electrical problem. Could be as simple as ground connection or loose wiring. I would check the simple things first. Unless you had a massive oil leak resulting in loss of presssure or oil level near empty, I can't imagine oil level causing needle fluctuation.

 

[Bob Chadwick]

My gauge has the same problem. It will never drop below 20 psi but sometimes at any rpm above idle, it will gyrate wildly up and down between wherever it was and the top of the gauge. There is no rhyme or reason.

I habe rebuilt the gauge, replaced the sending unit and the connector for the sending unit with no luck. I replaced the alternator recently and it hasn't done it since but then again I haven't done much driving since then.

I conmbined your two identical posts on the same subject into one on the appropriate forum.

 

[jdp6000]

Sounds like a minor oil leak. Since your guage and sending unit are new the fluctuation maybe as a result of not having enough oil in the engine....or a faulty connection. I suggest you top up the oil and check the guage again.

You should be checking your oil level regularly. If you want the car to last I suggest you change the oil every 3,000 miles. Pay now or pay big bucks later.

You can add oil by locating the cap on one of of your valve covers, unscrew it and add oil. do it on level ground. Add some oil a little at a time, check the dip stick, keep adding oil until it reaches the line on the dip stick that says full. DO NOT OVER FILL.