Nissan Frontier Forum banner

3.3 SC Strange Oil Pressure Issue

14K views 37 replies 5 participants last post by  redv6 
#1 · (Edited)
3.3 SC Started w/ oil PSI issue now turning into a rebuild

Hey guys new to the forum. Picked up a 4x4 2003 CC 3.3 SC frontier about 2 months ago which has been an absolute nightmare. The truck has 150k miles on it. The second day I owned the truck one of the camshafts seized and obliterated some lifters. I ended up getting both heads rebuilt along with a valve job. Decided to go with JWT S1 cams while everything was out.

Now that I've actually been able to drive the truck a couple weeks I'm getting a weird oil pressure issue. The oil pressure light will flicker on when I'm coming to a stop or making hard turns. If I turn the truck off and let it sit for 10 minutes it shows that I have oil. The next morning after I noticed this, I checked the oil on leveled ground with a cold engine and the dipstick showed no oil, so I added 2 quarts of oil and was able to get a good reading on the dipstick while the motor was still cold.

After driving it for a few days the oil pressure light flickered on again as I was coming to a stop. I turned the truck off for 10 minutes and checked the dipstick and there was only oil on one side at the end of the dipstick (My dipstick has a 4 sided tip). I cleaned the dipstick and put it back in and still only showing oil on one of 4 sides. As soon as I start the truck and check the oil my oil level is way passed the H mark.

I'm assuming it's not the sending unit only because the issue is intermittent and and I would think the light would either stay on or not come on at all if it was the sensor. I'm thinking maybe there is sludge build up in the bottom of the pan that may be blocking the pick up which might also explain why I can only see oil on one side of my dipstick when I check it. I don't get any blue smoke on start up , sometimes when I accelerate I get blue smoke but I think it's because I might of added too much oil due to the inaccurate reading on the dipstick.

I'm going to drop the oil pan this weekend and replace gaskets but it looks like its going to be a nightmare. Seems like I have to take a lot of extra crap off just to get to it. I definitely need to replace the rear main seal because it has a visible leak. Oil Pan itself looks clean. No leaks from the valve covers or the front of the motor. I'm totally stumped. What do you guys think?
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I just read that too much oil can cause an oil pressure sensor light to come on due to the oil sloshing around and aerating the oil making it harder for the pump to pick up. The guy who rebuilt the heads told me he put 5 quarts in the truck when he put it all back together. He obviously didn't realize that it only takes 3.5 quarts. Going to drain all the oil when I get home today and put in the right amount and see if that will help.
 
#3 ·
So I've narrowed down the issue. Drained the oil today to see how much was in it, was only about a quart of oil. I added new oil and started the truck. Revved it up a little bit and it blew out huge drops of oil and hit my garage door with it 4 feet away. So the oil is getting into the intake somehow and I have no idea how. I'm thinking a vacuum line or something. Anyone have any ideas?
 
#4 ·
If you put five quarts in, and another two on top of that, I'm surprised it wasn't overflowing out of the valve cover at that point! I usually put closer to four quarts in mine when I change the oil and filter together, and it has never caused me any issues.
 
#5 ·
Well I dont think it was overfilled now that I realize it is literally shooting oil out of the exhaust. I have to figure out why and how oil is getting into the intake. I literally just had a valve job done, vacuum tested the heads. All new gaskets and everything. I dont know what could cause this.
 
#8 ·
if your blowing oil out the exhaust it could be multiple things. first and most likely, valve guides are worn , and the oil is leaking down through the valve stem into the exhaust. so on the exhaust stroke of the cylinder its pushing the puddling oil in the head out into the exhaust. and since you just did a head job....... more then likely not all tolerances were mic. out. second would be oil leaking past your rings into the cylinder, but that would burn the oil before it could really get into the exhaust, the easiest way to tell if its leaking past the rings is pull the plugs and see if there covered in oil. and if you wanted to you could rent a compression tester and pull the compressions off each cylinder.


to me theres reason to believe your getting the OP light due to not enough oil. also too make sure your using the right oil!
if the guide valves are worn, i would recommend using traditional oil, it may gum up enough to help seal the valve guide.

if you had the cam froze the previous owner probably didn't change the oil at all.

don't worry i had the same issue, and put a purchased rebuilt engine it, DONT DO THAT! if you rebuild a engine, do it yourself its not hard at all! DO NOT purchase any rebuilt engines except from a local company that offers lots of warranty. i bought a rebuilt out of state, and i got burned bad.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Yeah I confirmed the OP light was due to the low oil. I wondered about the valve guides but the guy who did it says he replaced them. The only thing that wasn't replaced in the heads were the valves. It's a friend of mine who I trust and he only charged me $100 per head and I don't have any reason to believe he would screw me on that. Starting to wonder if the clearances are correct. Going to bring it to him today for him to look at it. He still thinks there's oil getting into the intake. Going to pull the plugs today. I have a feeling they will have oil on them since the truck is starting to misfire now. I checked the cylinder walls when the heads were off they looked clean and there was absolutely no carbon build up or sludge In the heads before the rebuild. It looked maintained. The dealer I got it from claimed they replaced the lifters before I got the truck so I wonder if they ****ed something up. I really hope it's not the Rings. If I have to get a new block I'm going hard. Going to bore it over.
 
#11 ·
This is not an uncommon thing to happen. Hopefully the only thing your buddy messed up is overfilling the oil.

Overfilling oil can cause it to foam and oil pumps don't like to pump foam, hence the low pressure and warning light.

Spooge on the MAF sensor tells me oil was blown through the breather/EGR system. Contamination on the MAF sensor can confuse the ECU and cause poor performance like Mis-firing. Clean out or replace the EGR valve, all the associated hoses and the MAF sensor. I suggest getting a can of MAF sensor cleaner as it needs to be a cleaner that leaves no residue. You may also need to replace or clean the air filter as this often oils that. You may find oil in the bottom of the airbox.
 
#15 · (Edited)
It was misfiring blowing black smoke on acceleration before I cleaned the MAF. After I cleaned it it was running smooth, no black smoke. But now it's misfiring again around 3000 rpm range while cruising. I've replaced the pcv and the hose for it. The old pcv valve had sludge built up in it. Going to do a leak down this weekend although I really can't suspect bad rings because it's not puffing out blue smoke it's literally spraying oil. I thought that maybe the black spray could be condensation clearing out the carbon build up when it was running rich briefly. Haven't checked the egr yet. I read through the Nissan service manual and it mentioned a pcv hose that goes from one valve cover to the other. Is that true? Maybe that's clogged

Coolant looks good. Although the plastic on the reservoir cap won't stay closed but I can't imagine that hurting anything. By the way I appreciate all the replies guys
 
#19 ·
I'm almost positive it's the Rings now which sucks. Still won't know until I do the leak down this weekend. I've determined the black spray out of the exhaust was just condensation picking up all the soot from when it was running rich. I drove it around today after putting mobile 1 synthetic in it and I'm almost positive I'm seeing a tiny bit of bluish smoke when I accelerated hard. Not %100 it's blue though the road is wet and hard to tell with all the mist. Could also be residual from when I ran sea foam in it from Wednesday since I haven't driven it since then.
 
#20 ·
willing to bet it was the rings. if it ran dry enough to lock the cam up, then likely it shot the rings and all the bearings in the crank too...

the 3.3 does have a spot where oil could suck into the intake...
its the breather lines coming from the front of the valve covers then cross over the top of where the Tbelt is , then goes into the rubber intake. its possible by over filling it just ingested oil intill it leveled out. which isn't good, but won't destroy anything except coating the plugs, nothing a spark plug blaster and tester won't check.
 
#21 ·
Didn't even get a chance to do a leak down. Found out the bottom end is totally ****ed. Bearings, crank and all. Trying to locate a short block now that I can work with. Going to do a minor bore on it and see what size pistons I can stuff in it. So pissed about it all but at least everything will be pretty much new at the end of the day.
 
#22 · (Edited)
run the engine in your truck to put along, find a engine to pull out of a scrap yard, then send everything to a local aching shop... getting ready to pick up the engine I'm building soon... ported and polished heads JWT S1 cam, DT headers, 30 over bored out, etc....


http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f102/build-redv6-132137/
 
#23 ·
Just parking the truck for now. It's eating 3 quarts of oil in a matter of days cant afford it. Luckily my GF's dad works at a machine shop that rebuilds engines. He rebuilt my heads already and put the s1 cams in it. I asked him to port and polish and after he looked at it he said I really wouldn't gain much from it - he said the heads had pretty good flow as it is. He's trying to find a short block for me for now. Are you doing the q45 pistons with VG30DETT rods?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top