Buick Park Avenue No Oil Pressure No Charge - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

raychevy · 07-27-2009, 01:54 AM

Hi,

I recently purchased a 1996 Buick Park Avenue with 159000 miles on a 3.8 v6. Today I needed to replace the belt tensioner as the belt was riding slightly off the pulley. To do that I had to take the alternator off and lay it on top of the engine (because the ground was left connected I just removed the snap on connector), remove the tensioner assembly which also passes coolant through chambers to the water pump, and since I had to loosen it anways, removed the power sterring pump and replaced. We also had a bad front seal in the A/C compressor so I replaced that too. After I finished there was power steering fluid all over as well as dexcool, so I went ahead and degreased it and sprayed the gunk off with the hose in the accessory area to prevent any fires. The previous owner recently replaced the water pump and the alternator, so now I have a totally new accessory lineup. Now to my questions.

1. When I started the car, to go home (I was at my parents) the oil pressure gauge read zero and had the error light on. The alternator guage had the red light on also and the needle was just above the red warning area. It used to stay about 3/4 to the right when on and the oil would hover bettwen 25 and 75% depending on temperature and RPM. When I got home I found the little conntector with about 4 wires in it was not plugged into the alternator so I plugged it in. Restarted the car and it still has the same issues. I did not get much water on the alternator, and the car sounds great no signs of low oil pressure. Any ideas on what could be wrong?

2. When I replaced the pump I got about 3/4 of the quart of fluid back in it, and then put the cap on. It was quiet then after a few minues made a little noise. While sitting still on rock, I worked the wheel lock to lock several times the first time made some noise but after that it seemed fine. By the time I got home, the pump makes a definate noise when I turn. Do I need to do an air bleed or something?

Thanks!

68C15 · 07-27-2009, 06:31 AM

maybe you have pinched wires under one of the brackets.
the PS noise can be fixed by bleeding it with the wheels off the ground. turn the steering wheel back and forth about 20 or 30 times while checking fluid level.

BTW, next time you would have better results if posted in Gen. Disc.

07-27-2009, 01:54 AM	#1
raychevy Registered User Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Evansville, Indiana USA Posts: 485	Buick Park Avenue No Oil Pressure No Charge Hi, I recently purchased a 1996 Buick Park Avenue with 159000 miles on a 3.8 v6. Today I needed to replace the belt tensioner as the belt was riding slightly off the pulley. To do that I had to take the alternator off and lay it on top of the engine (because the ground was left connected I just removed the snap on connector), remove the tensioner assembly which also passes coolant through chambers to the water pump, and since I had to loosen it anways, removed the power sterring pump and replaced. We also had a bad front seal in the A/C compressor so I replaced that too. After I finished there was power steering fluid all over as well as dexcool, so I went ahead and degreased it and sprayed the gunk off with the hose in the accessory area to prevent any fires. The previous owner recently replaced the water pump and the alternator, so now I have a totally new accessory lineup. Now to my questions. 1. When I started the car, to go home (I was at my parents) the oil pressure gauge read zero and had the error light on. The alternator guage had the red light on also and the needle was just above the red warning area. It used to stay about 3/4 to the right when on and the oil would hover bettwen 25 and 75% depending on temperature and RPM. When I got home I found the little conntector with about 4 wires in it was not plugged into the alternator so I plugged it in. Restarted the car and it still has the same issues. I did not get much water on the alternator, and the car sounds great no signs of low oil pressure. Any ideas on what could be wrong? 2. When I replaced the pump I got about 3/4 of the quart of fluid back in it, and then put the cap on. It was quiet then after a few minues made a little noise. While sitting still on rock, I worked the wheel lock to lock several times the first time made some noise but after that it seemed fine. By the time I got home, the pump makes a definate noise when I turn. Do I need to do an air bleed or something? Thanks!

07-27-2009, 06:31 AM	#2
68C15 blood type; Retumbo Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: next to my reloading bench Posts: 10,269	Re: Buick Park Avenue No Oil Pressure No Charge maybe you have pinched wires under one of the brackets. the PS noise can be fixed by bleeding it with the wheels off the ground. turn the steering wheel back and forth about 20 or 30 times while checking fluid level. BTW, next time you would have better results if posted in Gen. Disc. Last edited by 68C15; 07-27-2009 at 06:31 AM.



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