punkisntdead

i hope someone knows whats going on with my car because i sure don't at this point. ok so here's the situation:

i rebuilt the engine about 15000 miles ago and i have a melling HV pump, cant remember what model, 10550 maybe? ive had no problem with oil pressure until about maybe 2 months ago. when i stopped kinda hard the pressure would drop to zero real quick then it would pick back up. the other morning i had just started driving down the road and my light came on and the gauge said zero.

i pulled over and checked the oil and it was fine. nothing was making any noise under the hood so i drove like a grandma for about a mile or two until i heard the roller rockers chatting so i pulled over and cut it off.
summit tech told me it sounded like the pickup tube so i pulled the pan and sure enough, the pickup had fallen out.

i got a new pickup tube and had it pressed it and spot welded on the pump.
i checked the pump before putting it back in and it seemed fine, gears seemed smooth. got the car put all back together and STILL no oil pressure. i replaced the oil pressure sensor about a year ago so i dont think thats the problem. i let it run for a minute without pressure and the roller rockers were still chatting.

someone told me my main bearings might have spun? i didnt run it much at all though. sorry this is so long i just wanted to add all the details, someone please help me out!

siniSSter

iTrader: (2)

Sorry guy, sounds like bad news. First check with a mechanical oil guage to see if your having low oil pressure, but chattering noise from the valvetrain is not a good sign. Good luck with your engine.

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

Yea, you might have spun some Bearings...I have been there, I know the feeling..
Atleast you know not to have the Pickup spot-welded in..that will save you some trouble.

Razor_Blade

iTrader: (8)

Like siniSSster said, your first move should be hooking up a mechanical guage to confirm lack of oil pressure. From the sound of things I don't believe you spun a bearing. Did you take the pump apart before spot welding the pick up? The heat from welding can weaken the spring causing a lack of oil pressure.

Nyzze00Z28

iTrader: (1)

If you spun a bearing you would know it!
Nosy valvetrain is just from the low oil press.
I say check the spring in the relief it could have been over heated or it could have broke or gotten stuck.
Deffinately check witha mechanical gage.

KFK

iTrader: (9)

I ended up blowing up my first engine because the drive gear off the cam stripped. (the one that is at the base of the dist. on a normal small block)
I would pop the intake off and visually check that oil pump drive gear.

Imnotfast

iTrader: (1)

Would bet your oil pump drive gear broke. Had that happen last summer on my daily driver. Also I posted pictures of it a month or so ago.

punkisntdead

it was the oil pump drive gear, the gears were all stripped. i'll order one tomorrow. thanks for all the help.

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

How bad is the rest of the Engine?

punkisntdead

as far as i can tell nothing else is wrong with the engine. i didnt pull any bearings to check. there was still plenty of oil under the intake when i took it off. i'm just going to get another oil pump drive gear and go with that.