Tore my knocking engine down today *PICS*
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,890
Likes: 1,137
From: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Tore my knocking engine down today *PICS* Well, the good news is my engine is fixable. The bad news is, the failure was my screw up. A $5 oil pump O-ring is going to end up costing me $1000. Somehow when I did my heads/cam install a year or so ago, I pinched the O-ring pretty severely, so my oil pump has been sucking air and starving the bearings. The #6 bearing finally failed and took out the #5 at the same time. What REALLY sucks is when I first did the install, the O-ring was screwed up, so I tore it down AGAIN and replaced it, and my oil pressure was good (so I thought). Continuing the good news, my cylinders only have .001 wear on the thrust side so I am just going to re-ring it and put a crank kit in it so it'll be back on the road for a relatively small expenditure. I'm adding a slightly bigger cam and milling the heads to bump the compression to 11:1, so with the freshened engine, I'll probably gain around 20-30 HP. Not too bad, considering I wanted to do the cam and head milling anyway. Here's some pics of the teardown and carnage. The pic showing the bearing shell is actually TWO bearing halves welded together:
Man that is bad to see. I have seen a lot of people have that problem. You my have to elong gate the mounting holes so it goes in better. I think there is two holes to e long gate.
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Joined: Apr 2006
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From: Western Burbs of Detroit
Good job on the tear down man. Glad to see you have the capabilities and tools/equipment to fix your car when it goes down. You'll be up and running in no time bro. Good luck and extra hp is always nice too !!!
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,890
Likes: 1,137
From: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Ha ha, it's actually at my buddies house since he has every tool you could possibly imagine, not to mention I don't have a shop where I can leave my car for a couple weeks until it's back together. I definitely can do the work, just don't have the facilities.
As for pulling it out, if you make a cradle to roll the engine/trans assembly out from under the car, it makes it a whole lot easier. Use the engine hoist to lift the car up and out of the way, then slide the drivetrain out. There's a few write ups on here if you do a search.
One thing I learned - You CANNOT install a double roller timing chain with the engine in the car, because you'll pinch the O-ring every time due to the spacers needed on the oil pump. Basically what RsSean said, the pick up tube mounting holes need to be elongated so the pickup tube will fit in the pump correctly. Something I never knew when I did my heads/cam setup on the car a year ago.
Just because I already have it, I'm going to keep the double roller. Once it's installed correctly, it should be fine.
As for the O-ring sizes, everyone I spoke to said to use the larger O ring regardless of what one it had in it factory. I'll have to see for sure if there is any newer information to the contrary.
As for pulling it out, if you make a cradle to roll the engine/trans assembly out from under the car, it makes it a whole lot easier. Use the engine hoist to lift the car up and out of the way, then slide the drivetrain out. There's a few write ups on here if you do a search.
One thing I learned - You CANNOT install a double roller timing chain with the engine in the car, because you'll pinch the O-ring every time due to the spacers needed on the oil pump. Basically what RsSean said, the pick up tube mounting holes need to be elongated so the pickup tube will fit in the pump correctly. Something I never knew when I did my heads/cam setup on the car a year ago.
Just because I already have it, I'm going to keep the double roller. Once it's installed correctly, it should be fine.
As for the O-ring sizes, everyone I spoke to said to use the larger O ring regardless of what one it had in it factory. I'll have to see for sure if there is any newer information to the contrary.
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 13
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i feel ur pain man mine went down a month and a half ago for the same reason and i went with a bigger cam and pistons and still dont have it running right need a tune bad i took mine out the top with a tree and a hoist annd it wasnt fun so if u hae the capabilitysi suggest going out the bottom
I have always been scared of pinching the O ring and having to tear down the front of the motor again, its just a PITA. I had mid 30k on a 2002 LS1 so I kept the stocker in there. When the motor decides to eat itself, unless the block is flawless I do not expect to be leaving it 346 cube anyways and then a something will be build on the side for just such an occasion. 
When I bought a Melling oil pump for the LS1 it came with both o-rings and told you one was for one type of pickup tube the other was for the other. One pickup tube has a shoulder on it or something different.
I can take a pic of the diagram of them if you want.
I can take a pic of the diagram of them if you want.
Ya it's a cheap fix, just time consuming. Just have the crank turned, get bearings and you're back on track.
When I was installing my oil pickup I made sure and lubed the O-ring really well. It slid right into place without any issues, and my oil pressure is around 80lbs at WOT.
When I was installing my oil pickup I made sure and lubed the O-ring really well. It slid right into place without any issues, and my oil pressure is around 80lbs at WOT.