CHECK GAUGES light is on. Oil pressure reads 0. This has happened before but the pump was taken care of. I believe this time it's the actual gauge that's lost it. Yes, I already replaced the Pressure Sending Unit. I know besides where this unit is at there is another place to mechanically check the Pressure on the side of the block. What side/where on block and what size gauges/tools exactly do I need to do so??? Or could this be a different electrical issue?

 

Having recently went through this, its no joke

Do a quick test before you rule out your electronics. Remove the sender, unplug the coils and spin the engine over a few times. The sender hole should burp up a good bit of oil. If it doesnt, start over at the pump and go from there

Most external gauges are drilled and tapped into the port near the filter. The small piece is removable, but the hard part is figuring out a way to mount a sender that doesnt interfere with your exhaust

 

I used the electric sending unit. Broke off the plastic drilled and tapped for mechanical line.

 

Ugh, this situation does suck. I had the pump worked on about 6 months ago. The return valve was just stuck open from a little bit of debris. Hopefully it's not the pump this time. I'm gonna have to remove the intake manifold and all that fun stuff again to do that oil trick huh? Are there any wires related to the in-dash gauge I can check (without taking the front end of my car apart lol) with a tester just to see if it's just a gauge issue?

Thanks for everything in advance guys.

 

The intake isnt so bad to remove. Its alot easier than to button everything up from a new gauge swap and find out the pump STILL is bad

 

If it ends up being the pump again, contact Katech. IIRC, they were one of the first to recognize the manufaturing problem, and correct it. Nothing sucks worse that doing the same job twice.

Just a thought.

 

True true. It all sucks. Looks like the manifold is coming back off. You're right it's not that bad after the 1st time. Does the computer / OBD display oil pressure information if I had a decent scanner?

 

No, oil pressure sender is a direct connection to the gauge only. Scanner should be able to pick up oil level, but not pressure

 

I'm fairly sure now it's the pump doing a half-*** job. Fired it up for just a tiny moment and the lifters let me know they were pissed off. I've just decided to get a new pump and throw it in myself. Just another bonding moment to be had with the car. Lol. There's a good write-up on the procedure on LS1howto.com I'll probably use. Let the fun begin...

 

Hey, atleast you dont have to unbolt the steering rack and move it out the way like we have to do with the vettes

 

Yeah, it should not be too bad. On an engine stand, I was able to remove one pretty easily by just removing the timing cover for access.....so I can't imagine it being too difficult while still in the car. The pickup tube bolt is easy enough to get at, just make sure to use a new bolt and replace the pickup tube o-ring (which should come in the kit).

Sorry for the advertisement again, but Katech makes some pretty nice pumps. You might consider upgrading to a standard pressure,blueprinted, ported LS6 pump since you're allready there anyway.

 

Be glad its not a 3rd gen swap. The pickup tube bolt is nearly impossible to get to without lifting the engine. Not that all of the pan bolts are that easy to get to either

 

One more thing (I almost forgot to metion)....BUY A NEW BALANCER BOLT! It would totally SUCK to have done the repair, and then have a balancer bolt fail.

 

Basically all I need is for new parts:?

- New Pump/o-ring
- Water Pump Gasket
- Timing Cover Seals
- 1 Balancer Bolt

Does this bolt get banged up in the process or is it kind of a one time dissasembly deal? Also, I did check out the Katech pumps a bit. They look pretty good however I'm in a time crunch and the parts store has one within a day for me. It's the Melling Hi-Volume Pump #10296. Wouldn't mind having a little higher pressure. How do these two pumps compare? I don't do a whole lot of crazy sh$t in this car, sorta....

 

Well, ideally, this is what all you would need.

-Timing chain/spocket set (since you're right there anyway), just an option
-New cam bolts, if you decide to replace the timing chain
-Timing cover seal and gasket
-ARP 234-2503 balancer bolt
-Water pump gaskets
-Oil pump
-Oil pump pickup tube bolt and o-ring
-New oil pump mounting bolts
-Coolant
-New hoses (as needed)

That should be just about everything that you should need.

 

The timing cover gasket and waterpump seals are designed to be reusable. Id buy new ones and replace them if the old ones get torn up or look excessively flat. If they're fine return the new ones for a refund. Ive never needed to replace them. The old gaskets always survived

The crank bolt is torque to yield, meaning it stretches to final size and provides constant torque until removed. When removed, being steel it will not retract like rubber to its original size, thus it must be replaced. Its under $10 from a dealer, so theres no point risking it. Removal usually scores up the head from the puller, but that wont affect how it works. I highly suggest borrowing an installer tool to press the pulley back on. The crank snout threads are hardened and can survive being used to pull the pulley on, but dont expect them to live through multiple balancer installs. The tool is a simple piece of hardened threaded rod, a large washer and a nut. The tool threads into the crank and when seated does not spin in the threads. The nut does the work

Some members recommend heating the balancer to expand it for a softer press. I wouldnt do that. The balancer may survive the 3-400* heating process fine, but the front main seal definitely will not since its rubber. A front main seal would be pertinent to replace, need it or not since you're already there

 

Almost there, putting the harmonic balancer back on but need to know one thing. How the hell do I keep the engine from turning over to tighten this thing properly?? I have an A4.