Bought a cheapo 5.3 to drop into my Jeep as a temporary motor, previous owner said it had 135,000 miles on it.

I replaced the rod bearings, and head gaskets.

Started it up, and i have no oil pressure at idle. Maybe 5-7PSI at about 1100rpm.

Pulled the valve covers, 2 or 3 rocker arms have some oil pushing out of them, the rest are dry. Valve train isn't crazy noisy, but there is a little bit of noise.

Checked with 2 manual gauges, at both the cooler adapter, and the stock sender location. Both show the same.

Barbell plug is still in place under the back cover. Noticed a little bit of oil running down from the rear cam bearing.

Swapped in a new Melling M295 pump, with the proper O-Ring, still has the same issue.


Any ideas?

 

Sounds to me that the engine may have been bad when you bought it. Did you get to see it run before you bought it? I would bet it has a bad main bearing.

 

Nope, never heard it run. $200 Dollar special.

 

That's what mine did when I spun #1 main bearing....

 

you hear any unusual noise at all from it? looks like its coming back out.

 

question when you replaced oil pump .on right haND side of oil pump mouting surface .there a plug look like a small freeze plug .was it still tight .if not oil wil just keep returning to the pan .when i replace oil pump i packed plug with jb weld.

 

Is the oil pan pick-up clogged up with something?

 

If the motor has been sitting for time and some debris have got in it the filter may have clogged instantly. Happened to a friend of mine. After changing sensors, pump, and all that we changed the filter and there it was.

I doubt this is your case, but worth a thought