Went to start my car today for the first time in almost 6 years. Changed the oil did everything I was supposed to. Went to crank it and I had a fuel leak. In the meantime I figured I might as well see if it has oil pressure. Cranked the motor in 5-10 second increments and the needle didn’t budge. Called around and it could be a bad/clogged oil pump. Not certain if I just wasn’t cranking it long enough but I don’t want to dry out the bearings. It’s not a can of worms I want to open but is there anything else I could do to avoid having to pull the motor and disassembling the front end?

 

Probably just fine. Fire it up and see if it builds pressure. Apparently, oil pressure won't really register or build enough pressure to register by simply cranking over.

I can't see the gerotor oil pump failing from just sitting there...

 

"I don’t want to dry out the bearings".
They were about 3 yrs ago.....

 

Remove the spark plugs and fuses for the injectors/ignition. Crank until you see some psi's . You could prime the pump through the drivers side of the block by removing the Allen plug.

 

I'm not really aware of much that can fail in the LS1 oil pump. It's just a big rotor in a casing.

 

I think OP realized that he or she, he-she, she-he/ whatever did have oil pressure and never bothered to reply back? So often this happens. It's the world we live in today so just trying to say it correctly.

 

Not at all, disassembled the motor to pull the oil pump. Been busy. Gonna order a melling 10295 HPSV pump.

 

Glad to see you're making progress. By the way ICT Billet makes a nice block off plate for the LS oil pan that's threaded for a 4AN male fitting which would allow you to run a steel braided line to a mechanical oil pressure gauge. The electronic oil pressure sender should show oil pressure build as the engine is cranking and if it gets clogged or has a bad connection it won't give a reading so that's something else to consider as a potential reason for not seeing oil pressure.

 

I’ve already got an oil gauge hooked up. It’s comes from above the oil filter where the oil line also come from to the turbo charger. I took a video a week or two ago when I was cranking the engine and checking the gauge. It won’t post In here though. I can PM you if you want. Because I run boost and the motors gonna see some abuse. I’m not taking my chances with the 17 year old factory oil pump.

 

Sounds like it has NEVER had oil pressure since all this "building" and "turbo" and whatnot? Essentially a new motor on a used short block?

Post up a picture of the INSIDE of the blockoff plate above the oil filter. The side of it that's up against the oil pan. Leave any/all fittings installed in it.

 

the motor already had the turbocharger installed.
it ran perfectly fine years ago before life got in the way. This was my dad’s car, now it’s in my lap. It’s SBE, the motors been sitting for 6 years. Went to start it to verify that it runs. Got a fuel leak and noticed that I didn’t have oil pressure.

 

That's kinda about what I was expecting to see.

Keep in mind, that little hump in that block there, is the oil passage that connects the oil pump to the engine.

How much of it does that fitting block off? (can't tell how tall it is, i.e. how far it sticks into the block and occludes the passage)

 

not very much at all. Clears everything. I don’t have a picture of it attached. Edit: yes I do! Here you go.

 

Doesn't sound completely researched and measured.

As said, EVERY BIT of oil going to the engine, must pass through that passage; meaning, AROUND that fitting. ANY blockage is going to lead to a reduction in flow, therefore pressure.

If it was mine I'd fix that. Maybe something sorta like this. https://www.improvedracing.com/ls-en...rbo-ports.html I know it's kinda $$$spendy$$$ butt seems cheeeeeeper than replacing short blocks over and over without realizing why they keep tearing up for no oil pressure. Maybe also consider cutting the unneeded part of that hardware-store fitting off of there so there's none left hanging into the passage.

 

did you see the photo by chance? Also what’s the issue with the short block I have now? Are they just bad knock offs?

 

Yup.

I'm talking about the INSIDE of it. Where the oil goes. What's on the outside is irrelevant. Doesn't matter if that part is all pretty.

No idea; maybe, probably even, nothing; butt looking into my crystal ball (yes I have one, long story; yes it's kinda murky) after seeing a partially blocked oil passage in a motor intended for ... at the very least, "hard" usage, ... makes me see problems ahead for it.

Again, if it was mine, and especially I had a power adder on it, I'd be doing everything within my power to assure that that CRITICAL oil passage right there, is AT LEAST as large and free-flowing as it is in showroom stock condition.

 

Alrighty, thanks wizard of oz! I’ll be cleaning out the pan as well when I pull it off. I’ll take a look at the oil passages with a bore scope, and just cleaning up. I’ll order that block off plate, thanks for the link.

 

Good luck. And pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

I've been talking about the one passage inside that plate, that the end of that fitting sticks down into and partially blocks. You don't really need a borescope for that one. But yeah, anything you can do to inspect anything critical like that in a non-destructive way, can't be a bad idea.

 

https://www.jegs.com/i/UNKNOWN/335/5...IaAg-cEALw_wcB

This was what I was referring to.

 

thanks! There’s only one left in stock. I’ll see about buying one soon.