Oil Pump Question
Oil Pump Question I just changed out all of my pushrods and changed all of my plugs. When I started my car and was watching my gauges I noticed my oil pressure was fluctuating 3-4 psi. It is bouncing back and forth every second and I think that this is something I would have noticed before. Does this sound normal? Also, the engine doesn't sound normal when I am reving it. It has been sitting for about a month, I dunno if that could have anything to do with it. I did have five bent pushrods, two were wobbly on glass and three were bent. Maybe I just got used to the way it was while I was driving it for the couple of weeks before it got real bad. Is it all in my head? 
Doug
Doug
Well I took the car around the block and was sitting at a stop light and the oil pressure went to zero. Had the music up and couldn't hear if the engine was running or had stalled so I shut the key off and then looked at the tach and watched it drop. Started it back up and the oil pressure was fine as long as I kept the rpms at about 2k. Got home, checked oil and it was fine. Tried starting car again and had no oil pressure even with a rev so I shut it off. So I guess my oil pump is fuxored right? If I damaged the sending unit for the gauge, which I don't even know where it is, it would either work or not work. Or a fuse perhaps? Can somebody give me a direction to head in other than right to trying to change the oil pump out?
Doug
Doug
The sender is the tall sensor sticking out the top of the block behind the intake. Youll have to pull the intake to get to it. Id check that before pulling the whole front apart. Fluctuation is usually accompanied by a knock from a spun bearing. Is that a posibility? No oil pressure however could be another problem.
I have spun a few bearings in small chevies before and it doesn't sound anything like that. If the sensor isn't in a place that I could have damaged it somehow changing the pushrods or sparkplugs then I think the oil pump must have taken a dump. The engine has about 96,000 miles on it, don't know if this helps anything but it can't hurt to change it out. I have been looking for a how to and can't find one yet. Also, what will I need other than the pump itself to do this? Gaskets, timing chain perhaps? Any help is greatly appreciated. Also is this something that could be done in a day by someone with decent mechanical skills? It took me about three hours to do the sparkplugs and pushrods, I dunno if that is about the time it should take or not. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
Doug
Doug
Originally Posted by dyls1
I have spun a few bearings in small chevies before and it doesn't sound anything like that. If the sensor isn't in a place that I could have damaged it somehow changing the pushrods or sparkplugs then I think the oil pump must have taken a dump. The engine has about 96,000 miles on it, don't know if this helps anything but it can't hurt to change it out. I have been looking for a how to and can't find one yet. Also, what will I need other than the pump itself to do this? Gaskets, timing chain perhaps? Any help is greatly appreciated. Also is this something that could be done in a day by someone with decent mechanical skills? It took me about three hours to do the sparkplugs and pushrods, I dunno if that is about the time it should take or not. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
Doug
Doug
So I now have a new oil pump, front seal, crank bolt and timing cover gasket, Is the timing cover gasket necessary, or is it reusable? It didn't list one one ls1howto.com but I grabbed one anyway to avoid a second trip to the dealer. Also, I only paid 143.15 for the seal, pump, bolt, and gasket. Good deal?
Originally Posted by dyls1
So I now have a new oil pump, front seal, crank bolt and timing cover gasket, Is the timing cover gasket necessary, or is it reusable? It didn't list one one ls1howto.com but I grabbed one anyway to avoid a second trip to the dealer. Also, I only paid 143.15 for the seal, pump, bolt, and gasket. Good deal?
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At first they tried to charge me 194.xx and at the bottom of the invoice there was a 15% off coupon. I think they got confused and charged me their cost because 143.15 is not 15% off of 194.xx. I am draining all of the fluids right now and will be under the car it a few minutes. Oh, the oil drain plug had a lot of metal particles and one bigger piece of metal stuck to it. And thank you to Guitsboy for not only being the only one to read my thread, but actually help and reply 
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Originally Posted by dyls1
Oh, the oil drain plug had a lot of metal particles and one bigger piece of metal stuck to it.
Thats not a good sign. This likely means youve got a problem other than the oil pump itself. Can you get a picture of what the metal piece looks like? Do they look like shavings from a bearing? -Tony
The big piece was the almost the same shape and size as a valve keeper. But it was quite a bit thinner if that makes sense. Oh, and everything is apart, oil pan is dropped, and I will get back to it Wed after work. Pulling the balancer was quite a chore and I fubared the puller I got from autozone 
. That took the most time out of everything today. I am kinda tempted to cam it now that I have everything apart but I have to smog it in about four months.
Doug
. That took the most time out of everything today. I am kinda tempted to cam it now that I have everything apart but I have to smog it in about four months. Doug
Just a guess, but maybe the big piece may be one of the needle bearing retainers from a rocker arm? How do those look? Also, you can very likely pass smog with a 224 or lower cam. Or you can look into an ls6 cam kit for cheap.
All of the rockers looked good. I had a good look at each one when I changed the pushrods. I am thinking it may be a piece out of the oil pump? I am really hoping that running the engine for several seconds with no oil pressure didn't screw anything else up. Also, is it worth installing an ls6 cam? What can I expect to pay? Thanks again for your help
So I am now undecided whether to put a cam in it now or wait four months until after I have to smog it. I plan on heads and a bigger cam than now if I do change it. Really, the only thing that I need to know, changing the valve springs on the back two cylinders with the engine in the car. Is it easy enough to allow me to put a smog-able cam in it for now? And if it is worth doing, what cam would be good (I have read about a Cheatr?) or maybe a used ls6 or zo6 cam. Thanks for any help
Doug
Doug
Id go for a smallish cam 224 or less duration, which should pass without much problem. You can also add heads later on and still pass smog. Just make sure you get it tuned well enough to pass. The ls6 cam(which is the z06 cam) is very small. You wont gain much, but it is very cheap, even brand new. The valvesprings are easy enough to change with a larry or tim type valvespring tool. and you dont need to pull out the valvesprings to swap cams later. You can put big enough valvesprings in now and run them with a smaller cam, then just swap the cam later.
heres a thought. how about you put that car together with the new oil pump ONLY. if you have a bad bearing in that car, do you really think it's smart to put more money into parts that you WILL destroy if there is a bad part inside that motor.
not to discredit anybody's advice on this thread, but, if it were me and my motor, i would try to make damn sure that the problem is what you THINK it is. "I am thinking it's a piece of the oil pump" doesn't sound like a 100.000% positive diagnoses to me. When it comes to the motor and it's internals, you do not have the luxury to "think", you have to know, and be completely positive and sure beyond any doubt that you know what the problem is.
good luck to you
not to discredit anybody's advice on this thread, but, if it were me and my motor, i would try to make damn sure that the problem is what you THINK it is. "I am thinking it's a piece of the oil pump" doesn't sound like a 100.000% positive diagnoses to me. When it comes to the motor and it's internals, you do not have the luxury to "think", you have to know, and be completely positive and sure beyond any doubt that you know what the problem is.
good luck to you
Originally Posted by 01350ss
heres a thought. how about you put that car together with the new oil pump ONLY. if you have a bad bearing in that car, do you really think it's smart to put more money into parts that you WILL destroy if there is a bad part inside that motor.
not to discredit anybody's advice on this thread, but, if it were me and my motor, i would try to make damn sure that the problem is what you THINK it is. "I am thinking it's a piece of the oil pump" doesn't sound like a 100.000% positive diagnoses to me. When it comes to the motor and it's internals, you do not have the luxury to "think", you have to know, and be completely positive and sure beyond any doubt that you know what the problem is.
good luck to you
not to discredit anybody's advice on this thread, but, if it were me and my motor, i would try to make damn sure that the problem is what you THINK it is. "I am thinking it's a piece of the oil pump" doesn't sound like a 100.000% positive diagnoses to me. When it comes to the motor and it's internals, you do not have the luxury to "think", you have to know, and be completely positive and sure beyond any doubt that you know what the problem is.
good luck to you
Yeah, I got distracted thinking about having so much work shared between the two installs that I didn't even think about why I am tearing into the engine. Thank you 01350ss for pointing out the obvious to me. Well, I plan on getting under the car on Saturday and will post what I find and what I acomplish.
Doug
Doug
guess what, doing my cam swap, took out the pushrods and one had marks on it. i was checking my lifters with a pen magnet to make sure they were up and out of the same hole that pushrod was in a valve keeper cam out of it on the magnet. all my rockers look good and all my valve keepers are there...motor ran strong with no noises. what's up with that?