1999ssls1

iTrader: (71)

Yes and took the valve covers off and no oil. So I pulled it back out today and took the covers off and still no signs of anything.

Steve Bryant

iTrader: (1)

OK, sorry for the interruption. First I'll show you the illustration of the oil circuit in a Gen III small block.



Now, here's an exploded illustration of the oil pump.



Study both pictures and read the information to understand what happens as the oil goes through the pickup and tube to the pump then through the galley (also called gallery by GM) toward the back through the oil filter then up to the cam bearings and on upward through the lifters, pushrods and rocker arms and down to the main bearings and it all drains back to the oil pan to start over again.

The first thing that I would do is brace the engine so that you can crank it out of the car. Then I'd:

1. remove the plug with an allen wrench on the front left of the block to see if oil is coming out of the pump when you crank the engine

2. if oil comes out the front plug, replace it and remove the back plug to see if oil is making it through the filter when you crank the engine

3. If oil comes out the rear plug, remove the oil pressure sender and see if oil comes out of it when you crank the engine

I think that you get my approach to troubleshooting this problem. If you don't get oil out with step 1, investigate the oil pickup tube, O ring, etc.

Try this much and report back.

All my best with this. I know that this is discouraging at the moment, but you'll get past this point.

Steve

RE AND CHERYL

iTrader: (31)

Pull the oil finter nad see if oil is making it that far.

Re'

1999Z28

If it helps at all. On my dad's 72 nova, had a same issue with no oil getting up top. His new lifters that were for his 350sbc were ls1 style lifters instead of the older lt1 style lifters. They look nearly identical. He was getting basically no oil up top.....I don't know what you did/didn't replace though.

Steve Bryant

iTrader: (1)

1999ssls1,
How are things going today?

Steve

1999ssls1

iTrader: (71)

I took an air hose to all of the galleys and blew out where they where supposed to. What else could stop the top end from getting oiled? Cam bearings?

1999ssls1

iTrader: (71)

Cam bearings have 20k miles on them and lifters are Comps with less than 500 miles.

Steve Bryant

iTrader: (1)

I sent you a PM with my cell phone number if you want to talk directly.

Steve

68chevypu

iTrader: (18)

sorry to hijack the thread but how long should I have to crank the motor to get oil pressure? I just did a cam swap and replaced the oil pump. I tried cranking it for about 20 seconds and didnt get anything.

How long can I/ should I crank it to get pressure?

mrr23

iTrader: (3)

cranking with the coils unplugged might get you 5 lbs, if any pressure. the crank isn't turning fast enough to get it all the way to the oil pressure sending unit strong enough to register.

68chevypu

iTrader: (18)

oh, so i should plug the fuel pump relay back in then and try it that way?

Steve Bryant

iTrader: (1)

68chevypu,
Yes, I would go ahead and plug in the fuel pump relay. Let the engine run about 8 or 10 seconds to respond before you get too concerned about oil pressure. Once you get oil pressure, it will be very noisy for about four minutes while the lifters pump up and then it will take the oil coming up to operating temperature and about 20 minutes of driving at moderate RPM's (no more than 3,500) for the lifters to get fully charged.

Steve

68chevypu

iTrader: (18)

cool thanks man. I ended up doing that and within a few seconds I had oil pressure. Thanks for your help guys.

1999ssls1

iTrader: (71)

Steve Bryant-Pm replied

Black-Syde

iTrader: (7)

I hate to hijack your thread 1999ssls1 but I am having the same exact problem with my 6.0 and can't figure it out. Here is my thread over at performance trucks are these the same problems you are having???????

http://www.performancetrucks.net/for...6&page=1&pp=30

shoemike

iTrader: (25)

it will take a few seconds for oil to pump up to the top of the pushrods.
unless your pushrods are too short.

Steve Bryant

iTrader: (1)

Just to give you folks a little bit of an update, 1999ssls1 and I talked for a while on the phone Sunday. He was going to try to verify his oil pressure while cranking with a mechanical gage. We discussed the orientation of the cam bearings and the fact that the hole to the journal had to be on the left side of the block and that the O ring on the dumbbell had to be toward the back of the block. Maybe he will chime back in in the next few days.

O1wtahoe, I hope that you get your problems solved too. If you want to shoot me a PM with your phone number to talk anything over a bit, please do so. I'll be glad to try to help, but no guarantees.

The internet is an interesting place in many ways. For instance, I was surprised to see my diagram from this post https://ls1tech.com/forums/showpost....0&postcount=22 appear within a couple of days over at my other hangout, performancetrucks.net. It just goes to show you that news travels fast!

All my best,

Steve

1999ssls1

iTrader: (71)

I havent had time to mess with mine again. I am tomorrow though, so I will give an update then.

BLKWS6

I have an engine with almost the same problem except i can get 10-20psi @ idle and no matter how many orings i have changed (6x) and 3 pumps the pressure never changes.

keep us posted on what you find out.

Black-Syde

iTrader: (7)

Hummm interesting... I had installed the pushrods that came with the cam kit and just assumed they were the right length. Now I gotta go pull one out to come pair to a stocker. Cam specs are 226,590,116 lemme go see and I'll post back.