verano29

Has anyone used the blue o ring? I'm replacing the oil pump on my 98 vette ls1 with the ls2 unit. The ls2 unit arrived with a blue o ring (the old one was gray (maybe brown). The blue o ring is noticably larger in diameter than the old o-ring. Using the blue o ring the tube doesn't seat into the pump as easily as it does with the old o ring. In fact it doesn't really seat at all with out the bolt in there to hold it flush. Has anybody run into this? Should I use the old o ring?

verano29

Does anybody know if the ls2 oil pump as different pickup tube mounting specs than the LS1 oil pump?

Shawn MacAnanny

iTrader: (12)

When i got my oil pump i received two o rings, a thicker green one and a black one. The green one i believe is for the truck pick up tube and the black is for the ls1 pick up.

davered00ss

iTrader: (4)

Should be a blue O-ring for an LS1 oil pump. Don't know about the LS2 unit though.

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

Carefully measure the ID of both pumps, careful not to scratch the o-ring surface if using an internal vernier.

ls2 bait

iTrader: (11)

dont qoute me but i think the blue one is the updated o ring. i know a few people had been using it with the ported pumps. its also the one i got when i got my gaskets set.

verano29

Here's a pic of what I'm talking about. With that blue o ring in place the pickup tube does not want to sit flush against the pump without the bolt holding it in place. Has anyone had this problem?

verano29

With the old o ring the pick up tube "snaps" right into place. I hear that there may have been leaking issues with the smaller o ring but can I have confidence that with the blue o ring it will seal at all when it fits like this? I need help!!! This is holding up the whole show.

verano29

I'm running to the chev dealer to pick up a new o ring. If its different than the one I was sent I'll make sure to post where I bought it from on this forum and the corvetteforum so that my fellow members can avoid ordering any parts from that place. If it is the same...crap, I'm out of options I guess...old pump and ring need to go back on....I need to have confidence that this is going to work.

verano29

Looks to be the same piece. WTF. I can't believe I'm the only one on the forum that has had this problem Maybe its not a problem, maybe the pickup tube isn't supposed to "snap" into place with the blue o ring as it did with the old o ring. Anybody here install a new oil pump? Did you notice what I'm talking about?

Zitty'sZ

iTrader: (29)

Can you squeeze the pickup tube with your fingers to sit flush with the pump ? I remember mine was a little tight going back in, but I did not have to really force it too much . As sugested , leave the oil pump bolts loose until you have the pickup tube tightened down . Also in case you have not already done this , lube the o-ring and the inside of the pump where it seats into . Looking at your picture it doesn't look like it's too far from being seated .

verano29

I can squeeze the pickup tube but it pushes away from the pump the second I let go (just as the picture shows). Even if I use a lot of force it does not want to "snap" into place like it would with the old o ring. Is there a special oil pump installation procedure that I must be missing (nothing in the service manual leads me to believe this). WTF GM?

verano29

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here. I've been told to "be careful not to rip to tear the seal" when inserting the pickup tube into the pump. I have absolutely no idea how this could ever happen as the pickup tube only appears to go in one way. Here's how I'm installing the pump:


1)I hold down the pickup tube and insert the pump rotated slightly counter clockwise.

2)when the pump slides onto the shaft I rotate it down and insert the pickup tube into the pump.

I can't see any other way to do this.

I've been at this for over 3 hours now. I've bought a new o-ring from a chev dealer. What am I doing wrong here?

verano29

Has anybody used their old o-ring on a new pump (ls2 pump hopefully). When I use the old o-ring the pickup tube "snaps" right into place with almost zero effort. Does that mean that the old o ring is too small for the new pump?

Zitty'sZ

iTrader: (29)

It sounds like you are doing it right , remember that new o-ring is thicker than the old one . I think you will be fine but to satisfy your mind , tighten the pickup tube to the oil pump and then disassemble it to see if the o-ring was damaged . I bet it will be fine . If it looks good , put it back together and go have some fun with your car !

verano29

It was suggested that I may need to disassemble the pump to check the clearance between the pump and the housing. I don't think this is related to the problem that I'm having but now I'm a bit freaked out. Is it common to do a QA inspection on new parts? Is GMs quality control that poor?


Still no resolve on the oring mounting issue so if someone can provide some guidance I would greatly appreciate it.

verano29

Holy crap I had no idea this was such a major procedure. How many pieces are in the pump. I don't want to pull the front cover and find out I have no idea how to get it back together correctly. Again, the ramifications of a wrong decision here are at best a huge effort to fix and at worst catastrophic (oil pump failure = engine damage). Freakin out here.

verano29

has anyone successfully disassembled and reassembled the oil pump on the car and had absolutely no issues afterward? Has anybody done this and had issued afterward?

verano29

Thanks for all of the responses by the way, I really appreciate the help. Now if someone can ship me the GM hack engineer that designed this setup so I can relieve my frustrations on his face I would appreciate that too

verano29

I'm about to take the pump apart. Can anyone suggest why this might not be a good idea? I'm left with zero options at this point...other than replace the old pump and old o ring (a combination I know works).