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I have just finished the rebuild of my 5.3 out of a 2007 Tahoe, and I turned it over today without any gas to the engine. I put a cheap sunpro mechanical oil gauge on it to check the oil pressure, but I am not getting any reading which seems odd to me. This is how I have the gauge ran.
The oil pump is a brand new GM performance oil pump. When I assembled the motor I filled the oil pump with oil, but that was months ago. I primed the engine with a pump a couple of weeks ago, and you could see oil up in the heads and on the rockers. My question is this, is there a way to tell if my oil pump is working? Also is the way I have the mechanical oil gauge ran correct? I would like to get this figured out before I fire it up for real. Thanks in advance for the help.
Forget about trying to turn over the engine that way. Put some gas in it and start her up. Right then ant there you'll see if oil pressure is present. Don't sweat it.
The barbell is in the back of the block, and I replaced the camshaft retainer plate with a new one. The retainer plate and gasket are one piece. The oil pump and pick up tube came with two different O rings. I tired both when assembling the engine and from what I remember only one would work. I just don’t want to damage the engine after all this work and money.
The barbell is in the back of the block, and I replaced the camshaft retainer plate with a new one. The retainer plate and gasket are one piece. The oil pump and pick up tube came with two different O rings. I tired both when assembling the engine and from what I remember only one would work. I just don’t want to damage the engine after all this work and money.
I would take your oil pressure sending unit fitting out of the block and backfill it with good clean oil at least a quart then reassemble your oil pressure set up spin motor with starter spark plugs out you should get oil pressure!
$6 drill pump. $20 hose and hose clamps from menards. Clamp it to oil filter threaded male fitting next to the oil pan. Spin it for 1 min and you should have 25 psi minimum.
When turning it over to get oil pressure do you have the spark plugs out? It will turn over a lot faster with no plugs. It's worked for me every time with no pre priming.
when I first put 5.3 swap into my car I had the same issue. Spun the motor 30 seconds no pressure. Thought the pump was bad so I ripped motor out and changed it.
Same thing with new pump. It just takes a loooong time for these motors to build pressure. Makes you want an accumulator. Also makes you want to use 100% synthetic 5W-something haha.
OEM pump inside was fine
New pump on using FSM procedure
take the plug outs for the prime, use a good charger to keep the battery healthy. Dont let it drain ur batt.
Also attached a video of what pressure you should see once primed using an OEM style pump.
Last edited by kingtal0n; Mar 7, 2018 at 11:00 AM.
took at least 20-30 seconds, remember with plugs out cranking speed is fast, especially with a brand new batt. and a charger on it too. So you can't go by time. Its the number of revolutions. If you figure cranking rpm is 300rpm for example, 1 minute would be 300 revolutions pretty obvious right? so it might take like 150 revolutions or something.
I've heard of the pumps being bad too. Owner of Sikky told me it was common, JY 5.3 with bad oil pumps. Which scared me into changing it right away. But it looked fine and took just as long with the new pump so....
Alright guys I wanted to say thank you. I pulled the plugs and cranked it for probably 25 to 30 sec and it built 30 psi of oil pressure which seems good for it being 40 degrees outside. Thanks again
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Oil Pressure 
