Summitracing

Here's a good article on the subject. Most of it has been covered above.

warriorpluto

iTrader: (2)

Great article

Cumminsday

I did the DOD delete a few months ago, new oil pump, plugged DOD relief valve, new lifters, delete solenoids, TSP cam installed. Ran great. Mileage suffered. Oil pressure was great.
Today I installed GM 12689035 camshaft. Recommended by Texas Speed as a stock alternative to the DOD factory cam. Fired it up and oil pressure is down. 12 psi at hot idle. According to the manuals it there, this is still above minimums. Strange that it dropped though. Anyone have ideas?

bbond105

Did you reuse the cam retainer plate?

Cumminsday

I reused the factory retainer plate.

G Atsma

Get a new one. They wear, and it shows on the oil pressure.

Cumminsday

I inspected before installation and the retainer plate looked great. I even inspected the seal. The pressure was good before the cam swap. The only difference in the cam was the new one has a groove machined in #2 journal, I think for VVT. Many are using the same cam for DOD delete. Thanks for the input. I'm wanting to try to figure it out before I disassemble again.

dixiebandit69

Would it be possible to reuse the cam retainer plate if you resealed it with anaerobic sealant? Because that's what I did on my build...

tech@WS6store

iTrader: (2)

Why would you use that in the first place inside an engine?
I would most definitely not. Seriously they are only $20 with bolts, why bandaid it?

G Atsma

Anything's possible, but because you did it does not mean it's a good idea. Get a new plate and bolts and do it right.

Summitracing

There may be a problem with the interface between the front of the cam face and the gear that's allowing leakage in your case.

Cumminsday

Thanks for the idea. I'll have to think about that. Unfortunately I did not take pictures. I may have to bite the bullet and disassemble again.

Cumminsday

I disassembled everything, measured cam bearing sizes, inspected everything I could. Installed new cam retainer plate. Again, low oil pressure. I checked with a manual gauge also and it confirmed what the computer says, 12 psi hot idle. I'm thinking that the relief valve in the oil pump may not be seated closed allowing oil to blead by the relief. Anyone have other ideas? Thoughts?

Thanks for the input.

tech@WS6store

iTrader: (2)

What oil pan?

Cumminsday

Rear sump. It is a LC9 5.3 in a 2007 suburban. Does that answer your question?

tech@WS6store

iTrader: (2)

Yes. I take it you didnt block the bypass in the pan? And stock pump or?

Cumminsday

I did remove the relief in the pan and installed a plug. The oil pump I replaced with a factory low volume (non DOD).

tech@WS6store

iTrader: (2)

Ive seen them have low pressure unless you shim them or use melling 10295.
The lingenfelter rivet kit helps also for the dod towers. Fixed a few local guys issues.

Cumminsday

What doesn't make sense is that oil pressure was fine with the mentioned changes until I swapped the cam. If you scroll up on the thread you can see my original post, it should have all the details. I appreciate the input. I just did some research and there are 2 different o-rings for the oil pickup tube depending on application. I did not know this at the time I changed the oil pump. ?????

Cumminsday

When you say shim, are referring to the relief valve in the pump?