Ok, here is what happened and what I think broke and what I found so far. Please let me know what you think or if you have ever had this happen before and what caused it. I know what my next steps will be HOWEVER I would like to hear some stories from experienced people to make sure I dont miss something!

I was at a car show on Tuesday in my 97 SS. I had my car idling because people love the sound and it draws alot of attention. I was by the car just hanging out and talking to people as they looked at the car. All of a sudden I heard a SINGLE loud pop or click. It DID NOT repeat or tick with the idle, it was only once and done. The idle bogged about 100-200 rpm's. Barely enough to notice but enough to catch my attention however it was still running and sounded like it was still firing on all 8. It took me about 2 seconds to jump into the driver seat. I glanced at my gauges and the OIL PRESSURE gauge was bottomed out at 0, other gauges looked fine. As soon as I saw that I shut the car off. It was MAYBE 4-6 seconds TOTAL from the time I heard the click to the time I shut it off.

A couple of friends that work at Midas were at the show walking around and I called them over. I told them what happened and they told me to start the car but be prepared to shut it off fast. I started it and it started fine but still no oil pressure and I had lifter clatter. No knocks other than the lifter noise that they heard and they said it sounded like it was firing on all 8 as well. It was running MAYBE 3 seconds for them and I shut it back off. It has not been started since. Also there was no oil underneath the car whatsoever, the oil was full, and the oil pick-up is tac-welded on. It has been running for a year and a half in this current configuration with no motor issues yet.

The conclusion we came to was either the Oil Pump Drive broke, OR the Oil Pump went out...I had it towed to the Auto Skills Center on base so I could work on it.

I finally got to it today and started taking it off...had the intake manifold off in about 25 minutes to check the OP Drive...When I got the Drive out it seemed to be completely in-tact. No teeth were missing from the gear, the plastic upper housing was all in one piece and it was still securely bolted in when I went to take it out. I popped out the roll pin and looked at the shaft and it was all in-tact and it was a Steel shaft. I put it back together and set it to the side. All my lifters were in place, as well as pushrods, etc...I saw no metal shavings in the valley OR the oil.

I am thinking something to do with the oil pump so tomorrow I will be lifting the motor off of its mounts and dropping the oilpan to see what I can find.

While I am at this I am going to replace the Spark Plugs, Oil Pump, Pick-up Screen, and Oil Pump Drive just to be safe.

Anyone had this or something similar happen to them? If so what was the official diagnosis and what did you do to fix it??

Thanks everyone in advance!

 

OH SnAp!

 

lol damnit dude!!! I got all excited and **** when I saw a response...opened it up and saw what you posted and was like WTF!!! Dick... lmao, jk.

 

what kina pump? you need to pop a couple caps and check bearings

 

I honestly am not 100% sure what pump it has in it..I didn't think to check when I did my build, I just left it alone because it worked before the build. The block is a Jasper Rebuilt, so whatever they put in is what I would assume it has.

Also, I don't think this would be a bearing...I have spun a bearing before and it didnt act like this or SOUND like this at all.

 

just for ***** and giggles get a priming shaft and spin the pump up and see what happens. but it sounds like either the pump is shot or the pick up tube fell off which is pretty unlikely

 

Yeah, the pick-up tube was tac-welded on when we built the engine a while back because I didnt want that to happen...

Where do I get a priming shaft? I am new to troubleshooting the oil pump

 

i wasnt saying you have a spun bearing but any time run without oil pressure will possibly destroy bearings ,be safe check them.
there are some instances with the cheaper melling pumps where the housing actually breaks in half... first remove the lifters and drill prime the system and see if oil runs thru the lifter areas...its also possible you popped one of those small freeze plugs on the front of the motor behind the timing cover/chain that caps the lifter oil main lines off
Auto zone should have a priming tool

 

I'm gona go out on a limb here and say the pressure relief spring shot out of the pump since the pickup was welded to the pump and it's a jasper bottom end, Or my second guess is that the plastic drive coupler snapped and the drive shaft either fell off the pump drive or sheared the dive on the shaft or the pump. I am only guessing these because I have never actually seen them happen first hand or heard a story about them happening.
If this were Vegas these would be a big long shot.

 

huh??? I don't think that helped me AT ALL........lol

 

I had the same thing happen to my 96 SS. right before my first head and cam swap I was having problems with my oil pressure dipping low at lights, when the mechanic opened it up he told me when he dropped the pan the pickup had fallen off so he tack welded it back on. Fast forward a year later Im at the staging beams and and notice the oil pressure drop just about to 0 when I let my foot off the gas, I didnt think anything of it til halfway down the track the car just didnt feel right so I let off brought it around and whenever I completely let off the gas oil pressure dropped to 0. After getting it home and tearing it down getting ready to drop in another motor I dropped the pan and sure enough the pickup came back off and was sitting in the pan I ended up getting a moroso pan and the moroso pickup that bolts into the pump. So even though it was tacked back on it still managed to come back off. That's my experience I hope yours is as simple as the pickup falling off hopefully without any damage.

 

It could be the pressure relief spring in the pump, or for some strange reason the oil pump drive shaft snapped or otherwise became disengaged from the pump.

 

Ok, I will be taking the pan off tomorrow and pulling the pump to see what I can find out. Thanks all!

 

lol sorry but it's to the point it has to be opened up and looked at so it sounds like you have someone doing this for you? I'm just taking a bet on what it is. No oil pressure = oil pan off and bearings looked at as well as looking for the cause. I don't hardley ever here of an oil pump failing, but could be. You can get an oil pump primer from a speed shop for a SBC and it will work. hook it up to a drill and see if you get anything. I would look and make sure the oil pump drive shaft is actually on the oil pump drive at the pump. make sure the keyways are still there lol.

 

I wouldn't bother pulling the caps. It was shut down immediately when pressure dropped... Just see what the issue is and get it fired back up.

 

true it did happen at idle so do what you feel comfy with.

 

Yeah, I believe the bearings will be fine. I shut it down fast enough that they shouldnt have been harmed, but I am doing the work myself.

 

if you heard a pop im gonna put my money on the driveshaft that goes from the oil pump up to the dummy gear........maybe the bottom of the shaft broke..........did you check this???

if not it sounds like the pump let go.......which in case id be very careful about cleaning things be cause chances are there is debris in the oil system if this is the case....

 

I looked at the driveshaft pretty good and it was in one piece and undamaged.

When I have the oil pan off I am going to make sure there is no debris and get everything nice and clean before it goes back together...

 

Just to be clear (not saying you don't already know this since you said you built it) there are several parts with similar names.
Oil pump drive= part that has the gear that runs off the cam.
Oil pump drive shaft= rod that runs between the oil pump drive and the oil pump out input shaft or the oil pump it's self
drive shaft coupler= offten plastic but can be mad out of metal or can be permentaly part of the drive shaft. This couple the drive shaft to the pump in put shaft.
oil pump out put shaft= it a part of the oil pump
if the drive shaft came out the top of the engine real easy with a set of needle nose plyers or some similar tool that means something was wrong with the coupler.
As far as the bearings go it's totally a judgment call. You really just have to find out the cause, the damage caused, and then come up with a plan to fix it. With all these guys on this site if your unsure just post up some good pics of the problem and any damage and they should be able to help guid you from there to a fix.