HELP!!! oil pump went out
06-01-2012, 09:59 PM
#27
I disagree. If its the gear, it would have worn so slowly that debris would have gotten into the filter. I know this cause it happened to me. The mysterious metal particles were the worn gear and that being the case, I dont see the need to pull the pan.
06-02-2012, 02:17 AM
#28
My $0.02... My oil pump drive (OPD) failed in the same way we all seem to think our OP's did - driving along (Happy as Larry) then 0 psi.
I pulled the intake off and then removed the OPD - the drive gear was wasted. So, I dropped the pan and mine was indeed littered with shards of metal. I then pulled the cam too - as I was sure the OPD gear on the cam would be wasted too - it was fine (Doh!) But, as my step-father said: If you hadn't pulled the cam it would have been trashed too, and then you would have ruined another brand new OPD (Murphy's Law!).
I just hope our OP doesn't get screwed by his (trusted) Mechanic.
06-02-2012, 03:53 AM
#29
I also suspect the oil pump drive to be worn and am curious if the OP knows if a new drive was installed at the same time as the hotcam. I found some information from GM that all new GM oil pump drives use melonized gears, see note 7 in link below. I used a new GM oil pump drive with my cam change but after all this talk I'll be looking at my oil filter next oil change.
http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/Camshafts/index.cfm
Crane Cams also recommends filing a .030 deep groove in the lower land of a SBC distributor to allow a small amount of pressurized oil to spray on the OPD and cam gears. I was going to do this but when I saw my 117k mile original drive had zero wear I didn't modify my new drive.
http://www.cranecams.com/bulletins_listview.php?s_id=27
http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/Camshafts/index.cfm
Crane Cams also recommends filing a .030 deep groove in the lower land of a SBC distributor to allow a small amount of pressurized oil to spray on the OPD and cam gears. I was going to do this but when I saw my 117k mile original drive had zero wear I didn't modify my new drive.
http://www.cranecams.com/bulletins_listview.php?s_id=27
Last edited by guppymech; 06-02-2012 at 10:55 AM. Reason: Add Crane Cams Info
06-02-2012, 06:37 AM
#30
Like I said above I would drain the oil and let that determine the next step, clean oil means pull the intake, metallic oil means pull the motor.
Far as debris from the oilpump drive that is going to depend on how quickly the end failure progressed, if in the final moments it took the tops off the teeth then that will all fall but if it slowly just wore away the debris could have found it's way to the filter.
I have never bought an oilpump drive always just reused and never had any problem. I would not expect the HOT cam to cause a problem. But even so the drive is a more likely failure than the pump itself. Most of the pump failures we saw were the restult of a cheapening of castings by Melling and they actually have gone back to good castings again. Melling is the OEM supplier and the maker of most brands of normal style oilpump you will buy for a gen 1 or gen 2 sbc so don't take this as a knock on the brand as a whole.
Most of the cams that have eaten OPD had the involvement of one particular "vendor" and one way or another he was ordering parts wrong.
Far as debris from the oilpump drive that is going to depend on how quickly the end failure progressed, if in the final moments it took the tops off the teeth then that will all fall but if it slowly just wore away the debris could have found it's way to the filter.
I have never bought an oilpump drive always just reused and never had any problem. I would not expect the HOT cam to cause a problem. But even so the drive is a more likely failure than the pump itself. Most of the pump failures we saw were the restult of a cheapening of castings by Melling and they actually have gone back to good castings again. Melling is the OEM supplier and the maker of most brands of normal style oilpump you will buy for a gen 1 or gen 2 sbc so don't take this as a knock on the brand as a whole.
Most of the cams that have eaten OPD had the involvement of one particular "vendor" and one way or another he was ordering parts wrong.
06-05-2012, 06:23 PM
#31
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Update on my car.. I pulled the intake first and the cam gear was messed up like one gear would be really thin like paper thin and the next few gears over would be think. But I don't know if my cam okay. How would I check to see if it is
06-05-2012, 09:06 PM
#33
Pull the accessory drive, Water Pump, Opti, and then loosen up all the rocker arms. After all that you can (finally) pull the cam and inspect the OPD gear - Simple!
06-05-2012, 09:23 PM
#34
The boys that tuned my car have seen many cases of hotcams eating oil pump drive gears way back in the day and they believed it was due to the billet core. Not sure if there is history of this here on the board.
Just to add...you also need to remove the rockers, pushrods and lifters before sliding the cam out.
Just to add...you also need to remove the rockers, pushrods and lifters before sliding the cam out.
