Oil pump kaput!

[litle88]

Originally Posted by CGT

I work at a large Chevrolet dealership, still haven't seen an oil pump failure on a Camaro come through the door yet. Maybe itll take more time and mileage before I start seeing them.

Lol really? It must not get many Camaro's then, cause they have been failing since 1998! Just search here on this forum or on Ls1 tech, corvette forums, Ls1/2 GTO, yellow bullet take a pick your bound to see many. You'll also see DOD lifter failures and chain tensioner failures.

[CGT]

High volume dealer, over 200 cars sold a month. I've seen plenty of DOD lifters on 5.3's with bad maintenance done to them, a few oil pumps on DOD silverado's. Have worked in a GM dealership all through the advent of ls stuff. Never saw an oil pump failure on a c5, c6 vette or 4th or 5th gen f bodie's. Not saying it doesnt happen, just seems like a phenomen when people gather in an internet forum all having the same problem. The internet can have a tendency to sensationalize these kind of deals. Haven't seen a chain tensioner fail either, but there could be alot broken out there that never get seen, not like anything is bound to happen if the tensioner is broken, they can be run without one.

[litle88]

Originally Posted by Mr pogo

is that the relief valve at the 3:30 position??
have not worked on a LS engine yet, all the previous gen small blocks had the relief valve in the oil filter housing.

It does look stuck open doesn't it?

[GEEKFREEKSCOTTY]

Originally Posted by litle88

Lol really? It must not get many Camaro's then, cause they have been failing since 1998! Just search here on this forum or on Ls1 tech, corvette forums, Ls1/2 GTO, yellow bullet take a pick your bound to see many. You'll also see DOD lifter failures and chain tensioner failures.

Yet, another reason for me going with an LS3 conversion in the future.

[POS Dakota]

If my oil pump ever does this, I'm gonna try the gas cap trick.
It usually works pretty good.

[Mr pogo]

Originally Posted by litle88

It does look stuck open doesn't it?

yes, if thats it and its stuck open I would guess debris or the bore has step worn into it.

[POS Dakota]

Originally Posted by Mr pogo

yes, if thats it and its stuck open I would guess debris or the bore has step worn into it.

It's almost always debris of some sort that wont let the piston return.

[litle88]

Debri or because of the 2 different materials and the heat will cause it to seize.

[litle88]

Originally Posted by GEEKFREEKSCOTTY

Yet, another reason for me going with an LS3 conversion in the future.

Just upgrade to a melling 10296 while your in there and you'll be fine.

[CFD]

Originally Posted by litle88

It does look stuck open doesn't it?

Originally Posted by Mr pogo

yes, if thats it and its stuck open I would guess debris or the bore has step worn into it.

Originally Posted by POS Dakota

It's almost always debris of some sort that wont let the piston return.

I pulled the pump today, the valve is definately stuck. In the pics above the area mentioned is the relief valve but you cannot see that it's stuck in the photo's. The openning that is visable is not the relief port.

There isn't any debris in the bore. I had to persuade the valve to come out, then cleaned the bor and checked for any burr's etc and found none. Putting the valve back after the cleaning did nothing to free it as it was stuck in the bore upon re-installing it. I examed the valve and the bore carefully and what I found was the bore had scuffing right about where the top of the valve sits . The scuffing looks typical of other aluminum bores after useage. I am thinking that the valve's constant movement eventually scuffs the bore, as the scuffing increases the valve eventually sticks.

I am going to clean it all up and see if I can get a couple of pictures of it.

[CFD]

Now with the pump disassembled you can see it's a pile of crap. The valve and bore have a good amount of scuffing, some severe. this causing the valve to stick. The face of the gears and pump cover as pictured yesterday do not have excessive wear, however, the thrust side against the aluminum pump body is another story, there is significant wear and scuffing on both the gears and especially the pump housing. The rotors have a good amount of wear as well. The wear in the pump is obvious but would not cause a loss of pressure, yet, but the stuck valve is definately the culprit. I do change my oil and filter regularily so I am thinking this is typical as mileage increases.

[POS Dakota]

Thanks for the pic, and you're right!

[LeanPocket]

This is very interesting.

I have 120,xxx miles on my L99.. so Now im abit worried. I was considering reusing my oil pump for my cam swap.. but now it has me somewhat paranoid.

[LeanPocket]

I guess for comparison purposes, what weight and brand oil were you using?