The other day i was flooring it gettin on the freeway then all of a sudden my engine started making a racket. I first noticed the the check gauges light, then no oil pressure being read, then the engine noise. So i drove it back to my garage and let it sit. Waited till the morning and fired it up and the noise grew louder as i let the engine idle for only a few seconds. So my guess would be the oil pump which has about 38000 miles on it, its an aftermarket mellings high volume. Or i was thinking the shaft that connects the pump to the cam or possibly the oil pump cam gear assembly bolt came loose or something like that. If anyone has a suggestion before i start tearing into it i would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks!

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you prolly have a spun rob bearing or two now. Oil pressure drops to 0 you should shut the motor off and get it towed to your house or a shop to have it checked out.

 

Well if that the case then im screwed but ill go ahead with the oil pump inspection and mechanical parts that make it operate and if i throw it back together and i hear a knock from the bottom end then i guess im screwed, but thanks for given me the dreadful news.

 

Never have been a fan of HV oil pumps. Puts too much oil up top and out of the pan. That coupled with too tight a factory tolerance on the rods and you're asking for trouble.

 

The oil pump drive gear is more likely to wear and strip with the HV pump. That is probably where I would start. However, if you have engine noise, then the damage is already done and you will need to tear the whole thing down. It only takes a moment or two at high RPM with no oil pressure to cause bearing damage.

 

okay so i got the oil pan off so i can see the shaft that connects to the drive gear, so. Lets say i crank the engine and see that the shaft is rotating the pump. Is it possible for a passage to get blocked that leads to the top of the engine. I remember when i toar apart the engine before there was this little ball bearing thing, could that get stuck or something?

 

Take some rod caps off while you have the pan off. Before that, maybe wiggle them all side to side and if you find a tight one, you probably have a problem.

 

aight well i wiggled the caps and they seem loose like when i installed them, the problem is the oil pump drive gear it aint spinning cause when i hooked up my ignition crank and spun it around a couple times it wasnt going no where. So looks like i have to approach it from the top now to get to it. So now my question is the cam gear, is it still all good or is it just the drive gear that needs to be replaced?

 

The gear on the cam rarely fails. The drive is probably stripped.

 

well when i did the rebuild i didnt replace that part thinkin it was invinsible but i guess not, So that part has about 140000 miles on it. Well i looked up the part on your tech page so now i have to get to hunt one down.

Thanks

 

So i found the reason the oil pump wasnt pumping and that was due to this stripped oil pump drive gear. So ive ordered a new one hopefully the cam gear isnt shreaded, the cam only has about 20000 miles on it although it is a LT4 cam. is there a special drive unit that i need for that cam? Thanks every one for the help i really appreciate the input.

 

A GM cam and GM drive should be perfectly compatible. It's likely due to the HV pump. Of course there will be all the metal from the chewed up gear in your engine.

 

Wow! Mine with 267,000 doesn't look too bad. That sux!

 

so the HV pump has no advantage i presume, the guy that sold me the rebuild kit out of morgan hill ca said that LT1's were prone for spinning rod bearings due to lack of oil circulation, so i went with it. He forgot to mention the cons about it though. Should had just kept it stock if yours is got 275K on it.

 

On my last LT1 I put in a HV pump because someone recommended it. They said it would help keep oil on my bearings. I was driving one day and my car started rattling and lost power. I pulled the engine and found my drive gear was completely smooth. I found the peices in the pan and pump screen. I cleaned everything and put a new pump and gear and the engine is now in another car. I learned my lesson about HV pumps.