Oil pump problem

[quikbird]

having a problem and could use some help and advice about what stupid thing I missed.
Problem: no oil pressure. What happened. I changed the oil and filter. The gauge had been reading pressure with a slight bounce up and down in pressure. Thought might be pump issue, so put on a new meilling oil pump. Primed engine with drill ( yes, counterclockwise) and nothing. Have tried three pumps total, same result. Removed pan, pickup looks clean, some junk in pan so all cleaned up and checked clearance. All good. Pan reinstalled and no change. Still no pressure. Can get a wire @10 inches down intake hole in block down pickup tube. Clean. Out of ideas, not real fond of idea of remove engine from car and back on stand so some help would be appreciated.

 

[ACME A12]

When you primed the pump did it pick up the oil and provide detectable resistance to your drill motor?

Did you pull the valve covers and inspect the valve train? Just wondering if a lifter is out of its bore...given the sudden failure and the fact that you put a new pump on.

 

[Russ69Runner]

Is the pick up tube screen clean. Just asking. Also How do you know it dose not pump. Have you checked the valve train when running the motor. Dose the oil make it to the head. Might want to check the oil pressure gage line or may be a bad gage. Check at the line where it connects to the motor. Hope it is some thing simple their Quickbird.

 

[quikbird]

To answer questions;
No resistance on drill motor. When loosen filter no oil comes out. Valve train recently relashed and in good shape.

Pickup screen clean and clearance checked. Oil gauge reads zero. Doesn’t even twitch

 

[CompSyn]

To answer questions;
No resistance on drill motor. When loosen filter no oil comes out. Valve train recently relashed and in good shape.

Pickup screen clean and clearance checked. Oil gauge reads zero. Doesn’t even twitch

Even though the screen was clean I wonder if there is a restriction in the pick-up tube or block passage? Did you happen to take the pick-up off when you had the pan off? What oil pan and pick-up combo are you running?

 

[ACME A12]

To answer questions;
No resistance on drill motor. When loosen filter no oil comes out. Valve train recently relashed and in good shape.

Pickup screen clean and clearance checked. Oil gauge reads zero. Doesn’t even twitch

Pull the valve covers just to rule out any kind of valve train failure. A broken rocker, spring, pushrod, or any combination thereof can result in a lifter out of its bore and ZERO oil pressure.

 

[CompSyn]

Pull the valve covers just to rule out any kind of valve train failure. A broken rocker, spring, pushrod, or any combination thereof can result in a lifter out of its bore and ZERO oil pressure.

If any of the above were the case, couldn't the pump still pump oil and exert resistance to the drill motor while at the same time showing no oil pressure? I'm just thinking out loud here but the whole no resistance the the drill motor makes me think no oil is making it to the rotors.

 

[Russ69Runner]

Ok dose the pump get turned by the distributor or the cam gear. What are you turning with the drill motor. That gets me never heard of that. We have spun the shaft off that drove the oil pump witch it was the distributor shaft that turned the oil pump. What the heck drives the oil pump. Have not taken my motor apart yet.

 

[Basketcase]

when I lost my oil pressure last year, a lifter popped out. O pressure, no resistance at the pump. Pull the valve covers..it's easier than the motor at least.

 

[quikbird]

russ, oil pump is driven on a big block from the bottom of the distributer shaft. two parts to it. one part fits into the oil pump( hex shaft) and stops at the level of the cam. has gear that connects with cam to turn pump. distributer fits into top of this piece ( looks like a flat screwdriver ) if remove both pieces can use special hex shaft chucked into a drill to turn oil pump and verify pressure and prelube engine. turns counterclockwise.
dave, not getting any oil out where filter is either. lifters are hydraulic rollers and are tied two at a time together.

as I said can get a piece of coathanger wire about 10 inches into oil intake hole and pickup tube and no obstructions that I can feel. why I'm stumped. doesn't feel like any blockage keeping oil from pump.

 

[ACME A12]

If any of the above were the case, couldn't the pump still pump oil and exert resistance to the drill motor while at the same time showing no oil pressure? I'm just thinking out loud here but the whole no resistance the the drill motor makes me think no oil is making it to the rotors.

May not be able to prime and/or the system could be open to the point that no resistance is noted. Resistance at the drill motor would be noted AFTER it picked up the oil and the system pressurized.

I'm just looking to rule out the low hanging fruit here before he moves on to other (bearing) potential issues. He's already removed the pick-up from the equation, and the pump (can't believe he would encounter 3 bad pumps...), so now it's time to look elsewhere.

 

[CompSyn]

Years ago I primed the one Mopar big block I’ve built to date. I was running a Milling high volume oil pump. I tried to prime it with a 3/8 drill motor. I’ll never forget it, within literally one or two seconds of spinning the drill, the resistance became so great that the drill stalled out and couldn’t spin further. I took that to mean as soon as the pump rotors got oil, the drill stalled out. This was before any significant amount of oil could reach the upper passages of the block. Granted, this is my one experience years ago but it’s why I think it is odd he’s not getting resistance to his drill... at all.

A couple weeks ago I was cleaning up my 402 oil pan and pick-up for Mopar big block build #2. When I was running a wire pipe brush through the funky goose neck pick-up tube, the wire brush would bind on the tight bend and could not pass by it. Maybe an obstruction is there on his engine? This is why I asked what pick-up is he running? 402? Or other? Using a coat hanger to check for obstruction is one thing but I’d be curious what some compressed air would do?

 

[RonLiv]

I'm probably way off base here, as I'm no mechanic from a long stretch. But I did have an oil pressure issue, turned out it was the Oil Pressure Sending Unit

 

[ACME A12]

Years ago I primed the one Mopar big block I’ve built to date. I was running a Milling high volume oil pump. I tried to prime it with a 3/8 drill motor. I’ll never forget it, within literally one or two seconds of spinning the drill, the resistance became so great that the drill stalled out and couldn’t spin further. I took that to mean as soon as the pump rotors got oil, the drill stalled out. This was before any significant amount of oil could reach the upper passages of the block. Granted, this is my one experience years ago but it’s why I think it is odd he’s not getting resistance to his drill... at all.

Similarly, I had one get away from me once due to the high degree of resistance encountered after it picked up the oil...drill came back around and smacked me so hard that I thought it nearly broke my arm...

 

[quikbird]

using a 1/2 inch electric drill, normally pumps at about 25-30 psi at the back of the block which is where my pickup tube to the gauge is located. using a analog direct connection to the oil; feed gauge.

starting to look like my two choices are pull the engine or drop the centerlink, jack up the left side of the engine and pull the pan again, and try and pull the pickup tube. as if you can't tell, I'm not real enthused about either one.

 

[Basketcase]

pull the valve covers.....a lot easier than pulling the engine, and if all is well on the top end you haven't wasted much time. And since you were just in there.....sometimes it turns out to be the last thing you messed with.

 

[69hemibeep]

Did you put oil in it

 

[dmartin]

having a problem and could use some help and advice about what stupid thing I missed.
Problem: no oil pressure. What happened. I changed the oil and filter. The gauge had been reading pressure with a slight bounce up and down in pressure. Thought might be pump issue, so put on a new meilling oil pump. Primed engine with drill ( yes, counterclockwise) and nothing. Have tried three pumps total, same result. Removed pan, pickup looks clean, some junk in pan so all cleaned up and checked clearance. All good. Pan reinstalled and no change. Still no pressure. Can get a wire @10 inches down intake hole in block down pickup tube. Clean. Out of ideas, not real fond of idea of remove engine from car and back on stand so some help would be appreciated.

Have you checked to see if the intermediate shaft is broken

 

[Basketcase]

that wouldn't matter when he's trying the pump directly.....I saw him try two pumps

 

[quikbird]

Did you put oil in it

Having met me I can see why you might ask that question. Sadly the answer is yes there are 8 quarts of oil in it.