Author Topic: Impending Oil Pump Failure (Read 2874 times)

txleadfoot · « **on:** May 03, 2008, 11:25:20 PM »

This weekend I had some time to dismantle a 165,000 mile engine I replaced a few years ago due to low oil pressure at idle. Looky what I found.

Nothing broken, but check out the gouges in the pump and housing.

Notice the remnants of a spring, most likely from a front seal.

peerless · « **Reply #1 on:** May 04, 2008, 11:16:56 AM »

If you think that looks gouged up, pull the oil pump relief valve out and inspect it.

txleadfoot · « **Reply #2 on:** May 04, 2008, 09:57:28 PM »

Well I got curious and pulled the relief valve. Miraculously, they were fine. There sure was a lot of crud in the crevices on the top face of the oil pump housing. I couldn't tell if it was dirt or old, corroded coolant.

peerless · « **Reply #3 on:** May 05, 2008, 12:13:00 AM »

Quote from: txleadfoot;48602

Well I got curious and pulled the relief valve. Miraculously, they were fine. There sure was a lot of crud in the crevices on the top face of the oil pump housing. I couldn't tell if it was dirt or old, corroded coolant.

The last couple I have pulled have been scored up real bad. On one engine I believe it seized and lost all the oil pressure as the engine blew up in extraordinary fashion with fireballs rolling out under the car and 4 holes in the block with a completely missing rod.

The new dealer relief valve parts are made of plastic new instead of steel. FYI

Cobra Jet · « **Reply #4 on:** May 05, 2008, 09:17:23 AM »

can someone post a picture of the relief valve (both old and new style) and also where it goes in relation to the oil pump, etc?

peerless · « **Reply #5 on:** May 07, 2008, 07:52:31 PM »

Quote from: Cobra Jet;48646

can someone post a picture of the relief valve (both old and new style) and also where it goes in relation to the oil pump, etc?

Here is a side by side comparision of the old and new style relief valves. All 3 peices are different and it would be of good advice to replace all 3 as a set.

As you can see the upper relief valve is plastic. On the old one you can clearly see the scarring from the housing. This one isn't that bad. One I pulled out was in extremely bad shape.

Also note the bottom cup is also plastic. And another important item is the relief spring is longer and stiffer. This allows prevents it from relieving oil pressure too soon, in other words it keeps the oil pressure higher.

On to the pictures:

And here is what happens when they score up and stick in the bore relieving all oil pressure while driving.