dizzyj

while testing my new 3.3l build, I lost all oil pressure (from 5bar to 0). no oil leaks visible. Oil level is fine.

I towed the car back to the garage.

Checked the oil filter and drained the oil, no discernible pieces of metal.
I verified that oil is pumped into the filter (replaced oil and filter and the pump filled the new filter).

put a manual gauge on and verified 0 oil pressure.

could be the oprv? never had a problem with it before. reused the one from my previous build. Removed it and did not see anything obviously wrong.

the last think I did was to replace one 10mm bolt on the oil pump. there was a bit of seepage coming from the pump. I put a bit longer both that grabbed the block better and tightened.

at this point I think im needing to tear into the engine again, but wanted to see if anyone here had any thoughts. I'm not a big believer in coincidence, so I tend to think that my oprv is ok, but I also dont know how to check it.

thoughts?

refresh951

I assume you checked the torque on the crank bolt. If it is lose you will lose all oil pressure.

Are you running balance shafts?

Are you running oil squirters?

dizzyj

Checked torque,
no balance shafts,
and I had oil squirters installed.

Tom M'Guinn

Sorry about that.

Sure you assembled the oil pump drive pieces correctly in order, without anything going crooked? Is the power steering pulley spinning perfectly straight or wobbling at all? If that's all good and the bolt is torqued to 155, then I'd at least try a known good OPRV before tearing it apart. Not much to lose, right?

Which 10mm (M6?) bolt did you replace with a longer bolt, and why did you need more threads for a low-torque bolt like that? If the pump isn't sealed to the block, it can suck in air. Did you sand smooth the girdle and block surface smooth and use the correct orange Loctite? I wouldn't take too much comfort from the oil filter filling with oil, that could happen without much pressure...

dizzyj

I'm sure the oil pump is installed correctly. I did run the car several times (around the block) and have idled in the driveway many many times with 5bar of pressure. I will double/triple check the torque before I drop the engine.

the girdle/block was smooth and I used the correct orange loctite. I've replaced the oil pump many times on my previous engine before. and have not had an issue, although this is the first time I removed the girdle.

as far as the m6 bolt: I noticed a slight oil leak and tracked it down to weeping from the oil pump. if looking at the pump from the front, the pump has a stem at ~11:00. at the base of the stem at around 9:00 is where I noticed the weeping. I checked the bolts and one felt stripped (at 9:00). I need to heli coil it, but I did not want to take the timing belt off, so instead I wanted to see if a bit longer bolt might grab. I was able to remove the existing bolt and put a slightly longer one in and it grabbed.

is it possible that by tightening that bolt, i broke the seal of the orage loctite therefor getting air into the system? I tend to go with a "what did I mess with last" mentality, and that bolt is the last thing.

Unfortunately, the only way for me to check a good known oprv is to buy a new one, but ill go ahead and do that.

refresh951

What did the squirters look like? Were they OEM with the ledge? I have heard of the press fit squirters (w/o the ledge) popping out. This would result in a loss of pressure.

Did you reinforce the pickup tube? Pretty common for it to crack when not running the balance shafts.

Sorry about this, must be a bummer. Hope you get this squared away soon.

JacRyann

My vote's on the cracked oil-pickup tube.

Will Feather

^^^ agreed.

dizzyj

will know this weekend, planning on dropping the engine

pcleary1210

I'd poke at the OPRV first. I got my car with no oil pressure. I skipped right to the oil pickup tube (since the PO removed balance shaft belts but left the old crusty stock motor mounts in). After not finding a crack in the old one I DID find that the OPRV was bad.

I didn't feel too bad because I took the time to put a new baffle in and that's one less thing I have to worry about. Still....

pcleary1210

I'd poke at the OPRV first. I got my car with no oil pressure. I skipped right to the oil pickup tube (since the PO removed balance shaft belts but left the old crusty stock motor mounts in). After not finding a crack in the old one I DID find that the OPRV was bad.

I didn't feel too bad because I took the time to put a new baffle in and that's one less thing I have to worry about. Still....

dizzyj

how did you determine the oprv was bad? I cant think of a way besides buying a new $400 one

carlege

did you add a brace for the oil pickup tube

pcleary1210

Well in my case, it was the old piston style OPRV. You can see parts of the sides where it was scored, I have no doubt it was binding up in there as they are known to do.

If yours is the newer style (and I hope it is) there are procedures for testing it out. Basically it's just manually operating it to see if it moves smoothly.

-PC

rlm328

On the balance shaft delete. Did you use plugs or completely eliminate them? If you used the end plugs from Lindsey and kept the covers, then you need to plug the hole in the block on the left side of the engine. Ask me how I know.