Well that was a horrible Christmas present. I don't know why, but I never checked to confirm that my '03 wasn't in the VIN range for oil pump failures, I suppose that I figured at 132k it would have gone by now. Anyway, my VIN is ...3A776260. I went out and starter her up. I immediately started to hear a light knocking sound. Not a tapping like lifters, I know what that sounds like. I just had them replaced. As a matter of fact, I just dropped $2700 in this engine (Which didn't include an oil pump. Don't tell me how stupid that is, I know.) which frankly makes me a little sick.

I cut it off immediately to check my oil. It was about half a quart below completely full, but that's definitely not enough to really worry about. I topped it off anyway with some cheap Dollar General oil I had in the back, I figured it was better than nothing. The sound went away and I didn't worry too much about it. That's a lie, I really just blocked it out if my mind so I could enjoy Christmas. It's now been 2 days and she has been driven ~125 miles since this happened. The sound hasn't turned back up, but it's still worrying me. Any recommendations as to what I should do?

Thanks guys! I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Edit: Oh, and this was a partial warm start. She was up to temp (~197 degrees) and then sat for about 2 hours. I don't know if that's relevant or not.

 

I dont know what the ticking was, but for the record, if you do the oil pump yourself and order the parts from Rovers North you will find that the job is really not to bad price wise.... BUT if your oil pump cover plate has any scoring then your screwed because a replacement cost nearly $600!

Good luck and sorry to hear about your troubles.

 

Yea, I've got an extra D2 (an '04) for parts, so if mine is scored then I can yank the one off of that one. It was definitely a knock and not a tick though. A tick wouldn't have worried me nearly as much.

 

If your oil light is not on your pump is fine

 

Well the light isn't on. I still can't figure out what made that knocking sound though.

 

I had a knocking noise and it was the water pump bearing had failed.

 

Well she's not overheating, but she's still running the original water pump too. Maybe it's on the way out. Any idea who has the best price on replacements? I'll see if I can look around and find one to order soon.

 

Mine wasn't over heating either. I noticed it as I was listening for the noise. I could see the pulley wondering forward and back. Just something to look at before going to worst case scenario.

Lucky8 LLC is my go to place for parts. Great customer service good prices and quick shipping

 

Yea, Justin and Erik are great, I use them a lot. I looked around and they do seem to have the best price. I'll try the water pump and see if things quiet down. Thanks for the help!

 

Get the water pump with the improved brass impeller.