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Help me figure out what I did wrong and learn from my mistakes.
Just finished assembling my motor after my rebuild and on first start there was a horrible clatter, followed by just the normal clatter of lifters pumping up. 15 seconds... Oil light still on... 30 seconds... Oil light still on.... Turn it all off, check everything over, oil level is perfect, everything looks right. Check the belt and its a tooth off now, hmmmmmm. Notice the crank pulley is riding forward and not seated all the way down. Retorque the crank pulley down(I know I had it torqued down completely on first assembly) and try again. 5, 10, 20, 30 seconds oil light still on, lifters not pumping up.
Kill it, and start tear down, oil pressure switch out to check pressure with a gauge, and the switch is dry inside. ****. Pull the filter, it is dry too, and I KNOW it was prefilled when i installed it. Pull the pan, I must have somehow clogged the pick up and it is starving the motor, right? Pan down and out, Pick up is clean. Wtf? Check the pickup oring, it's there and in good shape. ****. We have a pump problem(was brand new on install and packed with Vaseline as the forum recommends.
Front cover off 30 minutes later, and i have my culprit. The back housing of the oil pump has blown off and exploded out.
How? Why? What in the ****?
Theories? I have one. Vaseline does not compress. I think the Vaseline made its way into part of the cavity where the crank pulley rests, and when the pulley was installed, it literally pushed the oil pump gears straight out the back of the timing cover.
I won't be installing my next one with vaseline, that's for sure.
Anyone have that cover plate for sale? I would not like to dump $400+ on a new timing cover assembly.
Last edited by Llamasayswhat; Oct 1, 2018 at 11:23 PM.
Do you remember if you rotated the engine by hand a rev or two b4 first start? That might help next time to spread the Vaseline out a little before full start-up. I heard it's a real pita to get it primed without it and I hate the idea of a lot of cranking with no oil pressure..
I did that once. The pulleys woodruff key was not aligned when I torqued down the pulley nut, I heard the crack while torqueing it.
thats what I think happened at least. It was definitely not a too much Vaseline isssue.
This sounds more likely than too much Vaseline.
I use engine lube when I replace the oil pump but I don't think you can use too much of either engine lube or Vaseline. The idea is for the lube to help create some suction before the first oil arrives.
I would not think you can possible pack enough petroleum jelly to cause it to bind up and explode like this. I would lean toward something being over torqued or a solid piece of something somehow got in there.
were you able to rotate the oil pump gears by hand after you rebuilt the pump? Perhaps you over torqued the gear cover on the pump?
I like to pull the fuel pump relay and crank the engine over a few times to help prime the pump before starting for the first time after a rebuild.
Vaseline did not do this. IF...and that a huge if...the Vaseline did this by hydraulic compression...it would have cracked in one spot and pushed through that opening...and not cracked the back plate in several spots.
Something went wrong with you installation. I'd also be very hesitant about reusing those oil pump gears...if you turned it over for any length of time. Open that bad boy up and take pictures of the gears.
Oil pump housing disaster
