Long story short... coolant smell very close to home got her home right away and she was bleeding out all over the place, removed oil pan and timing cover due to the usual hidden coolant leak on the upper driver's side between the cover and the block. 2004 SE7 with 130k pampered miles, head gaskets done @ 90k, oil changes every 3k or less, dealer maintained until the warranty ran out, never had a red light anywhere and truck never off road.. Bottom line BABIED... After cleaning the cover and removing the oil pump I see galling on the oil pump cover surface and on the cover itself. Luckily (before spending $500 on a new cover) I took a look inside the sump to see if there was any metal that could cause the scoring and I see something sticking up and grabbed it... a big chunk of broken off aluminum with a curve to it like a piston. Figured it was a piece of piston until I found the source today after some crank rotations and light treatment. A piece of the BLOCK broke off at the bottom where the liner ends!!! Car had a light tap while warm for about 15-20K miles. I don't know when this happened or if this tap that I've been listening to for so long was the result of this sleeve moving around after pushing thru the bottom overhang of the block. Anyone ever see this kind of failure before? I've pretty much written this off but now I'm tempted to throw it back together and see what happens without a new cover.. Please take a look at cover pics and last cylinder pic and share your thoughts. Crack is just to the left of the Main bolt adjacent to the liner.

 

That's insane! I've never seen anything like that!

 

Yes, I couldn't believe my eyes when I pulled this out of the pan. You can also see where the bottom of the piston hit that piece and crushed it a bit against the crank. Somehow this thing did not grenade itself

 

Someone else posted years back with a similar finding. I think he put it back together and drove it for quite some time.

My thought, if it has oil pressure I would put it back together and drive it till it dies.

 

Thanks! I am wondering if you would replace the cover or not with that score in it or just let it ride with new pump gears and some gaskets for $100. It was running fine before spilling coolant with a slight tap.

 

Dang, that's a sight to see. Nightmares for sure tonight.

The "v" groove on the right side of the 2nd photo, in the front cover, is normal. I do see some other scoring... how deep is it? The overhaul manual has some specs to measure the the tolerances on the front cover. You just need a feeler gauge

 

I wouldn't replace the cover. Its hard to tell from pics on the net but it doesn't look that bad.

 

I agree, but in that case at least pull out both the pressure relief and bypass valves (circlips on either side of cover) springs & pistons, check for wear/metal bits, cleanup, lubricate, and put it back together.

 

Thanks that's a great idea Jeff given potential for Aluminum bits in that area before filter. Considering the condition of the block it doesn't make much sense to me to throw a $500 cover/pump on it and I have never seen an oil light come on. The only things i am a little unsure of are whether or not to use a thin layer of black RTV on the new timing cover and sump gaskets (Rave no rec) and what happens to all the Vaseline/assembly lube that is put into pump to prime..oil change quick?

Tom

 

As long as you are putting new gaskets on, skip the RTV. edit: said another way, get new gaskets and skip the RTV. Maaaybe a little Permatex ultra black oil gasket maker for the timing cover, but I didn't use any. If the metal on both parts is not damaged where they meet, just stick to the paper gasket. Don't forget PTFE thread sealant for the 2 or 3 bolts that penetrate the water jacket (or was it oil?)

I dunno about the vasoline... I got really worked up over it when I was doing my rebuild. I packed it with vasoline, was going to pull the fuel pump and ignition coil fuses... the whole nine yards. Then I thought screw this, and removed most of the vasoline and just booted her up. I have an oil pressure gauge and it shot up to 50 within a few seconds.

So my 2 cents: fill that oil filter up, lube the oil pump gears thoroughly with red assembly lube, and you'll be good to go. Then change the oil within the first few hundred miles. Make sure the oil pickup pipe screen is very clean, and you are using new o-rings.