Ever since I changed my oil pump my oil pressure has been steadily decreasing until it bottomed out at <5 PSI at idle and around 28 PSI at speed. I just finished changing the oil and found the telltail aluminum sparkles in the oil. It has been only 2 weeks since I changed the front cover!!! I have also changed both the crank and engine bearings. When doing the oil changed I went from 15W40 to 20W50 and saw no change in pressure.

I can only assume that the oil pump has broken again confirming that I have the misalingned front cover dowles and I plan on removing them both. It has been suggested that only one of them needs to be removed but I haven't seen any confirming information stating which one should be the one to go.

Here what I plan on doing:
- Prep the cover by gluing the gasket to it with a spray gasket sealer.
1) Remove the dowels pins
2) Once the cover is on lightly tighten the 9 bolts securing it into place.
3) Hand crank the engine (plugs removed)
4) Tighten to 10 FTLBS
5) Hand crank the engine again
6) Tighten to 15 FTLBS
7) Turn the engine over with the starter
8) Tighten bolts to 20 FTLBS

I'm assuming by this process the crank will determine where the front cover needs to be and a total of 180 FTLBS (9 bolts @ 20 FTLBS ea.)of pressure should keep it into place.

My questions are:

1) How should I go about removing the dowels?
2) Will I have to worry about shifting the front cover from the place I established by turning the crank when I secure the oil pan?
3) If this was your project what would you do?

I'm in a pretty tight spot here and my enthusiasm for this truck is starting to wane so whatever input you can proved is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!

 

i've been in your shoes and i must tell you that you might have lost your cam bearings also!!! mine were toast, even after i did the oil pump rebuild!! i removed my dowel pins using some vice grips, they arent in a water jacket so you are safe to get them out any possible besides drilling.... they just pull out.

as for aluminum shavings in your oil, i'd bet thats the new front cover breaking in on your mis-aligned oil pump gears, otherwise if you didnt replace the front cover, and only the pump gear, i'd again bet your cam bearings are toast.

your can pull the pins and tighten the bolts after you turn the crank a couple times, but i think its to late.... you might have bearing issues...

 

Yes the cam bearings are a condsideration but when I first installed the new front cover I actually got OK pressure which then gradually decreased over the span of two weeks to where it is now, <5 at idle at 28 at speed.

What were your results after pulling out the dowel pins?

 

here are a few more bits of info click on all of the links and it will answer more of you pin removal questions.
I am not condoning this however the OP seems to have been able to correct his issues
http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=55265

https://landroverforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=27428

 

In the thread linked to above (or one like it), Turbodave also mentions the possibility of honing the pump cover a bit to give the gears more "wiggle" room.

Seems plausable on the face of it.

Would that give the gears more freedom to move without binding? Seems like it. Would this make them rattle? Maybe. Would your oil pressure suffer? ??

 

Thank you for both of those posts. This discoweb post seems to be on to something but without picures and diagrams I cannot understand exactly what he's doing and how he adjusted the upper dowel. One of his conclusions is that the seal bore cannot be used to align the front cover, correct? It would be good to confirm this because I assume that is what I'm using to align the front cover without the pins.

 

i ran my rebuilt 2003 4.6 with no dowel pins for 100 miles.... no issues except my cam bearings were worn, and i didnt replace them during the rebuild, so i had low oil pressure from my new oil pump, but since i now know that my cam bearings were worn.... i'd still pull the pins.... and try.


at this point your screwed if you pull the pump again and dont do something different anyways right?

 

yes i also checked the posted links and the pictures are not up there anymore, bummer they had a bunch of info, you might try Emailing the OP and see if he will send you the pictures

 

That's my thinking. So what happened after 100 miles? Is it still running?

 

Mine is sitting collecting snow in the driveway... I think I am going to buy a 1995 RR county classic.... I wish someone would steal this worthless 03