Help me! I am almost all done with my ls swap. I just got to the point of cranking over the engine. When doing so I noticed no oil pressure during cranking. Well I went on Ls 1 tech and tried everything they said on how to prime the pump.... besides air pressure. I took out all the plugs to allow the engine to turn over faster..... nothing. I even removed the oil filter and oil cooler cap and nothing coming out of either!!!! I did do a cam swap on the engine... I have read that some times the o ring can get pinched... although I can swear I took great care to make sure that didn't happen. The engine is a brand new crate engine. Other than the cam change that's all I have done. I really don't want to pull all of my accessories off crank pulley and cover and find out everything is fine in there... someone please help!!! Tim

 

CarCraft did a feature on patching together your own pre-luber for these engines.

 

did you install the pick up tube on the pump. did you remove it when doing the cam ( which is not needed).

 

Yes..... I hope that's a joke. Lol the only thing I'm leaning towards is a pinched pickup o ring...

 

the oil pump does not need to be removed to do a cam swap. actually you let the timing chain rest on the crank gear while installing a new cam. if you did install the pick up tube on the engine then you pinched the oring. or if you removed the pump to install the cam you pinched it again. you will need to remove the water pump, timing cover and let the pan down a little. then replace the oring and try it again.

 

I changed timing chain and sproketsand tensioner pushrods springs....... g6x3 kit that's why I pulled the pump.

 

I never got any oil pressure on my gauge when I first cranked my motor either. I ended up just firing it and watching the gauge close. My plan was to give it about 3 seconds then shut it down if I didnt see anything. It spiked right to like 60 within a second of the motor firing on its own.

That was on a used motor though, that I knew had oil flowing through it at some point. i dont know about your crate motor... Ide be trying pretty hard to get it to show some prime too I guess.

What kind of gauge are you using to check the pressure? A mechanical handheld gauge screwed right into the oil pressure port? Or are you using your aftermarket/dash gauge....??? The reason I ask is that the dash gauge's power might get cut during cranking depending how you have it wired. They are also a little slower to respond than mechanical style gauges if you are using one with a sender.

Actually..I read how you removed the filter and nothing came out...that might make my theory pretty pointless I guess. Not sure if the starter motor cranking is enough for it to come flyin out or not though.

J.

 

Thanks j for your input.... at first I thought it was my gauge.... but sadly its not..... I'm going to rip it apart this weekend... speaking of that does anyone know if u can access everything from pulling the pan off? And can u pull the pan off while in the car? I have a after market k member so I would think that would make It easier.

 

i dont think you can get the pan off with the kmember in there. you can get to the pick up tube but the pump you cannot. i do know that you can get to both with pulling the front cover. but it is awfully tricky to do the tube with only the front cover off. but it can be done.

 

I pulled the tube off without pulling the pan when I did all the work..... well find out what's going on here this weekend.

 

If you pull the oil pan off and pack the oil pump sreen with 100% petroleum jelly you will have instant oil pressure. If you do this your "NO" oil pressure issue will be solved. THE PUMP NEEDS TO BE PRIMED, EVEN IF THE MOTOR IS NEW. If the oil pump was installed dry the pump will never pick the oil up no mater how fast you turn the motor over. PRIM THE PUMP WITH PETROLEUM JELLY.

 

Thats a little bold to say that packing the pump will def solve his issue. This isnt like an old school oil pump where it just has a pressed in pick up and seals to the block. However..it is still possible that his pump did cavitate I guess. But you wont usually see oil pressure just by cranking them. In fact, sometimes you wont see pressure for 3-4 seconds. Especially if its a fresh set up or been sitting for a long time.

You dont normally pack the screen with jelly, you open the pump and pack the gears with jelly. But the LS1 pump is a gearoator or however you spell it. So I dont think you can do it on them.

With the LS1 pump, there can be several things causing his no oil pressure. At this point I advocate taking it apart and double checking everyting. ESPECIALLY that pesky o-ring that seems to get pinched more often than not. Also check to make sure all the plugs are in the back of the motor and on the sides. Make sure there are no open holes, as there are a few plugs that are crucial to oil presure. Might as well visually make sure all thats ok before anything else.

Anothing thing to try if you find its all ok. Ive heard before that jacking the rear of the car up as far as you can then cranking it will develop pressure. Not sure on the theory as Ive never tried it. But they mentioned it puts more oil around the pump and will help get it going.

Honestly, if you check and the o-ring is ok, I would just start it. Let it run for a few seconds before shutting it down (assembly lube on everything will avoid dry start up), and I bet you'll see pressure. They just dont spin fast enough to get pressure up to the sender, and if you do, its usually like 5 psi. Dont panic if you hear some noise after you build pressure too. The lifters, if dry, will need to fill and pump up. Things should quiet down after a few minutes of running and, quiet down further after some light driving.

Good luck man! Let us know what you find out!

J.

 

I'm going to build the car craft engine preluber. Ill try priming the engine first then if I have no oil pressure I know I have a problem.

 

Pinched o ring!!! Thanks guys... Kind of had the feeling thats what it was. Only reasonable explanation.

 

Good stuff man! Going back to check the obvious and simple stuff almost always pays off!!! Even if checking it is a royal PITA...its still better than burning up a new motor!

Now lets see some videos of that LS3 burning those tires off!!!

J.