well i ran my car down to 2 quarts of oil (had ALOT of oil coming out of my dipstick, cause it was full 11 days earlier). this was my facepalm mistake because i forgot the pcv valve and left the plug in each valve cover on my new motor. anyways i had finally put enough miles on it i felt safe opening it up once to see what it would do from about 15-75 slowed back down and punched it once more from 30-60 and then stopped playing. about a mile down the road i started hearing the lifters (i think). pulled over and had the car off in about 10 seconds walked got oil, drove 2 miles home. figured out what happened and fixed the plugs. anyway now when i turn it on i hear a steady tick/knock the changed with rpm . *but* i have heard spun bearings before and this really doesn't sound quite like that, could i be lucky and it be something else? if so what, and how do i check? also if it is bearing(s) if i take it apart with it in the car and the crank doesn't look bad (maybe just very fine scratches) can i just replace bearings?.....oh and there is no metal shavings in the oil.

 

Well if I had to guess... but maybe you got lucky and it's a lifter. You can try retarding the timing to a couple degrees AFTER TDC. If the noise gets quieter that's bad. If it doesn't make any difference *maybe* you got lucky.

No new bearings on your crank unless you like taking it apart (again). It would need to be turned or replaced.

No metal in your oil doesn't mean there isn't some in your filter or the bottom of the pan.

 

I agree with jv9999; Is it a Fuel injected car? If so I would say you are safe. On the back of the block (In a "T") is your oil press sender. The ecm wont run your fuel pump without oil pressure.

 

The oil pressure sensor is only a backup to the fuel pump relay. Should the relay fail, the OPS will power the pump, given oil pressure. It has nothing to do with the ECM.

 

Huh.... My oil pump shaft broke in my 86 IROC and the motor stopped Right there. Since the fuel pump would only prime and then not run during cranking, This made the problem hard to diagnose... After a lot of frustration a friend of mine (GM mechanic) Suggested we remove the dist and put a primer/ drill in it and see if we had oil press. We didnt. He explained that this was a backup... Not trying to argue with you, just my own experience.

 

Sometimes mechanical fuel pumps will tick if the shaft
for the actuating arm works loose in the cast aluminum
housing-had that happen to me once after a good high
rpm run.