Oil Pump Issues??????

[GrabberGuy34]

Heres scenario, Was driving Mustang last night and all of a sudden my oil pressure dropped to -0-, I quickly shut engine down and added a quart since it was a bit low, Started car up and it was fine rest of the night and this morning. On my way home it happened again, Pressure dropped, Car read Low Oil Pressure and I shut her down, waited about 15 minutes and started her up and pressure was normal again and was able to get car home, Now I have the dash gauge from Ford and my aftermarket gauge in Center Pod so I know it wasnt a gauge issue. I have no oil leaks, The oil is clean and not burnt, Car still has engine power, The oil pump was bought brand new when I had P-51 Motor put in back in Sept 2010. Im pretty much sure its the pump, but just wanted to share what was going on to hear some of your opinions. The pump is from TSS and from what I read back then they are pretty damn reliable. And I have a weird noise coming from engine so Im assuming its bearing in pump maybe?????

[twobitcoder]

Is it using oil?

[GrabberGuy34]

Its Turbo Charged so it will burn of a small amount over time.

[luckychance]

is your gauge mechanical? if your reading is consistently low on it i would venture to say it could be the pump but ive never heard of a tss pump going out. if the pressure is good but you get the signal intermittently i would think possibly the sender unit? but then you have weird noise so it could be bearings. have you check the oil pan?

[DiMora]

Do your two gauges get pressure readings from independent sources?

I would pull and inspect the oil pump.

[twobitcoder]

Agreed. removing the oil pan would also let you check things out down under since it's a fairly new engine. I've never looked... would be interesting to see a photo if you do.

[GrabberGuy34]

Both gauges are hooked up seperatly, One reads from where oil filter is, The other monitors pressure into the Turbo. Hooked up a manual gauge and its between 4-10psi which is too low. Oil pan is getting pulled tomorrow, Im hoping engine is ok, hopefully the 4-10psi I have keep any damage from occuring.

[GrabberGuy34]

Im also curious if the bypass on the oil pump is stuck open possibly?????

[DiMora]

HOw could I have forgotten step one?

Drain the oil, remove the oil filter, and inspect it carefully.

It could be a clogged or faulty filter with a faulty bypass valve. They sell tools to allow you to easily cut open your filter.

That should be your first step before going deeper.

[redfire427]

Adam,that would really suck if you hurt that new motor. I sure hope you find the solution and that it is a simple one. Good luck.

Carmen

[twobitcoder]

Ack! Yes, Dimora is right, check the filter first. Dang, we always tend to forget to see if something's plugged in when troubleshooting... LOL

[DiMora]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-900510

[fordmanm6609]

don't spend $40 on an oil filter cutter, use a hacksaw and cut around the rib at the top of filter.

[DiMora]

don't spend $40 on an oil filter cutter, use a hacksaw and cut around the rib at the top of filter.

That puts filter canister shavings everywhere, and now you can't tell if you have metal carnage - been there, done that. If going the cheap route, poke a hole in it and use some small tin-snips or dikes. Don't make shavings.

Those cutters use round blades - like a can opener - and don't leave metal shavings. Yeah, they are $40 - but his engine is $4,000 plus - so it is small change compared to the potential cost of mis-diagnosis on the other end.

[GrabberGuy34]

I dropped the pan today, not good, metal shavings present, The crank bearings are done, The crank itself looks unscaved. I had a guy from a local engine building company stop by and take a look also. he said I am lucky, the bearings are the softest material and will break apart first. He said I was lucky to have caught issue before it destroyed everything else. There were no signs of knocking at all when I noticed problem. Bearings and an oil pump it seems Im gonna need. TSS offered to rebuild my pump free of charge, but Im a little leary now since it failed with less then 5000 miles on it, Do you think stock oil pump would work fine, The OEM pump seems to be the most reliable I guess.

[DiMora]

I dropped the pan today, not good, metal shavings present, The crank bearings are done, The crank itself looks unscaved. I had a guy from a local engine building company stop by and take a look also. he said I am lucky, the bearings are the softest material and will break apart first. He said I was lucky to have caught issue before it destroyed everything else. There were no signs of knocking at all when I noticed problem. Bearings and an oil pump it seems Im gonna need. TSS offered to rebuild my pump free of charge, but Im a little leary now since it failed with less then 5000 miles on it, Do you think stock oil pump would work fine, The OEM pump seems to be the most reliable I guess.

I would probably stick with the TSS...there are plenty of guys with OEM pump failures that have lost a motor as well. TSS uses an OEM design, but has the billet gear upgrades. Your TSS pump failure is the first I've read about.

Good save...sorry you need a rebuild...but as you say, at least you don't have major carnage.

[SteveL]

Any ideas on how the oil pump failed? If it was the pump itself that failed I certainly wouldn't go with the same thing again. I now only have small block Ford motors but I only use Melling Select oil pumps.

[redfire427]

If you can prove that the oil pump was the cause of the failure, I wouldn't hesitate to ask TSS for some sort of compensation for the damage done to a brand new motor. I realize that typically there is no warranty on performance products, but it never hurts to ask. Get a quote for the engine repair costs and then ask TSS to step up. I know I would feel sick if I were in your shoes. I hope you get it fixed up soon.

[Torched07]

I would not use that pump again....Rebuilding a defective pump without knowing what caused the failure will lead to another failure. See if they will give u a new pump.

[GrabberGuy34]

Well, with engine out of car, I do need to replace entire block, Crank Bearings, Main Bearings, Crank and oil pump destroyed, Cams, Pistons and Heads are ok though. The block is damaged also. I already have a new block from Roush at their cost so they say, That was after they claimed they didnt have any.. I paid only $1700 for block, Bearings were about $160, Crank cost me $775. Here are pics of my oil pan and what was in it. I spoke to TSS about oil pump, They did own up to it being their 1st ever pump failure (Lucky Me). But they will take no responsibility for the engine at all.