5.3 Oil Pump

[tblt44]

Try changing the oil filter.
My father had a bad pure one filter once that had similar symptoms. After a filter change back to normal.
No Idea what could have been wrong but remember him telling me about this 10 years ago. I now have his 2003 Avalanche with 191k on the clock

 

[Blang]

I'm not answering for RedZ, However......Cam Bearing wear is more common on LSx engines than most know, I see it quite a bit on Company trucks & vans that idle excessively.

Cam bearing wear... I've heard that can affect oil pressure for sure, but I assumed oil pump problems preceded it. Can that be chalked up to neglect then typically? (No offense to anyone).

 

[Blang]

Try changing the oil filter.
My father had a bad pure one filter once that had similar symptoms. After a filter change back to normal.
No Idea what could have been wrong but remember him telling me about this 10 years ago. I now have his 2003 Avalanche with 191k on the clock

Interesting. I'm pretty sure I was the last person to change the oil on his Yukon. I would have used an ACDelco filter on there. Valvoline Max Life Synthetic blend. I am pretty sure he goes by the oil life monitor. I don't have that kind of faith and I don't let things go longer than a year personally, but I think it's been longer than a year. Pretty sure less than 10,000 miles though. I talked to him briefly a couple days ago and he confirmed it's pushing 180,000 miles. I told him about adding extra oil and jacking up the year end to see if it's the o-ring.

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

Cam bearing wear... I've heard that can affect oil pressure for sure, but I assumed oil pump problems preceded it. Can that be chalked up to neglect then typically? (No offense to anyone).

It is possible in my case. I cannot vouch for the maintenance on the truck before it was passed off to me after the company disbanded. Probably Jiffylube bulk after the change oil light came on.

 

[Blang]

It is possible in my case. I cannot vouch for the maintenance on the truck before it was passed off to me after the company disbanded. Probably Jiffylube bulk after the change oil light came on.

Yeah that would qualify as neglect from my point of view haha!

 

[Blang]

Bump. My brother-in-law seems to be getting ready to dig into the oil pump and seems inclined to replace the oil pump while he's in there. I told him that OE would probably be the way to go, but that's quite the premium at the dealer it seems. So he's looking at Melling? Do those have a good reputation?

 

[Brons2]

I'm not sure why clinebarger said what he did, but for those of us who own Ford Modulars the Melling high volume pump is considered THE one to get.

 

[ls1mike]

I'm not answering for RedZ, However......Cam Bearing wear is more common on LSx engines than most know, I see it quite a bit on Company trucks & vans that idle excessively.

What do you consider excessive idling? I know there are ton of Caprices out there with over 10,000 hours on the engine and half of that is idling. They throw in a DOD delete cam, lifters, and springs and send it down the road. I have never really heard what is considered excessive.

 

[clinebarger]

I'm not sure why clinebarger said what he did, but for those of us who own Ford Modulars the Melling high volume pump is considered THE one to get.

Melling isn't an upgrade over a OE GM pump, Modular Fords are a different story with the factory oil pump having a Aluminum cover that would deform & leak.

 

[clinebarger]

Bump. My brother-in-law seems to be getting ready to dig into the oil pump and seems inclined to replace the oil pump while he's in there. I told him that OE would probably be the way to go, but that's quite the premium at the dealer it seems. So he's looking at Melling? Do those have a good reputation?

Chevrolet Performance Parts #12710303, Summit Racing has them for $76

 

[clinebarger]

What do you consider excessive idling? I know there are ton of Caprices out there with over 10,000 hours on the engine and half of that is idling. They throw in a DOD delete cam, lifters, and springs and send it down the road. I have never really heard what is considered excessive.

These old company trucks can have over 20,000 engine hours, I'd guess 8-9,000 hours of that are idling at a job site with the A/C on.

Recently tore down a LQ4 6.0L that had 430,xxx miles, A Timing Set & Cam Bearings would of put this one back into service.....The front 2 Cam Bearings were in really bad shape. Rods & Mains looked almost new.

The L92 I put in my Camaro had bad cam bearings.....Knew I got it cheap for a reason , But I didn't know any history.

 

[ls1mike]

These old company trucks can have over 20,000 engine hours, I'd guess 8-9,000 hours of that are idling at a job site with the A/C on.

Recently tore down a LQ4 6.0L that had 430,xxx miles, A Timing Set & Cam Bearings would of put this one back into service.....The front 2 Cam Bearings were in really bad shape. Rods & Mains looked almost new.

The L92 I put in my Camaro had bad cam bearings.....Knew I got it cheap for a reason , But I didn't know any history.

Holy poop! 20,000!!!! I have like 1500 total on my 2017 3500HD and 2000 total on the Caprice! Thanks for the info! I am looking at another Caprice with 8000 hours on it. Just something to mess around with maybe forced induction...Like an LSA swap. It needs a DOD delete but it is cheap and I need something to mess with. I will make sure I don't look at the cam bearings when I take it apart...