Severe engine noise after oil change

[LckydevL]

I was at a buddy's house Sunday when he changed his oil on a 05 Tahoe 5.3. When he started it up, the motor sounded horrible. I would compare it to the sound an oil pump makes when it is going bad. Very loud, like the motor was starving for oil. The motor is running fine now. But it did sound like poop for about 2 or 3 minutes. We cannot figure out what happened.

The Tahoe was run on a steady diet of Castrol 5w30 its whole life (100k). This oil change he decides to use PYB he got on sale. Would it be possible the change in oil type did this? My suggestion was to drop the filter and check it. It "looked" fine, other than checking ADBV I didn't really know what else to check. No leaks anywhere, the vehicle is always spotless.

Anyone else run into this kind of problem during an oil change? Only possible cause we can think of is different oil, filter, blockage of some sort when the oil drained or the oil pump itself. Both of us have been working on vehicles for about 30+ years each and have never seen this happen.

 

[flwxman]

I can assure you the switch to Pennzoil did not cause this. Possibly the filter or something blocking to pick up, but if it went away, I wouldn't be terribly concerned, so long as it doesn't come back every restart.

 

[friendly_jacek]

I had it once before after kreen piston soak and oil change. It was weird as i actually prefilled the oil filter with oil so it shouldn't have been dry start. But, it went away and no harm noticed.

BTW, there was no sludge and oil was not very dirty to suspect blocked oil pickup. Maybe oil pump lost it's prime?

 

[The motor guy]

Maybe the oil pump got airlocked and lost it's prime

 

[meep]

exact thing happened here to a buddy's tahoe... same year and motor, about 140,000 on it. did an oil change and put a slightly thicker, maybe a 40-wt oil, in it. Made a big racket. Changed it for a 10-30 syn (it has always had syn since he bought it a year ago). it settled down but never was quite right. idle got rough, but tolerable. CEL popped up here and there, misfire code. Dealer told him this engine is notorious for poor camshaft wear. we didn't believe them... and they quoted 3700 to replace the cam.

$3000 dollars later from an indy, and he has a balanced & rebuilt 5.3 with a TRW rebuilt kit and 2500HD cam. The old cam, sure enough, was shot. metal visibly missing. It's a different truck now.

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Maybe the oil pump got airlocked and lost it's prime


Which would be a bad sign, and likely indicate severe internal engine wear...
Was the oil pressure idiot light on or was it off while it was making the terrible racket?

 

[LckydevL]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Maybe the oil pump got airlocked and lost it's prime


Which would be a bad sign, and likely indicate severe internal engine wear...
Was the oil pressure idiot light on or was it off while it was making the terrible racket?


Well, its like this. We both kind of stared at each other in shock for about 10 seconds. Then he stuck his head around the motor looking for problems and I got under the Tahoe to look for leaks. Then I hopped in to check oil pressure, it was at about 40 on the gauge. I was reaching for the key to shut it down when the racket finally stopped. No CEL's came up.

 

[slammds15]

Originally Posted By: meep
exact thing happened here to a buddy's tahoe... same year and motor, about 140,000 on it. did an oil change and put a slightly thicker, maybe a 40-wt oil, in it. Made a big racket. Changed it for a 10-30 syn (it has always had syn since he bought it a year ago). it settled down but never was quite right. idle got rough, but tolerable. CEL popped up here and there, misfire code. Dealer told him this engine is notorious for poor camshaft wear. we didn't believe them... and they quoted 3700 to replace the cam.

$3000 dollars later from an indy, and he has a balanced & rebuilt 5.3 with a TRW rebuilt kit and 2500HD cam. The old cam, sure enough, was shot. metal visibly missing. It's a different truck now.


You may be right on the money with the cam issue. I've seen a lot of failed oil pumps due to this. Small metal particulate does wreak havoc on oil pumps. Slow to prime and low oil pressure.

 

[LckydevL]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
I had it once before after kreen piston soak and oil change. It was weird as i actually prefilled the oil filter with oil so it shouldn't have been dry start. But, it went away and no harm noticed.

BTW, there was no sludge and oil was not very dirty to suspect blocked oil pickup. Maybe oil pump lost it's prime?



No kreen or any additives have been used on this vehcile. Very well maintained, no problems anywhere. OCI's are 3k, its his wife's ride and the Tahoe hardly ever goes over 5 to 10 mile trips. They do take long trips to the NC mountains on the weekends to their lake house about twice a month.

Luckily, his wife was out shopping with my girlfriend at the time or he would be trading the Tahoe in on something else Today. If you know what I mean.

 

[demarpaint]

In hindsight looking at oil pressure gauge first would have been the better thing to do. In the time that lapsed before you looked at it, it might have been just enough time for it to re-prime and build pressure, then quiet things down again. I have a feeling the oil pump might be on its way out.

 

[ltslimjim]

My question is: What does a bad oil pump or 'failing' pump sound like?

Thanks.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Ive had this happen multiple times on toyotas. Ive since stopped prefilling filters. One time I had to replace the filter with another brand (thailand toyota denso for a champion/delco) to get the tensioner working. Prefilling puts a big "oil slug" in the way of them main drills that the oil pump has to overcome - better to let it pump oil into an empty filter and expel some air though the system; rather than expell the air after the filter, then push a hydraulic hammer of oil, then another little slug of air, then oil again. All in 1-3 seconds.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Ive had this happen multiple times on toyotas. Ive since stopped prefilling filters. One time I had to replace the filter with another brand (thailand toyota denso for a champion/delco) to get the tensioner working. Prefilling puts a big "oil slug" in the way of them main drills that the oil pump has to overcome - better to let it pump oil into an empty filter and expel some air though the system; rather than expell the air after the filter, then push a hydraulic hammer of oil, then another little slug of air, then oil again. All in 1-3 seconds.


I doubt this theory. Every normal start in a toyota has a prefilled oil filter due to filter location.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Ive had this happen multiple times on toyotas. Ive since stopped prefilling filters. One time I had to replace the filter with another brand (thailand toyota denso for a champion/delco) to get the tensioner working. Prefilling puts a big "oil slug" in the way of them main drills that the oil pump has to overcome - better to let it pump oil into an empty filter and expel some air though the system; rather than expell the air after the filter, then push a hydraulic hammer of oil, then another little slug of air, then oil again. All in 1-3 seconds.


I doubt this theory. Every normal start in a toyota has a prefilled oil filter due to filter location.


My 4.0L 4Runner has an inverted filter. You cannot pre-fill it. But I have been told the same thing by my Toyota dealer mechanic. They do not pre-fill filters. The mechanic also told me to never let the oil drain out of an engine overnight. Drain/refill because the engine runs on the residual oil clinging onto the parts. You let that drain off or change a cold engine that has sat all night and you get more start up wear.