2.9 Runs With No Oil Pressure?! Is This Possible?

[AllanD]

Am I seeing the end of the pressure relief valve housing busted off the pump?

How did that happen?

BTW, if you read above to my original post in this thread you might think I've got mental powers... Nope, Just BTDT before.

And I've probablky BTDT more than I'd like to count to myself,
let alone admit in public.

AD

 

[1986ranger]

First let me start by saying the truck ran and sounded the same before and after my flushing it. The engine has always been very noisy. (I have only had the truck for a few weeks and I do not know any history on it.) While the flush seems like a likely cause of the series of events that caused all the carnage, I just don't think it did. NOTHING changed when I did the flush.

This is on an 87 with an aftermarket mechanical oil pressure gauge that has read zero since I got the truck, I just did not think the gauge was working. I later confirmed it was.

I don't think it has had any oil pressure since I got it. Now, assuming all the damage was done pre-flush, got any ideas what may have started it all?

P.S. I know I should have payed more attention to the noises it was making and the oil pressure guage stuck on zero from day one.

 

[1986ranger]

Am I seeing the end of the pressure relief valve housing busted off the pump?

How did that happen?

BTW, if you read above to my original post in this thread you might think I've got mental powers... Nope, Just BTDT before.

And I've probablky BTDT more than I'd like to count to myself,
let alone admit in public.

AD

Yes, that is the end of the pressure relief valve sticking out. That pic was taken with the spring pusing it out. It appears that the spring in there causes that rod to constantly press on the inside of the pump case. It looks like it just pushed too hard and knocked a hole right though the side. How did it happen, that is what I want to know! I disassembled the pump and it still spun freely and was clean inside. No damage to the pump shaft. The pump was still pumping(assuming it could get anything through the pickup, but it was all coming out that gaping hole in the side! I turned it by hand and oil came out the hole just fine.

 

[MAKG]

That hole in the side looks very fresh. It doesn't even have oil dripped on it. I don't think the engine was run with it like that.

Did oil pan removal require any significant effort?

If it came off with the engine assembled, it should be in the oil pan.

 

[1986ranger]

That hole in the side looks very fresh. It doesn't even have oil dripped on it. I don't think the engine was run with it like that.

Did oil pan removal require any significant effort?

If it came off with the engine assembled, it should be in the oil pan.

Yes, the hole looks fresh and the piece was still in the oil pan. The pump was still pumping however, but it was all coming out the hole. So I was wondering if the chemicals in the flush (kerosene) were flowing through the hole enough to clean it up? I have only run the motor for 60-90 minutes max since I got it. I imagine this was the reason the previous owner got rid of the truck. So I assume he did not run it much in its current condition ether. I also ran it for maybe 30-40 minutes post flush. So assuming the flush did it in, it had run for a bit afterwords. Oh, and the pan was pretty gunked on before I removed it.

 

[MAKG]

If the engine flush did it, one would expect it to have cleaned up the unbroken casting right outside, as well (or perhaps NOT cleaned up part of the broken edge). The break in the sludge is very sharp, and it's exactly on the boundary of the break. I think this happened AFTER the engine was run for the last time.

There is also a bolt on the oil pump body that looks like it scraped sludge off something as it went by (but didn't break).

 

[1986ranger]

If the engine flush did it, one would expect it to have cleaned up the unbroken casting right outside, as well (or perhaps NOT cleaned up part of the broken edge). The break in the sludge is very sharp, and it's exactly on the boundary of the break. I think this happened AFTER the engine was run for the last time.

There is also a bolt on the oil pump body that looks like it scraped sludge off something as it went by (but didn't break).

Yes, the crap on the corner of the oil pump got there as it scraped the oil pan as I was lowering it. If you are implying the damage happened during the pan removal, it did not. (How else could it happen after the engine was run for the last time?)The pan came off easily with no real force. When I said it was gunked on I was implying it was caked on there and did not appear to have been removed recently. I did not do this beating the pan off with a sledge or anything. Is that what you are getting at?

My theory is that the pump gave up the ghost and then the rest of the damage to the bearing and the metal flakes in the pan happened as a result. I was just trying to determine how the pump got the hole in it. Any hypotheses as to how that hole got there? This may be a long shot, but what about a condition of high oil pressure that depressed the pressure relief. Then a sudden drop causing the valve to slam shut popping that hole in the side? Maybe the valve got stuck open then slammed shut all at once making the hole? On the inside of the piece that broke off, I can see where that pin had been riding on it or hitting it for a while. Keep in mind, the pump still appears to work, it just pumps out the hole instead of the intended passage.

 

[1986ranger]

Here is a pic of the inside of the piece that was broken off. Looks to me like the damage was done from within.

 

[IMenriched]

Was this repaired from a front end collsion?? prior to your attaining it

 

[1986ranger]

Was this repaired from a front end collsion?? prior to your attaining it

I do not know, but I have found no evidence that would suggest this.