Bad Day, Very Bad day

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dustermaniac said:
Will do so. Thanks for the warning on Melling parts. I ordered a hardened shaft from another vendor and am seeking an oil pump but NOT a Melling.

SS,- I am going to pull the engine, I do not want to screw around with doing all that work on my back and then have issues down the road. I just hope that there is not too much damage internally.
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I think I have a new oil pump sitting on a shelf in my garage I had got for my 318......can't remember the brand though.

for as cheap is they are...best bet is to buy a new one.....BUT if for some reason you have no luck finding one....let me know and Ill give ya dibs on the one I have.
 
Yep!
Oil pump siezed.
I bet a chunk of slag broke off and lodged inside the pump! After break-in I ALWAYS add Prolong to my vehicles. 7200rpm thru the traps and 0 oil pressure 3 times due to a faulty bypass spring. Tore it down, ZERO wear on any of the Clevite77 bearings. I am a Firm believer of Linkite!!
 
dustermaniac said:
Will do so. Thanks for the warning on Melling parts. I ordered a hardened shaft from another vendor and am seeking an oil pump but NOT a Melling.

SS,- I am going to pull the engine, I do not want to screw around with doing all that work on my back and then have issues down the road. I just hope that there is not too much damage internally.
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I think you'll have better luck that way. More work, but in the long run it'll be worth it. Also too people sometimes think an oil pump is a drop in part. While tons of them have been, the proper procedure is to disassemble them, debur any sharp edges and measure all of the clearances to make sure they are in spec. As long as quality control is handled by humans, there will be mistakes regardless of the company. Oil pump disassembly is to easy not to do. I check and make sure every one I install is dead right. If you have a factory service manual, you should find all of the clearances listed.
 
I do not have a factory manual. When I get it opened up I'll call you and get the required specs. Thanks.

On the bright side maybe this thread will bring attention to others that this could happen to anyone just as easily as it did to me.
 
Just ordered new crankshaft and camshaft bearings. Engine is coming out tomorrow and going on the engine stand to be operated on. I will update as I progress. It will be a slow process and I may need to ask a lot of questions so please cut me some slack. I do have a friend who will be helping me in this process but I may still need to ask many questions.
 
by the time you are done your engine should be dang new all freshened up!

have you ran a compression test to see what your getting out of each cylinder?

if there is any time to toss some fresh rings at it.....now would be the time while its on the stand.
 
dustermaniac said:
Just ordered new crankshaft and camshaft bearings. Engine is coming out tomorrow and going on the engine stand to be operated on. I will update as I progress. It will be a slow process and I may need to ask a lot of questions so please cut me some slack. I do have a friend who will be helping me in this process but I may still need to ask many questions.
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Are you going to rebuild it all?
 
normally if I have an engine on the stand I try to do the stuff I would NOT want to hassle with down the road lol.

so if it looks like it might need rings, ill do rings,new oil pump,timing chain,rear main seal,front seal,bearings through out,water pump, all new gaskets,and id run through the top half but you just did the top half on yours so it should be good to go.

most of the parts are pretty decently priced and while its on a stand its all easy work to do.....so might aswell tackle what you can now for the added peace of mind.
 
dustermaniac said:
I just recently completed a new cam, lifters, distributor, heads and timing chain in my car. I fired up the car the other day and everything seemed fine. Good oil pressure, no lifter noise, ran the engine for about 20 mins at or around 2500 RPM'S to break in the camshaft. I did have a small oil leak at the timing cover but I was able to seal it up without needing to tear it back down. Changed the oil/filter and drained the assembly lube out, ran the car about 10 miles the other day and it ran great, plenty of power, nice throttle response. Well this morning I have the day off so I decided to bring the car to the car wash to clean it up and get it ready to go cruising again. Drove to the car wash and cleaned the car up. started it up after cleaning it and oil pressure was 65 lbs on the gauge, started back home, went about 4 miles and looked at the gauge I had 0 lbs of oil pressure. I was able to pull off the main road and limp to a stop, engine was sounding like a sewing machine. shut it down, opened the hood and pulled the oil stick, oil in the lower end is still clean but when I open the oil cap on the valve covers I see white coagulated oil in the top end. Called a tow truck and just got it towed home. A bad day all around. I will pull the valve covers tomorrow and have a look see. I will also drain out the oil in the crankcase and look at it also. Wondering if the oil pump **** it's pants? I do not know. I will also pull the distributor and check the oil pump shaft and see if it is broke. I do not believe it would run if the oil shaft was broke???? I do not know......
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it will run,it wil just be killing itself.
 
I will be replacing whatever is necessary to make this engine run like new again. It was running really well before I tore it down but did not have enough off the line. Those smog heads had to go. I really didn't get to drive it much since the timing chain, lifters, pushrods, camshaft were replaced and did not open it up at all but for the short period I did run it, It ran really well and had more noticeable power off the line and had a nice idle with the new cam. I figure that even if I end up spending a few hundred dollars more into the lower end, then I will have a rebuilt engine. I do not want to have to tear into this engine after this go around anytime in the future and so this is why I have come to this decision. I may look into getting a new or reground camshaft also. I will be replacing the piston rings, rear main seal. Water pump is less than a year old. Intake manifold is Edelbrock performer and carb is recently purchased Edelbrock 600 CFM
 
Geez bad luck sucks... but Im glad you going about it the right way. I would be beside myself if I to remove my engine to do something like that but you sound like you're OK with it.... lol

The oil pan can be removed while the engine is in the car. I have removed it in cuda to fix rear main seal leak.
 
I don't have much of a choice at this point. Since I ran it with no oil pressure I am not taking any chances and just tearing it down and replacing anything and everything that could have got damaged. If I was just to pull the pan and put in a new pump and shaft and pick up tube, I would not be able to see if there was any internal damage. So I got the hoist coming in the A.M and the stand and I'll just pull it so I can fully inspect it and replace any worn or damaged parts.
 
Well the GOOD side to this is, it did not BREAK. It could have been way worse.
 
dustermaniac said:
Me too. I will know more tomorrow by the end of the day.
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Sorry for Your 'hitch in the get along'...

I would like to add one other point of inspection,
As You are pulling the engine (imho the correct path of repair),

CK this little 'oft overlooked problem child '...
The oil pump drive bushing , I won't bore You with My horror
stories on this... generic pic below.

View attachment 247882
 
Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I had similar problems with my fresh 273 and a bad oil filter. You're doing the right thing by pulling it and checking it out. It's better to be safe than sorry and you'll know it was done right. toolman
 
dustermaniac said:
Just ordered new crankshaft and camshaft bearings. Engine is coming out tomorrow and going on the engine stand to be operated on. I will update as I progress. It will be a slow process and I may need to ask a lot of questions so please cut me some slack. I do have a friend who will be helping me in this process but I may still need to ask many questions.
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I think I'd leave the cam bearing installation to a good machine shop unless you have the proper tools and expertise to do the job. I agree it's better to pull the engine and do the repairs on a stand. Trying to do all that under the car can be frustrating and messy.
 
Well i slept on this last night and awoke this morning and decided to pull the pan and see what's happening. The removal of the pan was not as cumbersome as it seems. So the verdict..... pulled the pump and pickup tube, inspected the tube, there were some kind of almost like fibers (not sure of what you could classify it as, but looked and felt like cloth almost) No metal in the pan at all!!! I cleaned and backflushed the screen and got all the crap out of it and bought a new pump and shaft and oil pan gasket set and cleaned the pan and installed the new parts and buttoned it back up. Started the engine and oil pressure is back!!!!! Car is running strong and there does not seem to be any sign of any major damage internally. Not sure where the crap came from. I will be changing the oil again tomorrow and again next week to flush out the block. I always changed my oil as soon as every 1000 miles before this. All I can assume is the crud in the pickup looks like it may have come from an oil filter. Fiber like material that plugged up the screen. Old pump was seized. Took it apart, no metal in it at all. I will be monitoring the oil pressure like a hawk and will drop the pan and check the screen in a couple weeks to see if there is any further accumulation. I got VERY lucky on this one. Engine is running strong again. Still need to reset timing but I was very lucky. Thank You Mopar Gods!!!!
 
dustermaniac said:
Well i slept on this last night and awoke this morning and decided to pull the pan and see what's happening. The removal of the pan was not as cumbersome as it seems. So the verdict..... pulled the pump and pickup tube, inspected the tube, there were some kind of almost like fibers (not sure of what you could classify it as, but looked and felt like cloth almost) No metal in the pan at all!!! I cleaned and backflushed the screen and got all the crap out of it and bought a new pump and shaft and oil pan gasket set and cleaned the pan and installed the new parts and buttoned it back up. Started the engine and oil pressure is back!!!!! Car is running strong and there does not seem to be any sign of any major damage internally. Not sure where the crap came from. I will be changing the oil again tomorrow and again next week to flush out the block. I always changed my oil as soon as every 1000 miles before this. All I can assume is the crud in the pickup looks like it may have come from an oil filter. Fiber like material that plugged up the screen. Old pump was seized. Took it apart, no metal in it at all. I will be monitoring the oil pressure like a hawk and will drop the pan and check the screen in a couple weeks to see if there is any further accumulation. I got VERY lucky on this one. Engine is running strong again. Still need to reset timing but I was very lucky. Thank You Mopar Gods!!!!
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What filter do you use?
 
I have used different filters from STP to Fram to Royal Purple to K&N. I usually try to get a good brand name filter but have experimented with the more expensive ones from time to time. Not sure of which one may have failed. I will stick to Fram from this point on however.
 
dustermaniac said:
I have used different filters from STP to Fram to Royal Purple to K&N. I usually try to get a good brand name filter but have experimented with the more expensive ones from time to time. Not sure of which one may have failed. I will stick to Fram from this point on however.
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I use WIX Filters from O'Reillys or the same one From NAPA called NAPA Blue. They are a lot of better filter than Fram. I have had Fram Filters collapse on me. But I am glad you have your Duster running again
 
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