Trailblazer SS

[DanStokes]

Oh Crap!!!!

We had it idling to get the thermostat open and the air out of the cooling system when we heard a sort of "THUMP" sound - not too loud. Then we heard a tapping noise that wasn't there before. When I checked the gages there was zero oil pressure. This was the same issue that the old engine had. Anyone know if this is a common issue on the 6.0 LS? I have yet to look up what the oil pump drive looks like - if it was a SBF I'd be looking into a broken drive rod.

Casey will contact the yard where he got the engine (it has a 2 year warranty) and see what they'll do about it. I've said I could do a second one in 1/2 the time and I may have a chance to find out about that. Still, annoying.

I have a GoPro of the engine running nicely but I guess none of that matters now.

Dan

[Dan Barlow]

I really hope she's not messed up but the low oil pressure .........bummer . Did it have oil pressure to start with ? The pump get primed ? These are rhetorical questions .

[DanStokes]

Yep. It was running 80ish PSI (so it had prime) until it made The Sound and all of a sudden dropped to zero. I wonder if the pickup fell out but I don't know what that looks like in there as I just bolted in the new engine. It's up to the engine supplier to decide how they're going to make it right.

Dan

[Russell]

I think the oil pump is on the crank no shaft like sbf.

[CTX-SLPR]

Pretty sure it's a gerotor setup on the crank snout. The Buick 3800 units I'm used to are driven by a key on the crank that also indexes the balancer but I'm pretty sure the Gen III/IV engines don't have a key for the balancer so no idea what drives the pump and if it can fail.

[DanStokes]

Since my last post I found an on-line tutorial for the oil pump and it IS on the front of the engine behind the timing cover. However, it seems that the LS also can have issues with the oil pump pickup but either way it's the responsibility of the engine supplier to make it right so we'll see what they'll do.

Dan

[silver_bullet]

Wishing you guys the best of luck! Hang in there!

[SuperBuickGuy]

My 190k 6.0 has lower then wanted oil pressure. They seem to last about 180k before needing replacement. It's under the timing cover. Expect to replace the timing chain too. Tho at this point I think you'll be getting another motor. Sux

[DanStokes]

Not a big deal. I know how to do it now. The rough part is that Casey is running up a fortune in rental car expenses. I'll get 'er done, though.

Dan

[fabricatordave]

update?????????????

[Deaf Bob]

update?????????????

I think today (thursday) ole Dan is picking up the replacement engine...

[DanStokes]

Yep. It's still in the back of the truck. This one will need a bit of work as they didn't have another "good" engine - this one somehow had the front of the left cylinder head broken right in the front at the valve cover rail (maybe a forklift incident?). They said they ran it and it was OK and I can see where you could but in service it would puke oil all over. I'll post a pic tomorrow. So I'll move a head from one of the other engines to this one then pull the pan and try to assure that the oil pickup is OK. On line folks caution that the oil pump pickup O-ring can be a problem so I'll check that out and also scrub the pan clean. I'm back and fourth on changing out the oil pump.

Dan

[Dan Barlow]

while I can understand watching costs , especially with the rental fees racking up but if your going to pull the pan anyway .........buy the pump .

[Deaf Bob]

Putting in a new pump is cheap insurance... Since they seem...iffy?

[DanStokes]

while I can understand watching costs , especially with the rental fees racking up but if your going to pull the pan anyway .........buy the pump .

The pump isn't in the pan on an LS. It lives under the front cover right on the nose of the crankshaft. The reason I hesitate is that it involves opening another area of the engine but I may go for it.

Dan