Well I might not be getting my truck back as soon as I thought. The 0 oil pressure is still not resolved. The fuel pump went bad and pumped about 4 gallons of gas into my engine. The bearings on the rod caps aren't that bad but they are scratched. However the camshaft bearings are likely leaking oil where it doesn't need to be so its not getting oil to the lifters. The shop put some heavier than usual oil in the engine and started it up but still couldn't get any oil pressure. Should I go after the maker of the fuel pump. The one on the truck came from AutoZone. I talked with them and they told me that I can file a claim with the manufacturer of the fuel pump for reimbursement. The catch is I have to send them a bill showing that the work has been paid for in full. I don't have $1500 to put up to have a rebuilt engine put in. Even if I did I can't be sure that the manufacturer will reimburse me or not.
Has anybody ever filed a claim like this and got reimbursed. I originally took it to the shop to have the tranny rebuilt and its gone way past just the tranny as the problem.

 

anybody at all ever had any problems like this. i need some help here.

 

biggreen4x4, I may have missed a previous post by you. What has been done to the enigne.

Or what all has went on here? What led to this?

Was the fuel pump change all that has been done?

 

from what i know the bottom end of the engine has had new bearings put in by the last owner along with a moroso oil pump. he says he replaced the fuel pump too. i myself replaced the spark plugs and the fuel pump since it wasn't putting out enough fuel. however i didn't think to analyze the oil for gas. if i did i might still have a decent engine. but one way or another the fuel pump was pumping gas into the oil.

 

I'm still not clear whether you bought a new fuel pump that was bad from the box, or the truck came with one that went/had gone bad. If it's old, then, parts do fail, and I don't think that the manufacturers will cover it. If you just put it on, and it dumped fuel in your engine immediately, then you have a legitimate complaint (but they still may not do anything more than give you another pump). It may end up being an expensive lesson in bad parts (or life with an older vehicle)...

 

The shop belives the pump I bought is defective. They put some gas down the inlet side and pumped it. Gas eventually came out the outlet side with a few pumps but it was running down the cam actuator. So it shows evidence of being defective.

 

Sounds like they owe you at least a pump, and if they had a lot of integrity, an engine. I'd try calling or writing the manufacturer, and see what they will do. I don't know if there is a legal requirement for them to fix it, without involving a bunch of lawyers that cost more than a Shazaam rebuild ...

 

biggreen4x4, And you had oil pressure before the fuel pump episode?

Has the, no oil pressure been verified with a mehanical gauge?

No oil pressure, hot or cold?

Not implying anything, just trying to get a better picture.

 

Before the truck was towed to the shop i noticed the gauge not reading. And yes the 0 oil pressure has been verified with a mechanical gauge. The oil pressure is at 0 when cold. So the components have not expanded yet. The shop won't run it long enough to let it get hot. The risk of seizing the engine is even a risk even i wouldn't take. At the moment it seems to be the old pump which was made by Carter. I called Federal mogul and they can't verify the age and neither can the previous owner. The newer AutoZone pump held about 50psi when the shop put the air hose to it so it seems to be ok.
In other news a rebuilt long block will cost me about $850.

 

biggreen4x4, Are you now talking about the oil pump or still the fuel pump.

Something doesn't sound right here. Has there been any other investigation done as far as checking other possible causes for no oil pressure? Washed bearings and all, I would think you should have some sort of oil pressure on cold start up, anyway.

If you have absolutley 0 pounds at start up, the bearings would have to be about totally destroyed. I have seen many of these 351M-400 motors with the cam bearings flaking away and the rod and main bearings worn way into the brass and deeply scratched and still have some sort of oil pressure, at least while cold.

It sounds more like to me its just not getting any oil pumped through the engine for some reason. I would be checking the oil pump, pump driveshaft, pump pick up, oil gallery plugs on the cam, front and rear of the block.

Has anyone hand turned the oil pump to see if anything is getting to the top of the motor?

I have personally seen fuel pumps dump a ton of fuel into the engine crankcase and not totally destroy the motor.

I would be doing some other checking before investing in a new motor.

 

My 351 had 180K on it and it lost pressure pretty suddenly, but it still had pressure when cold. Went to 0 when warmed up. Although it still ran fine, I knew its days were numbered, and I rebuilt a 400 and replaced it. You do have a chance of replacing the oil pump with a higher pressure one, which is a bit of a pain, but it may not help much if the bearings are really trashed. It may buy you some time while you save up some cash, though.

 

I agree with superdave. Even a ton of fuel in the oil shouldn't cause a complete loss of all oil pressure after the oil is changed.

I had a gal with a 440 in a Fury that drove short trips (2 blocks) to work and back home. The first time it came in because it wouldn't start we found about 8 quarts over in the oil (gas) because it wasn't getting warm and the fuel was washing down the cylinder walls. And the plugs were fouled. An oil change and a fresh set of plugs and it ran fine. Told her she needed to warm the car up more. Trouble was she wouldn't listen and about every month and a half in the winter she would be back for the same.

The point is, even with a lot of fuel in the oil you are still going to have a liquid film for the bearings to ride on. Granted, it's a very thin film and wouldn't be good for a long time but it shouldn't cause the problems you are having. I'd be looking for some type of mechanical failure in the oiling system; oil pump, (pressed on pump gears have been known to come loose), clogged pickup, pump drive shaft twisted or missing oil gallery plug(s).
Has anyone tried pulling the distributor and driving the oil pump without running the engine? (Like when you prime the oil system.)
Also, if you don't have pressure cold, it won't get any better warm.
Just my 2¢
Good luck
Greg

 

they'll just send you in your way with a new pump but you'll have to do some real haggling for them to pay for the damage it did, usually the warranty just covers the part not any damage it does.

 

biggreen4x4, I may be stepping out on a limb here, but there is a real good chance you can save this motor. It should take much more than a one time incident to ruin the motor, especially since you shut it down and towed it.

I would forget about the fuel pump for now and find out why its not getting oil to circulate. Your gas may have broke loose some crud and is stopping up your oil flow, or it could be one of the other things I mentioned to check.

Has your shop checked to see if the oil pump sump screen is plugged up?



As I said above; One instance I witnessed, was a 350 C----y, I saw the owner pull the dipstick out of it ( and walk away from the vehicle of course ) and light it with a cigarette lighter. It burned well!! The dipstick reading was so high, it had no less than a gallon of gas in the crankcase.

He replaced the fuel pump, changed the oil & filter out a couple times, and it was fine.

 

I'm with superdave. Try the filter first (easy and cheap), and if no improvement, go for the screen on the oil pump. Of course, if you do that, I'd replace the pump since the hard part is getting to it. The bearings may have been shot before all this happened, but you won't know until you try a few fixes. Are you doing the work, or is it still at a garage? Either at home or at a garage, a new engine costs more than the bare block, so keep that in mind.
Let us know...
sfh