Oil pump broken , so what ?

[Eblood]

Hi guys,

I just drove my Challenger 250 miles After I bought it.
Last Time just after cranked up the engine I noticed the oil pressure was quite low.
Oil level was good so I decided to check the oil pump. It appears this pump is in a very sad state. What happened to do that and what to do now ?

[1 Wild R/T]

Just a guess but I suspect the pump sat with water in it....  Possibly before it was bolted to the engine....  Anything that chewed up those rotors that much should have locked the rotors & broken the drive....  So I think they were chewed up before.... And the rust could easily cause the scoring you show on the body.....

After the pump was run it should have oil in it which means it wouldn't rust....

Oil enters the pump from the pickup tube/strainer but it's filtered when it leaves the pump.... That fact may have saved the engine....  Two ways to go... Pull the pan & inspect the bearings.... (the right way) Or bolt a pump on it & roll the dice.... If you have good oil pressure with a new pump you might get lucky.....

[Chryco Psycho]

The nice part about big blocks is the pump is outside the pan , so yes you could just install a new pump , I would recommend a Melling HP pump ,
at least then you will know what the oil pressure is with a new pump but as above the brgs could be in bad shape also so pulling the pan & checking those could be as important , the brgs could be swapped out without completely rebuilding the engine if nessisary but what is the rest of the engine like ? you will be able to look up the bores from the bottom with the pan off , you can also do a compression test before doing anything else right now

[kathyscuda]

hate to say but you should  pull that motor and give it a good look internally before you cause more damage.
something is coming apart in there.

[JS29]

Drain the oil in a clean container, look to see if you can find metal shavings in it. you could cut your oil filter apart and look for particles as well.    

[Chryco Psycho]

Might have just been a well used pump put on the engine could be OK

[Eblood]

thanks a lot guys !

I will pull the oil pan off and check the bore from the bottom.
Do you think I have to check all of them or one of them could give a good idea.
What is weird is that I found no metal shavings in the oil and in the pan..maybe in the filter.
Thanks for your contribution , I keep you updated

[1 Wild R/T]

If your gonna pull the pan pull a few bearings...  I doubt you'll see much as far as the pistons/cylinders.... You'll see the bottom of the piston but those always look great.... You won't see much of the skirts or the bores....  And the bearings are more likely to be damaged plus they are effected by oil pressure the pistons aren't....

[RUNCHARGER]

Yes: The bottom of the oil pan should give you a good idea how clean the engine is. If there is any doubt then pull a rod or two. Hopefully it doesn't escalate but it's better to know right now. It might be a good idea to pull the valve covers and look for a hooped camshaft as well.

[dodj]

If it were me, I'd change the pump and run it.

[Eblood]

Shall i need to prime the oil pump or change the pump and crank the Motor is sufficient ?

[1 Wild R/T]

Shall i need to prime the oil pump or change the pump and crank the Motor is sufficient ?

Big blocks have the oil pump higher than the oil so they can be difficult to get a prime on..... I prefer to open the pump & lightly coat the rotors with vaseline...

[Chryco Psycho]

Often all you need to do is coat the rotors with lubriplate to get enough suction to prime the pump

[Eblood]

Do you think the damages we can see in oil pump could occured when the pump IS not well greased ?

[Chryco Psycho]

NO
The grease will help seal the pump to pull in new oil .
The rest of the time the oil is submerged in oil & will be protected by the oil , there had to be debris going through the pump at some point to cause the damage seen