2.2 Turbo I oil problem

[Nitro Neon]

HELP! I'm working on a neighbors Lancer. Put in a rebuilt 2.2. He drove it 500-600 miles. Now it has no oil pressure. He called the rebuilder and that guy said the oil pump was put in wrong. Rebuilder said the pump is not lined up with the distributor. I say the rebuilder is full of BS. I am positive the pump was seated aginst the block before putting the bolt in. I did NOT pull it up to the block with the bolt. The distributor dropped right in. I did NOT pull it down with the clamp/bolt. Any suggestions from anyone here?????

Jeff B.

[Thunderstruck]

well, since the gear on the oil pump is what drives the distributor on a 2.2 I'd say the issue isn't the oil pump installed improperly.

Steve

[Nitro Neon]

Yup, my feelings exactly. We dropped the pan and pulled the pump out late last night. Pump looks just fine from the outside. As soon as I loosened the pump-to-block bolts, oil drained from the pump body out the pickup tube; that tells me that the pump was sealed to the block and was working. I'll let Mr. Rebuilder take it apart. He told neighbor guys WIFE that we did something wrong and has been standing behind his story - until Mr. Neighbor got on the phone. Then the story has been changing ever since. (Wait until he sees me!)

Couple of rods are a little loose, little bearing material in the pan. Damn. Car owner(neighbor guy) hauled the pump to a guy at a local shop and that guy said he didn't see anything wrong with it either. My feeling is that the rebuilder is going to try to say that I didn't get the pump and distributor lined up(that's where his story to Mrs. Neighbor started last week). That'd be pretty impossible since the pump is driven by the (counter?)shaft, whatever it is called. I say the rebuilder owes my neighbor another 2.2. Guess we'll go talk to him tomorrow night. I wish I never had volunteered for this job(thanks to my wife, sarcastically speaking). Hes finally mad about it. However, he thinks he may never get it running again - ordered a new Durango on Saturday. Wish I had his money! Sorry for the rambling!

[PRO]

DONT GIVE UP THERES AN INHERENT PROBLEM IN 2.2 S. I DISCOVERED MINE WHILE GOING UPHILL UNDER BOOST AND NOTICED THE OIL PRESSURE DROPPED TO ZERO!!!!!!! I COULD BACK OFF THE THROTTLE AND GET GOOD PSI BACK GO FIGURE RIGHT? SO I CHANGE OIL AND FILTER AND ITS ALL BETTER... FOR AWHILE THEN IT DOES IT AGAIN SO I CHANGE OIL AND FILTER AGAIN AND ITS ALL BETTER AGAIN FOR AWHILE THEN (6000 MI) THE OIL PUMP FAILS COMPLETELY. DO A VOLUME TEST YOU KNOW NO OIL FILTER AND NO SPARK MAYBE PULL PLUGS SO THERES NO LOAD ON THE BEARINGS AND AT CRANKING SPEED IT SHOULD BLOW OIL EVERYWHERE, GOOD HARD STRONG FLOW ,IF IT DOESNT YOU MIGHT HAVE A STUCK RELIEF SPRING IN THE PUMP WHICH WILL DUMP ALL THE OIL RIGHT BACK IN THE PAN. ANOTHER MORE COMMON HIGHLY HIDDEN CAUSE CAN BE IF THE PUMP IS GOOD BUT NO OIL PSI IS THE FITTING IN THE SIDE OF THE BLOCK NEAR THE NO, 4 CYL WHERE THE OIL PRESSURE SENDER GOES IF IT IS OVERTIGHTENED OR THREADED IN TO FAR IT WILL CUT OFF ALL OIL PSI, TEFLON TAPE APPLIED TO THE FIITING WILL KEEP IT FROM THREADING IN TOO FAR. YOU CAN REMOVE THE FIITTING AND CRANK IT OBSERVING FOR OIL PSI. HOPE THIS HELPS ...PRO...

[Nitro Neon]

Problem solved. I missed something most people would also miss. Backing up a little, I put 5 full quarts of oil in at first start up. No problems with pressure until the owner changed oil. Per the book/owner's manual etc, he put in 4 quarts. Immediate intermittent pressure problems, like going around fast corners, on a hill etc...

We finally noticed that the pickup tube appears to be bent up. Oil starvation! With 5 quarts the oil level was high enough to cover the pickup, though.

Next week, new pickup, check the rod bearings and the crank. Will replace the rod bearings if the crank isn't wasted and put it back together.(If the crank is junk - push it out of the garage until spring)The owner took delivery of a new Durango last Thursday so this suddenly isn't his #1 priority.

How the pickup got bent is anyone's guess. The previous original owner must have "curbed" it at some point and trashed an oil pan and bent the pickup. This would also explain why it was way overfilled with oil when my neighbor bought it. He changed oil after buying it and lost the first engine a day or two later.