> I am interested in the thread about oil pump failures...what are the
> symptoms? (other than no oil pressure).
My failure was certainly sudden and dramatic ... driving down the freeway
when I noticed an increase in engine noise. Quick check of the gauges
confirmed no oil pressure, so I shut down immediately and coasted to the
side. But everything was fine until then.
> I have noticed a "clunk,
> clunk" sound when the engine is cold and under load, I would normally
> link that to bearing failure (imminent), but that does not seem to be
> the case, it goes away with more RPM and the engine runs very
> smoothly at normal speeds.
>
> So I am beginning to wonder if this is a pre-cursor to oil pump
> failure...any and all ideas accepted.
I doubt it's impending oil pump failure, but don't know what else to
suggest. A rod or main bearing knock can sometimes do that right at
startup, or it might be something stranger like piston slap. I've run
engines for a long time with badly worn bearings ... they usually make bad
noises for many years before the bearings actually fail. In fact, it's
unusual for the bearings themselves to ever fail, usually what happens is
that the impact of the crank slamming into the worn bearing on every stroke
breaks something else, like a rod or the crank itself.
Randall
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