Clevo sump removal in-chassis

[gerg 10,871]

Ok Clevo heads... I've had enough of this fucking oil pump playing silly buggers on cold mornings and want to bin it for a proper one. Anyone out there done a sump removal without taking the engine out? Running no ancillaries except for alternator.

[Trev Vaa 1,185]

yep. easy as piss, just back off the engine mounts a bit so you can lift the motor a touch, i've done it without doing that, but its much harder.

 

oil pump just get a good brand standard volume, and you'll probably find your pickup is blocked a bit too.

[Trevor 326]

undo the engine bolts, lift the engine up about 25 - 30mm, put some good quality blocks of wood under the engine mounts, this will keep the engine up in the air, no need to disconnect anything to do with the engine, 25-30mm shouldn't hurt anything

 

Then take off the sway bar and the sump should be easy to get out

[gerg 10,871]

<br />undo the engine bolts, lift the engine up about 25 - 30mm, put some good quality blocks of wood under the engine mounts, this will keep the engine up in the air, no need to disconnect anything to do with the engine, 25-30mm shouldn't hurt anything<br /> <br />Then take off the sway bar and the sump should be easy to get out<br />

<br />Exactly what I was thinking of doing, and you've just confirmed it... Thanks mate!

[gerg 10,871]

<br />I suspect that the one in it is HV. It's a Melling so quality isn't the issue. As it came with the engine, I had no way of telling if it was HV or not, and found out the hard way... Blew a total of 4 x oil filters on startup and made a big mess on the ground each time. I suspect that the tight new engine can't handle that much flow and for a split second the relief can't deal with the excess. This spikes the system, causing all sorts of problems like the one mentioned and also pumping up the lifters, so I end up with no compression and have to try and start the engine on (maybe) 3 good cylinders while the others bleed down. Engine is only 25,000 k's old so shouldn't be much crap in the pickup... May get a surprise though

[bear351c 10,270]

Yep, done as said by the above experts.

Standard pump is plenty given the Clevo's inherrent oiling issues. Has the sump been dented? Can cause restriction between the pan and pump pick up.

[gerg 10,871]

Thanks for the advice guys I'll let you know how it all goes when I don't need the car for family duties, etc.

[gerg 10,871]

Ordered a stock Mellings from Precision, did it very late last night and was on my doorstep this arvo when I got home... That's stupidly quick!

 

Seriously can't fault these guys to date. Very efficient service.

[bear351c 10,270]

Used to buy all my engine stuff from Precision parts, good company to deal with. Reading their catalogue was like like seeing porn for the first time.

[Jacked 8]

How'd it go Gerg? And can someone explain what " pumped up lifters mean"? Cheers

[bear351c 10,270]

Oil enters the lifter through tiny holes in the body of the lifter, obviously it must come out somewhere, too. Usually, it goes through the pushrod and up to valve/rocker gear. "Pumped up" simply means that the oil is not getting in/out fast enough, and the lifter becomes "solid".

[gerg 10,871]

Ok yeah sorry here's an update:

 

It's been 3 months and the Mellings pump is performing beautifully, just as it should. I think my engine might still be a bit tight even after 30,000 k's as the pressure never drops below half even when it's hot.

 

I took the sump off exactly as described above, sway bar dropped down from chassis, blocks of timber under the mounts, and sump came off easily... well after I loosened the engine mounts from the block (they interfered with the pan rail by a bee's dick).

 

It all went back in without drama except for the curved rubber end gaskets. They seemed to be too big and I had to trim bits off so they'd fit. Shitloads of Threebond everywhere to be sure, hasn't leaked a drop since. I've had a good run with Fel-pro gaskets and this is the only hiccup thus far. Looking closely, they've got FoMoCo moulded into them!

 

The old oil pump had no markings on it so I'm assuming it's a Pr-Co-p rip-off. It had lots of scoring in the rotor and relief, (possibly from the earlier camshaft failure) but I still believe there was something wrong with the relief spring to be spiking pressure like that on startup.

 

Jacked: The lifters were pumping up due to excessive oil pressure. Think of your hydraulic lifters as tiny hydraulic cylinders that take up the clearance in your valve train. The oil is controlled by a disc valve that lets oil in as soon as the lifter sees no load, fine at normal pressure but go shoving double or triple that pressure into the oil feed port and the little valve is overcome. Then you've got unmetered oil flow pumping the lifter up and holding your valve open off its seat.

 

Probably even worse in a stock engine with low seat pressure. No valve seal = misfire. Sometimes 7 out of 8 cylinders would be dead, and I'd have to wait for them to bleed down again before starting. Not fun when you're already late for work. I know it was spiking at least double the normal pressure at times as I blew 4 oil filters off and they're rated at 200 psi.

 

So happy times now that I've used good quality bits. Unlike the bloke I bought this engine off.

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice

[gerg 10,871]

Bear you beat me to it

[bear351c 10,270]

Your explanation was better............

 

Glad to hear it's all good. Had FelPro gaskets for years, no drama's, if you're careful with them. And yeah, had to trim the rubber half moons, too.  I reckon they're alright on the day they're made, but, 2 or 3 years in a flat pack, on the back shelf of an Auto parts store, with shit piled up on top............

[PRO250 1,506]

Happy clevos always have massave oil pressure unlike holdens that never have any LOL

Good work on the no leaks I cant work upsidedown I did it to the ute a while ago but it was also leaking from the rear main so out it came

 

[Trev Vaa 1,185]

yep clevos idle around 40psi usually if they're good, glad to see its sorted dude!

[Jacked 8]

I'm in the same boat, thanks for the post and everyone for their guidance. Helped a bunch.

[gerg 10,871]

You mean you've got oil pump probs or just the bit about sump removal?

[Jacked 8]

Oil pump problems...i think. Built motor had a lot of headaches getting it to the stage of reliable and then one day lost oil pressure whilst giving it some. No weird sounds so I checked pushrods and they were moving fine so wasn't lifters like last time. Pulled pump out and opened her up and there's a few dings and scratches on the inside surfaces and the gaps between the inside star rotor and the outside are a little bigger compared to new pump. Tested the new and old one in oil and the new one holds the oil in the bore whereas the old one if your not spinning the shaft, the oil just drains back out. So I'm hoping the no pressure was due to that and not something else. Clenched AR - SE cheeks till I get her back together.

[gerg 10,871]

Shit that's no good mate. Hope it all goes smoothly for you. Looks like an exact carbon copy of my own shit fight after my first cam and lifters got totaled. Mine had rubbish lifters from the start. The gerotor oil pumps that Fords use are very efficient but any chunks of metal going through will destroy them quickly.

[Jacked 8]

Haha " shit fight " sums it up beautifully! Yeah found a small chunk of metal in the sump but don't know where it came from, looks like a quarter of a small washer.

[bear351c 10,270]

Is it Ally or steel.??

[gerg 10,871]

Dunno anything in the engine that has washers, maybe it's the retainer clip on oil pump drive shaft?

[Jacked 8]

Pretty sure it's steel. Nah not the retaining clip, that's still on. Still haven't gone for a drive yet but I did run it and pressures are all good

[Trev Vaa 1,185]

do not drive that jacked, you own the blue XC yeah?

i think your builder fucked you over bud... either that or you haven't maintained it properly...

engine out, pull it down, it could be a retaining clip off a piston pin, washer off a rocker arm, either way its not a good idea to run it.