02 no oil pressure! please help!

[duramaximiszer]

I don't know what to say but i went and started my truck the other day it was -30 celcius out very cold it was not plugged in as it was on the front street and it clacked a bit and then really quited down after running for 5 seconds and i put the truck in the garage to warm it up for the next morning so i could have a nice warm truck to go to work with.
i go and start it in the morning and as soon as i get out of the garage i noticed that the CHECK ENGINE OIL PRESSURE LIGHT is on the info center so i look to the oil pressure guage and 0 oil pressure so i put it back in the garage and shut it off. the next step i do is take the oilfilter off and start the truck for a quick 2-5 sec and no oil comes out of the filter housing. so now i am wondering do i have a oil pump that failed or ?.....
please any input on this problem would be greatly appreciated!

[More Power]

Bummer dude! :(

Assuming there is oil in the engine, this may be an indication of a busted oil pump (due to cold & viscous oil - probably a sheared key in the oil pump drive gear). However, this is the first I've heard of a situation like yours...

I know some have started their Duramax at -20F, without plugging it in, but it's just not a good thing to do.

Don't run the engine.... till after you've discovered what's going on with the oil pump.

Jim

[Mark Rinker]

MP, does the block heater have any warming effect on the oil in the pan?

I have been wondering this during our recent cold snap - hoping that it won't turn into an oil pump key snap!!!

[carco]

Mark, I would say that the block heater would have no affect upon oil temp, or @ most very little affect. Now, after start up, the oil may pick up heat a little quicker as oil is pumped and runs over block heater warmed areas of the engine returning to the sump. MHO. bob.........

[David Proske]

Depending on how long you plug it in...but after having it plugged in for a while reach under the truck and put yer hand on the oil pan. It will be warmer than the ambient temp.

[Kennedy]

You won't get much heat in the oil from the block heater. This is why I use an oil pan heater.


As for the low oil psi, it's hard to say. Could be a sender issue. What grade of oil are you running?

[Diagonal Brace]

I agree with Kennedy here. In really cold temps a pan heater can be an engine saver. In your situation I would not even start engine again until your problem is resolved; you will only do more damage. Do these engines have a history of failed oil pumps and or drives? I live in Winterpeg and know about our cold conditions. I use the lightest viscosity oil allowed and always plug in. It seems that the block heater does help oil viscosity. Let us know how you make out.

[More Power]

Depending on how long the block heater is used, the entire engine and oil will be warmer than ambient temp. I've been driving a diesel pickup since 1986, here in Montana. The block heater is essential... but still, I've not heard of anyone damaging an oil pump from cold starting a GM 6.2/6.5/6.6.

The Duramax uses an oil pump that is gear driven from the front of the engine, and this engine develops a lot of oil pressure when cold. If it is the oil pump that's bad, the failure may have been due to a marginal (somewhat defective) part to begin with.

Jim

[Kennedy]

I guess I would first look to verify oil psi with a good mechanical gauge.

If there is no psi, there is some PI from GM about the interrelation of #4 cam bearing, turbocharger failures, and locked up/broken oil pumps.

[ronniejoe]

He said that he took the filter off and ran the engine with no oil out the filter mount. That says that the pump is not pumping for one reason or another.

Oil pumps don't often just fail. Usually something gets sucked up into the pump to lock it up and shear the drive. I doubt that high oil viscosity from cold oil could do the job.

Does anyone know what the oil pump housing is made of on the Duramax? The older pumps are made from cast iron which has a thermal expansion coefficient similar to that of the steel gears. If it is aluminum, differential expansion of the housing vs. the gears could have caused a lock-up. However, the typical clearances in automotive pumps are usually big enough that this is not a factor. Plus, the gears can usually "machine" away a little aluminum and keep on running.

I've seen this happen in tight clearance oil pumps for helicopter engines where the housing was made from magnesium. Cold soak to -40F would completely eliminate the room temperature build clearance.

The little running that you've done with no oil pressure has not likely caused any meaningful damage. However, do not run it anymore until you know what is happening.

[Kennedy]

Ohhh, I missd that. Somehow I though that he was going to do this not reporting results.

There have been oil pump failures and they appear to be turbo failure related.

[SoTxPollock]

duramaximizer, if your not over the mileage warranty, I'd get a dealer to load it on a truck and take it in. Like others said just starting and stopping the engine a couple of times won't do any damage, but its not worth it to ruin the engine because of a failed oil pump. The pump is on the front of the engine and takes a bit of effort to get to. Unless the heat in your garage is awful good you probably don't want to be tearing down an engine in these temperatures anyway.

[duramaximiszer]

AN update on my no oil pressure duramax! after i pulled the oil filter to check if any oil would come out(no oil came out) i pulled the oil pressure switch and the housing its is screwed into out and gave it a two sec run to see if it comes out of there and nothing! so i pulled the lower pan and the pick-up is free and clear! so no it looks like i will be pulling the front diff then the front cover then the trans to get to some rear upper pan bolts.... oh my god i can not believe how much work there is here to get to this pump!!! well i will do a little at a time as i do have it in my heated garage.

i was looking at the online shop manual i have and it is hard to tell but does any body now the exact routing of the oil from the pick-up. from what i understand it goes directly to the pump straight to the filter then to the rest of the motor galaries right or not?

thanks for the input guys now is there any volunteers that want to help me with this job? ha ha ha
oh and for the guy who mentioned winterpeg i live in the same place winnipeg.

[mbmax]

I am a Winnipegger also and had this problem several years ago on my 02 dmax. It happened under milder conditions and intermittenly.The dealer replaced sending unit. All's well.I hope this helps.