No oil pressure - '02 Duramax

[torque]

On the way home from an errand a really ugly message flashed on the dash - NO OIL PRESSURE! I checked the gage and it said zip. I pulled over immediately and looked (underneath) and listened. No leaks and no strange noises. I figured it was probably a sensor and since I was only 4 miles from the dealer, I drove there (very carefully) and left it for the next day.
The dealer thought it was a sensor too until they checked the actual pressure and found zip. I haven't been able to talk to the guy with the greasy hands yet, but I'm told the oil pump failed - the nut backed off, or something like that. Also, they checked the crank and rod bushings and found no damage.
The latest is: the new pump arrived, but it came with a left hand threaded nut (the new style, so it tightens in the direction of rotation), not a right hand thread like mine. So, we're waiting some more.
Anybody heard of problems like this? I'd appreciate hearing about any problems after a fix like this since this is a major disassasembly/assembly.

Good news is that I'm still under the 100,000 mi/ $100 copay warranty.
Bad news is that this is 2 for 2 - my '82 6.2L oil pump failed too. The relief valve on the pump stuck open.

[More Power]

I can remember hearing a while ago about a Duramax that lost oil pressure. I'm not sure if the cause was posted or not. It would appear DMAX changed the thread direction to counter the possibility of this happening. Most of the hardware used to assemble these engines is tightened robotically. It does eliminate more of the human factor, but gotchas could happen once in a while that might produce an improper bolt torque (not saying this situation might be one of them). The good news is that the problem you experienced isn't a common one.

Thanks for letting us know.

Jim

[The Lurch]

When I test drove my '01 Duramax, the pressure said 0 for about 30 seconds. The dealer also thought it was a bad OP sender. After they replaced it, it still did the same thing. They took the oil pan off and found a bunch of metal.
The Duramax was just new enough that they didn't even try to figure out what went wrong at the dealership. So, they boxed up the old motor, sent it to GM, and replaced it with a brand new motor.
Perhaps my Duramax did the same thing as yours, but we may never know.