OK... So my max has been down for a while, as in engine stripped down to the cylinder block. Got it back together this weekend but I have an oil light on. OK, i figured that it was probably just a faulty sensor. Then I looked in the oil filler cap and thank goodness I lubed the cams well when re-assembling everything, cause they were bone dry. So my question is, what are the possible causes of this??? My guess is a bad oil pump. Engine only has 110k miles on it. Seems kinda early for an oil pump to go out, no? Thanks in advance for any help the org can offer!!!

 

My question is why did you tear everything down to the block with only 100,000 miles?

 

Long story short...thought i had bent a valve. Any suggestions on the oil issue?

 

Bump. Anybody have any ideas?

 

Bump. I am still looking for any and all possible solutions to the problem. Any mechanics out there have any ideas as to what the problem could possibly be?

 

Perhaps the oil pick up tube didn't seal properly and is sucking air, preventing oil from getting picked up and circulated.
Same concept as getting a crack or hole in your drink straw.

 

OK. That is something I will also check out. The thought also occurs to me that if I take out the oil pressure switch and just screw in a pressure gauge, that should tell me pretty quickly if my oil pump is bad right?

 

It will give you the pressure. May indicate a bad pump but IMO does not confirm such diagnosis. There may be another reason.
For example, no oil in the oil pan, your going to read zero oil pressure. Does not mean pump is not working.

 

I know for sure that there is plenty of oil in the engine. Any other reasons that I wouldn't be getting oil up to the cams? Also, the oil is not moving from the pan. I say that because normally, if I check the oil when the engine is running, oil will be all over the dipstick. This time it never moved. There is also a slight rattle on the front side of the engine.

 

That sounds exactly like a pickup issue. May be the oil pump as well, but that pickup is a key component to engine oil delivery and if it's not doing it's job then you will end up with a very dry top end. I would pull her apart and check that pickup.

-Nathan

 

Well, I found the problem. Dropped the oil pan and took off the pickup line per your suggestion. The pickup line itself was fine, but there were pieces of the oil pump gears in the pickup tube (most likely also the source of my rattle). Pretty sure that is the source of my problem. Going to have to re-pull the timing cover today and change the oil pump. Hopefully that will finally solve my issue!

 

Ah, that's not too bad. Just put a little rtv on it. It'll be fine. Haha.

Anyways, glad you found the problem mate.

-Nathan

 

This is by far the worst job I have had to do on the max!!! The only way to do it without pulling the engine is to (aside from just the pure joy of having to pull the timing cover) remove the cross member, then drop the upper oil pan.

If anyone out there is replacing an engine, do yourself a HUGE favor, and add the oil pump to the list of things to replace on a 6th gen motor. It costs less than $50 (I got mine for $31 new from Nissan), and will keep you from pulling out your hair.

 

This only confirms for me that any time you do a rebuild to replace the oil pump.
My 3rd gen VG turbo currently has a bad crank bearing because I didn't replace my oil pump when completely rebuilding the low mileage engine.
Yup, lessons learned!