Finished Recent Top end work, few issues remain

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Sgtduckyboy

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I had a stuck lifter. Decided to go in and figure it out on my own and replace what I could. found the lifter, number6, replaced all lifters, honed out the one in 6 that was stuck. replaced rods, oil pump, water pump, cam sensor, oil presssure sensor(it wasnt working the last few years), upgraded the cam and valve springs.
upon first start up, ran ok, nothing weird occured. It did die a couple of times after accel and letting off the gas. I replaced oil the next day, all new coolant as well was added upon rebuild.

what I am experience now: sometimes at idle, the rpm's are unsteady, like its going to die, this occurs once warm. oil pressure at cold is near 40 and at any rpm above idle, cold or warm, its at least 30psi. but when its real warm, i can get a 'oil pressure low' warning. this is freaking me out a little. i do want to explain, i put in the melling 295HV pump. i didnt however, realize there was a 'dimple' on the larger of the two gears and not sure if that is facing in or out. I dont feel this would be an issue since it is working, but I figure, i have a 50% chance its correct. I can not find out if having it in wrong changes anything with the oil pressure or performance of the pump.

as far as the unsteady RPM's at idle, i feel this may be some sort of vacuum leak around the intake. I was thinking, spray some WD40 at it while warm and idling and see if any of it gets sucked in and kills the motor.

i want to add, this engine is running smooth, no noises, just hear the injectors now. I am very pleased with the appearance that this was done correctly. power is great on the low end, due to cam change and acceleration is perfect, no noisy valves/lifters etc.

one thing i read was about the cam bearings, but those guys seemed to be talking in circles so i wasnt sure how to read their information.

one thing I'd like to know, is the oil path this way: oil is sucked from the back of the pan , by the pump in the front, it then goes through the block, back to the oil filter, then it goes up the block to the oil pressure switch, then into the block to all the oil ports/paths for cam/lifters/crank/pistons etc. if this is correct, how can the cam bearings affect the oil pressure at idle, only when warm? wouldnt the pressure be high, then the pressure relief, back at the oil pump,would bypass , thus not lowering the pressure to below the value the pressure relief is set at?
 

02Lightning

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I replaced an oil pump one time because of low oil pressure at idle when warm, it didn’t fix my problem. I was told the cam bearings were bad. How was your oil pressure before? I would put a mechanical gauge on it and see where the pressure is at.
 

YukonandtheHOE

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If you knocked a cam bushing out of alignment just a little it will bleed oil pressure out . But 10psi for every 1000 rpm is the still safe limit for low oil
 

02Lightning

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I also wouldn't think you could change cam shafts without a tune.
 

rockola1971

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Did you do a idle relearn? I would get a oil pressure gauge hooked up and monitor the pressure. Why on earth would you stick a new cam into used cam bearings? That is false economy and may have caused you more problems than you know.
 
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Sgtduckyboy

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I replaced an oil pump one time because of low oil pressure at idle when warm, it didn’t fix my problem. I was told the cam bearings were bad. How was your oil pressure before? I would put a mechanical gauge on it and see where the pressure is at.

Thanks for the info. I've heard about that Cam bearing issue. Like I said, the oil pressure sensor wasnt working before this work and supposedly put on a higher volume pump too.
 
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Sgtduckyboy

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If you knocked a cam bushing out of alignment just a little it will bleed oil pressure out . But 10psi for every 1000 rpm is the still safe limit for low oil

My pressure is fine as long as i have a few hundred RPM's over idle going. based on the dash guage. I dont hear anything at all, during any rpm's , cold or warm.
 
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