New vvt cam installed big problem now. Please help

[John Lowak]

These head gaskets also have a specific orientation. This side up, and front.

 

[kbuskill]

Just out of curiosity, what was the original reason for pulling the engine apart?

Was it just to swap cams or was there an issue that prompted it?

 

[Brian Wilson]

The reason....i had a bad oil pump oring. Then I tore it apart and one thing led to another. I found a few pushrods with odd damage. I seen a few lifters that just didn't hold oil. And several rockers with wear. Not major damage but not perfect. Im just a do it once type and when I pulled the timing cover and seen that cam phaser, I decided it was the best time to throw a cam in it. I also bought a higher volume oil pump from melling. At first start up I had almost 60psi at idle cold. I was so happy. But now after driving it, my oil pressure is almost as low as it was before i tore it apart. Only around 10 psi at idle when hot. Keep in mind this engine only has about 40k miles on it. All the bearings look great and it doesn't knock or tick or even have piston slap. It is a very tight engine. I thought the higher volume/pressure pump helped and I changed litterally every part I took off except the heads and intake. I'm at a loss on my oil pressure. I know the oring is installed right and not pinched. I know it isn't sloppy lose tolerance in the parts, I know it isn't the oil pump or pressure valve in the pump. And I know it isn't just a bad oil pressure sensor. Also the pickup tube and strainer are new. No idea what else it could be. Also, I pulled all the plugs today, no evidence of burning antifreeze. But 3 of 4 plugs on the drivers side had oil covering the threads. I installed the correct new valve seals and my valve cover doesn't leak. Could a blown head gasket let oil into the cylinder and that cause the white smoke?

 

[sumo]

Compression test time. Also you said you deleted the rear o2 but still got codes? Did you have blackbear tune them out or maybe by chance forgot to install the tune?

 

[kbuskill]

Is the oil filter new?

Low oil pressure could be a collapsed oil filter.

Blown head gasket shouldn't cause oil to get into the cylinders since I don't believe there are any oil passages in the heads, only coolant passages. Oil should only enter the cylinder through valve seals or if it were getting past the rings. I would think the odds of oil getting in from the push rods/rockers would be very slim since it wouldn't be pressurized oil as it is draining back to the pan.

Just out of curiosity, did you clean out the intake manifold when it was off?

Its not as likely since your engine is a NON AFM engine but the AFM 5.3l's ingest a lot of oil via the PCV line and it collects and pools in the intake manifold.

Also oil usually has a blueish color when burning so if it straight up white then I would lean more toward coolant.

 

[NGAneer]

High volume oil pump worries me. I've known of a couple high volume pumps to push all the oil to the top of the motor and then have little to pull from the sump. This was on SBCs though.

It sounds like head gaskets to me. I'd pull the heads and throw some felpro MLS gaskets in there. Make sure they are oriented properly as well.

 

[kbuskill]

High volume oil pump worries me. I've known of a couple high volume pumps to push all the oil to the top of the motor and then have little to pull from the sump. This was on SBCs though.

It sounds like head gaskets to me. I'd pull the heads and throw some felpro MLS gaskets in there. Make sure they are oriented properly as well.

The HV oil pump is standard on his engine and it is also standard on AFM engines.... Just FYI

 

[Jason_S]

Have you double checked the torque on your head bolts? It may be as simple as having missed final torque on one.

 

[Brian Wilson]

New info. I cleaned everything before the install. And today I checked the antifreeze for exhaust gas (chemical method) looked good. Checked the oil for foam or high level and looked good. It was acctually alittle low which was odd because i put 6 quarts in it and 1 bottle of break in oil additive. I did compression test and each cylinder was between 165 and 175 psi. I noticed oil on my spark plugs. I looked in the intake which i just cleaned about a week ago and it had a pool of oil in it. So i pulled it and cleaned the oil out again. I emptied my catch can for shit and giggles and it was full. With only about 300 miles since I emptied it last. I pulled the hose off the valve cover and started the car with the intake side plugged. It was a steady mist of oil from the valve cover. I was too tired to investigate further but it looks like I may have damaged the pcv valve when I cleaned the valve covers somehow. I used contact cleaner and kerosene to clean everything. I will test further tomorrow.

 

[Brian Wilson]

If this is the cause, a new larger clear catch can will be the next mod