Found Aqua's oil pickup problem! Question...

[BigElCat]

John...it sounds like your oil pick up tube is bent. Maybe, somebody used force to replace the pan, and bent the tube up. I don't have a measurement to give you. I'd just pull it down about a 1/2".

Definitely run an oil pressure guage.

I wouldn't have noticed these cool pics, unless you bumped this thread. Thanks.

[JohnGunn]

That'd be way too much oil, would hit the bottom of the crankshaft and be whipped up into foam. It would starve the engine of oil.

I'm not suggesting this as a fix to such a problem, but to establish whether there is leakage there so I could be prepared for what I find after I take the pan off.

In addition, it is difficult to tell, from the angle of the pictures, if this connection is below the pan under the crankshaft. In the picture below, it appears that the input tube connection is below that pan, and thus below the action of the crankshaft.



Crazy, do you know for a fact that if I Karl had started adding oil, when his intake tube connection was leaking, that the oil would start foaming before the level covered that leak and provided the pump with pure, unaerated oil?

[BigElCat]

You've already answered your own question, John.

You stated that adding about a 1/2 quart...when it's a 1/2 quart low...eliminates your oil starvation problem. This tells us that the connection between the pick up tube and the oil pump is not leaking. You'd have to dump in several quarts to get that high.

1/2 quart low wouldn't cause a starvation problem, ordinarily.

My guess is the pick up tube is bent, or the screen/cup part has fallen off the bottom of the tube. (?)

Don't run your motor with several extra quarts of oil in it. Once the crank is under the oil surface, all heck will break loose.

[nitrofarm]

You've already answered your own question, John.

You stated that adding about a 1/2 quart...when it's a 1/2 quart low...eliminates your oil starvation problem. This tells us that the connection between the pick up tube and the oil pump is not leaking. You'd have to dump in several quarts to get that high.

1/2 quart low wouldn't cause a starvation problem, ordinarily.

My guess is the pick up tube is bent, or the screen/cup part has fallen off the bottom of the tube. (?)

Don't run your motor with several extra quarts of oil in it. Once the crank is under the oil surface, all heck will break loose.

Yes I agree with you-If adding that much oil helps it really sounds like a pick up/sucktion problem. I suppose the Oil pump could have failed to the point that it cant draw up the oil when its on the low side. And then when over filled its able to start drawing it up. A oil psi reading would kinda be nice. If its got low psi when its got a quart of extra oil. I would then lean towards maybe a failed oil pump. But do you guys hear of the oil pumps failing very often?

[JohnGunn]

Hello, Karl:

It's been years since I've used this forum. I'm now driving a 1994 Aspire, but since the engine is close to the Festiva, I decided to check out my problem here.

Since I suspect my problem is the same problem you experienced with your loosened oil pump pickup tube, I thought adding my question at the end of yours would make good sense. I'll send you a private message in addition, with the hope that you'll see this and are willing to help me.

About a year ago I replaced my leaking oil pan gasket. All went well; the leaks stopped. But about 3 months ago the engine light which had been immediately going out as soon as the car started, suddenly started taking about 3 seconds to go out. I've since learned that the way the switch works is to always start with the light switch on and wait until it gets to 2 or 3 psi before it turns the light off. I let it go hoping the problem might be a failing switch, but after a while the engine sometimes made a scraping sound when the engine started running.

In the next few days I want to replace that gasket, but I don't know how to find a perfect replacement. I simply don't know what the OEM gasket would be made of and exactly how thick the material would be. I remember it being paper thin, while the one I replaced it with was cut from a fairly thick sheet of gasket material from AutoZone.

I remember when I installed my replacement gasket I thought long and hard about whether I should use loctite because I had read someone recommend doing that. I passed on that, but I made sure to torque the bolts to the recommended value.

I don't know where I can buy a single OEM gasket. I'm sure one would be included if I bought a new oil pump. Then there are gasket sets which are made for people who want to overhaul whole areas of an engine. I thought I could use Permatex "The Right Stuff" gasket maker, but I was concerned that the limited space on the tiny flange might be pushed inward to block part of the tube.

Also part of the process is to hand tighten the bolts until the "Stuff" appears at outside edges of the flange. Then wait for an hour before being brought up to torque. So much for using loctite on the threads. In addition the shape of the tube would place uneven weight on the two bolts, not only unequal, but one up and the other down.

I'm guessing my best course of action would be to buy a sheet of the material used in making the OEM gasket and roll my own.

What did you do? Still holding?

John Gunn

[JohnGunn]

Hello, Karl:

It's been years since I've used this forum. I'm now driving a 1994 Aspire, but since the engine is close to the Festiva, I decided to check out my problem here.

Since I suspect my problem is the same problem you experienced with your loosened oil pump pickup tube, I thought adding my question at the end of yours would make good sense. I'll send you a private message in addition, with the hope that you'll see this and are willing to help me.

About a year ago I replaced my leaking oil pan gasket. All went well; the leaks stopped. But about 3 months ago the engine light which had been immediately going out as soon as the car started, suddenly started taking about 3 seconds to go out. I've since learned that the way the switch works is to always start with the light switch on and wait until it gets to 2 or 3 psi before it turns the light off. I let it go hoping the problem might be a failing switch, but after a while the engine sometimes made a scraping sound when the engine started running.

In the next few days I want to replace that gasket, but I don't know how to find a perfect replacement. I simply don't know what the OEM gasket would be made of and exactly how thick the material would be. I remember it being paper thin, while the one I replaced it with was cut from a fairly thick sheet of gasket material from AutoZone.

I remember when I installed my replacement gasket I thought long and hard about whether I should use loctite because I had read someone recommend doing that. I passed on that, but I made sure to torque the bolts to the recommended value.

I don't know where I can buy a single OEM gasket. I'm sure one would be included if I bought a new oil pump. Then there are gasket sets which are made for people who want to overhaul whole areas of an engine. I thought I could use Permatex "The Right Stuff" gasket maker, but I was concerned that the limited space on the tiny flange might be pushed inward to block part of the tube.

Also part of the process is to hand tighten the bolts until the "Stuff" appears at outside edges of the flange. Then wait for an hour before being brought up to torque. So much for using loctite on the threads. In addition the shape of the tube would place uneven weight on the two bolts, not only unequal, but one up and the other down.

I'm guessing my best course of action would be to buy a sheet of the material used in making the OEM gasket and roll my own.

What did you do? Still holding?

John Gunn