We were testing my turbo setup and suddenly it stated making a hell of a rattle coming
out from the engine. I could almost swear it was the timing chain or some kind of
detonation. Anyways..... We were headed back to the shop and then I stopped the car to
pick up John to let him hear it, and then rolled about 10 feet forward and my oil light
came on. The car sounded like crap at this point with a strong rattle coming from the
engine(the chain). So we stopped it and checked the oil. It was full, and I was confused.
So he said pull it into the shop, so I rolled it around back and the rattle stopped as the
oil light shut down. I told him its now fixed, dunno what it could be. Seconds
later, there it was again, the light is now back on. About 2 minutes after that the rattle
came back.
He thought it could be the oil pump failing, so we pulled an oil line off the turbo and
nothing came out, aka no pressure.
Shawn
Solution
Sounds like you have an oil delivery probem...it might be your oil pump but it could
also be a clogged oil filter or anything else that could be restricting your oil passages.
You might also want to check the additional oil lines that were added for the turbo.
By the way, one time my oil filter cannister cracked and started leaking (without me
noticing) and as I was driving, the engine started sounding like crap...like it was
detonating.
In any case, if you want to inspect your oil pump, it is not necessary to pull off the
cylinder head. The oil pump is located on the bottom portion of your timing chain
cover...directly opposite from your distributor. In fact, your oil pump and distributor
share the same geared shaft located inside the timing chain cover.
To remove the oil pump, first make sure that the No. 1 cylinder is at TDC. You may want to
make a pencil mark on your distributor to indicate the rotor position at No.1 cylinder
TDC. This is an important reference which I will explain later. Unbolt the oil pump from
the timing chain cover. Have a pan or rag ready to catch any oil that spills as the pump
is removed.
Carefully move the oil pump away from the timing chain cover. The geared shaft should also
slide out as well. If the shaft doe not slide out, gently jiggle it loose. Do not try
force the shaft out as it will only bind. Once the shaft is removed, the distributor rotor
is free to spin any which way...this is where your pencil mark comes in handy.
Anyway, once the oil pump is removed, check the pump gears for damage. They should be able
to rotate without any interference. There is also a large plug located on the oil pump
cover. Unscrew the plug and you will find the regulator piston and spring. The piston
should be able to slide in and out of the housing slowly due to gravity alone. If the
piston tends to bind up, regulator is trashed.
By the way, you can get competition oil pump springs from Nissan Motorsports to increase
the oil pump pressure. Inner Spring Part No. 15133-E4620
Outer Spring Part No. 15133-22010
You can use either or both depending on the pressure you want to obtain...some people also
stack washers to compress the stock spring alittle more. Nissan Motorsports also
sells a high volume pump that will flow about 15% more oil than stock...
Part No. 15010-S8000.
To re-install the oil pump, first make sure that the engine and distributor rotor is at
No.1 cylinder TDC. Then align the dot on the geared shaft to the dot on the pump shaft
sleeve. Use a new oil pump gasket and carefully slide the shaft and pump together until
the pump can be bolted once again to the timing chain cover. This might take a couple trys
to make everything mate up correctly...just be patient and gentle with the whole process.
I have found that the gearing of the geared shaft will allow the distributor rotor to be
either slightly advanced or retarded with respect to the engine. I keep it on the advanced
side.
Hope your problem is not the oil pump but something much simpler like a bad oil filter or
something. Anyways, good luck.
James Matsuda
Problem Fixed - Clogged oil pickup