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2000 silverado 5.3l oil pump


simms

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I have a 2000 silverado z71 with a 5.3l with 205,000 miles on it. Two weeks ago, I started the truck up in my driveway and was loading a few things into the bed when it started making a terrible clicking noise, I looked at my guages and the oil pressure was sitting on 0 and the check oil pressure light was on. I shut the engine off right away and check my oil level and it was perfect. I started the vehicle up and everything seemed fine. 2 days later I start the truck and it looses oil pressure 30 seconds after starting it, but as soon as I give it a little gas the pressure comes back. Now here is the interesting part, I bring it to the chevrolet garage and they tell me my oil pump is going out. I have to decide do I put in a new oil pump ($1150.00) or trade the truck off. Well I decide to put the pump in and see what happens. 10 days later my truck lost pressure 2 mornings in a row, but the pressure does come back if I give it a little gas. I also had the sending unit replaced. Sorry this is so long. Does anybody have any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

Simms

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I also have a 2000 Silverado with the 5.3. (200k plus miles) In the past several days, when I start the truck first thing in the morning, for about 3 seconds I'll hear my lifters clacking, then the oil pressure will go to 40 psi at four seconds, pretty normal. Now here is the weird part, If I drive off with the engine "cold" and drive on any incline above 5% grade, my oil pressure will drop to 0psi and I can hear the lifters clack. When I rev the engine (800-1000rpms), the pressure will go back to 40 psi. and after driving for a while the pressure stays steady at 40 psi. So for now I let the engine warm up to 210 before I drive off, I have no problems for the entire day. I live in S. Florida and use my truck for deliveries all day.

 

Additionally I have gone to the dealer and purchased an OEM oil pump, and I am planning to replace it after the holidays. I paid $117.23 plus tax for the pump, GM part number 1258-6665

 

I hope after I change the pump my oil pressure problem is fixed.

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I suggest you put a mechanical gauge on it when this is occuring and see what the pressure really is. Since you heard the ticking noise, it does sound internal rather than a gauge problem.

 

But, it's rather odd because it cleared up for a while after replacing the pump. Coincidence? When oil pressure sensors fail, the pressure reading on the gauge usually goes up, not down to zero. And of course you wouldn't get lifter clatter with a gauge problem.

 

I've seen my share of pumps with the pressure regulator spring broken. This allows oil to vent out of the pump and pressure goes way down, though usually not zero. But you have a new pump (GM I hope) and it is highly unlikely it's going to develop the same problem as the original in such a short time. Possible but unlikely.

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No the 1150 was not a typo, that was what my bill was when we were finished. What should I have paid? I dropped the truck off last night so they could put a mechanical guage on this morning, and it had plenty of pressure and did not drop off once. They suggested that I bring it home and drive it like I have been. Is there anything else that could cause the pressure to drop and then come back?

 

Simms

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Chevrolet pays us 3.5 hours to replace that pump under warranty. Typically, customer paid labor is warranty time + 40%. That's about 4.9 hours. Figure an additonal hour for diagnosis, round it out and you have 6 hours. Multiply that times the labor rate the dealer charges and you get the labor charge. Lets say they charge $100 (we charge $85) just to cover it for sure and you have $600 in labor. I have no idea what a pump costs, but I can't imagine it being $550. Your receipt should have the cost of the parts.

 

so yeah, $1150 sounds very high unless you had other things done that brought the bill up. I would question them on this, particularly since you spent $1150 and it didn't correct the problem. Of course they're not seeing the problem, so that has to happen first.

 

I have no other suggestions as to why your truck would exhibit intermittent loss of pressure, if it is in fact really losing pressure. Seeing if that is what's happening is the first step. It is not unusual for an internal mechanical problem to show low or no pressure at idle and then pick up into the normal range when rpms are raised. In fact, that's almost always how it acts when there's a mechanical problem. The oil pump can put out quite a bit and can make up for some clearance problems or broken pressure relief spring when the rpms are raised. BUT, I have never seen a mechanical problem causing low oil pressure to be intermittent.

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I've done 3 trucks that had similar problems. These trucks were the 6.0. I don't know if the 5.3 is the same but here goes. I put a mechanical gauge on to see if the gauge was bad and the gauge was ok. I looked at the bulletins and found that the O ring on the plastic pickup tube sometimes goes bad. My thought was that it was rare for a pump to go bad. I changed the O ring and pressure came back to normal. This is not exctly the same as your situation because the oil pressure wansn't at zero, just kinda low about 20 psi. When i up the RPM's the pressure goes lower. The O ring was a couple of dollars or so can't remember exactly. I figured that I tell you this because you already changed the pump.

My friend had one that went to zero and the motor froze up. When we took the motor apart we found that the camshaft broke in half. Don't think that this is your problem because your motor is still running. Just a thought trying to figure out what else it could be but come up with nothing, i think it's worth a try but it's up to you. Check to see if the 5.3 has the same plastic tube and O ring.

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I also have a 2000 Silverado with the 5.3. (200k plus miles) In the past several days, when I start the truck first thing in the morning, for about 3 seconds I'll hear my lifters clacking, then the oil pressure will go to 40 psi at four seconds, pretty normal. Now here is the weird part, If I drive off with the engine "cold" and drive on any incline above 5% grade, my oil pressure will drop to 0psi and I can hear the lifters clack. When I rev the engine (800-1000rpms), the pressure will go back to 40 psi. and after driving for a while the pressure stays steady at 40 psi. So for now I let the engine warm up to 210 before I drive off, I have no problems for the entire day. I live in S. Florida and use my truck for deliveries all day.

 

Additionally I have gone to the dealer and purchased an OEM oil pump, and I am planning to replace it after the holidays. I paid $117.23 plus tax for the pump, GM part number 1258-6665

 

I hope after I change the pump my oil pressure problem is fixed.

 

 

 

I couldn't have said it better myself. That is exactly what mine is doing. I guess I am going to change out the oil pump.

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