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Hi y'all. It's been a long time but I could really use some help/advice. I have a 90 GW with a newly rebuilt engine that now has no oil pressure. I'll apologize in advance for the long post as I wanted to give some background.
History:
1) 2009 - Initial purchase with approx 140k miles on it (Thanks Brian!) with newly rebuilt engine and Howell TBI.
2) 2017 - Odometer 148,221. Developed a popping sound from air intake when under load. Take it to mechanic who determined it needed an engine rebuild. (thought about the LS swap but decided against it and kicking myself now)
3) June 2018 - Odometer 148,378. Engine rebuild and new radiator completed by same mechanic. Poor engine power and poor fuel consumption immediately after rebuild. Kept calling/texting with mechanic and was told everything was normal and needed to break in the engine. Fuel consumption attributed to TBI unit which they said they could adjust next time I brought it in.
4) July 2018 - Odometer 148,571. Back to mechanic with very low power from engine, high fuel consumption around 5 mpg. Mechanic replaced two spark plugs that had shorts and said that was cause of low power. Adjusted TBI unit for fuel consumption.
5) September 2018 - Odometer 149,371. Low power and high fuel consumption again. Oil change by same mechanic. Stated they adjusted TBI again.
6) December 2018 - Odometer 150,583. Engine overheating and running rough. Still have high fuel consumption. Pressure tested radiator and replaced cap. Oil sending unit replaced and oil changed. Mechanic tells me he is closing shop in May to move out of state.
7) February 2019 - Odometer 151,445. Take GW to a new mechanic to get second opinion. Performs compression and leak down tests and says I need a new engine. Contact first mechanic as engine is under warranty. He asks to speak to second mechanic. They talk and agree that second mechanic is much more knowledgeable than first mechanic. They decide that first mechanic will rebuild engine again and take it to second mechanic for testing and break in. Sounds fine to me.
8) May 2019 - First mechanic has completed engine rebuild under warranty and takes GW to second mechanic for engine break in.
9) June 2019 - Second mechanic completes camshaft break in cycles, oil service, replaces distributor cap and coil, primes oil pump, compression check. While performing camshaft break in cycle, could not run more than 8-10 mins due to reaching 220 degrees. Installs new radiator. Also ran new vacuum line for MAP sensor and correct routing for the Howell TBI which was not properly connected to vacuum by first mechanic. Sends GW back to first mechanic for final hook up of remaining items.
10) July 5, 2019 - Received GW back from first mechanic. States that after he received it from the second mechanic he put about 60 miles on it before it turned a piston. He pulled the bottom end and sent it back to his machine shop and they had to rebuild the bottom end again. Runs well on the way home and don't drive it the next day.
11) July 7 ,2019 - Drive 80 miles round trip to drop my daughter at camp. No stop and go on the way there but have to sit for a while in the line at camp. Engine overheats while in line. Park it and let it cool for over an hour. Start it back up and temps are normal for the drive home.
12) July 8, 2019 - Odometer 151,949. No oil pressure when engine started in the morning. Turned off engine and contacted both mechanics. First mechanic is out of state and reaches out to second mechanic. Second mechanic thinks the oil pump has failed.
So I'm now having it towed to the second mechanic on Tuesday to replace the oil pump. After owning it for ten years, putting less than 10K miles on it in that time, and being on its 4th engine rebuild I'm frustrated.
Questions:
1) Is there anything else the mechanic should be looking at other than a failed oil pump?
2) What would you do in this situation? I just keep throwing money at it and feel like the first mechanic should be paying the second to fix this crap under warranty. While he covered part of the work the second mechanic did last time, I still ended up with another $1,400 bill related to the radiator, distributor, and vacuum.
3) Am I crazy to be beyond frustrated at this point? I'm to the point of shopping for a new F150 as I'm tired of dealing with this but I really love the GW and just want it to be fixed and be able to hop in it and drive without these issues.
Any advice is appreciated!
History:
1) 2009 - Initial purchase with approx 140k miles on it (Thanks Brian!) with newly rebuilt engine and Howell TBI.
2) 2017 - Odometer 148,221. Developed a popping sound from air intake when under load. Take it to mechanic who determined it needed an engine rebuild. (thought about the LS swap but decided against it and kicking myself now)
3) June 2018 - Odometer 148,378. Engine rebuild and new radiator completed by same mechanic. Poor engine power and poor fuel consumption immediately after rebuild. Kept calling/texting with mechanic and was told everything was normal and needed to break in the engine. Fuel consumption attributed to TBI unit which they said they could adjust next time I brought it in.
4) July 2018 - Odometer 148,571. Back to mechanic with very low power from engine, high fuel consumption around 5 mpg. Mechanic replaced two spark plugs that had shorts and said that was cause of low power. Adjusted TBI unit for fuel consumption.
5) September 2018 - Odometer 149,371. Low power and high fuel consumption again. Oil change by same mechanic. Stated they adjusted TBI again.
6) December 2018 - Odometer 150,583. Engine overheating and running rough. Still have high fuel consumption. Pressure tested radiator and replaced cap. Oil sending unit replaced and oil changed. Mechanic tells me he is closing shop in May to move out of state.
7) February 2019 - Odometer 151,445. Take GW to a new mechanic to get second opinion. Performs compression and leak down tests and says I need a new engine. Contact first mechanic as engine is under warranty. He asks to speak to second mechanic. They talk and agree that second mechanic is much more knowledgeable than first mechanic. They decide that first mechanic will rebuild engine again and take it to second mechanic for testing and break in. Sounds fine to me.
8) May 2019 - First mechanic has completed engine rebuild under warranty and takes GW to second mechanic for engine break in.
9) June 2019 - Second mechanic completes camshaft break in cycles, oil service, replaces distributor cap and coil, primes oil pump, compression check. While performing camshaft break in cycle, could not run more than 8-10 mins due to reaching 220 degrees. Installs new radiator. Also ran new vacuum line for MAP sensor and correct routing for the Howell TBI which was not properly connected to vacuum by first mechanic. Sends GW back to first mechanic for final hook up of remaining items.
10) July 5, 2019 - Received GW back from first mechanic. States that after he received it from the second mechanic he put about 60 miles on it before it turned a piston. He pulled the bottom end and sent it back to his machine shop and they had to rebuild the bottom end again. Runs well on the way home and don't drive it the next day.
11) July 7 ,2019 - Drive 80 miles round trip to drop my daughter at camp. No stop and go on the way there but have to sit for a while in the line at camp. Engine overheats while in line. Park it and let it cool for over an hour. Start it back up and temps are normal for the drive home.
12) July 8, 2019 - Odometer 151,949. No oil pressure when engine started in the morning. Turned off engine and contacted both mechanics. First mechanic is out of state and reaches out to second mechanic. Second mechanic thinks the oil pump has failed.
So I'm now having it towed to the second mechanic on Tuesday to replace the oil pump. After owning it for ten years, putting less than 10K miles on it in that time, and being on its 4th engine rebuild I'm frustrated.
Questions:
1) Is there anything else the mechanic should be looking at other than a failed oil pump?
2) What would you do in this situation? I just keep throwing money at it and feel like the first mechanic should be paying the second to fix this crap under warranty. While he covered part of the work the second mechanic did last time, I still ended up with another $1,400 bill related to the radiator, distributor, and vacuum.
3) Am I crazy to be beyond frustrated at this point? I'm to the point of shopping for a new F150 as I'm tired of dealing with this but I really love the GW and just want it to be fixed and be able to hop in it and drive without these issues.
Any advice is appreciated!
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