Oil pump pickup tube

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Anyone ever have a oil pickup come loose on a 5.0? I'm trying to get an idea of what I'll find once I drop the pan. Truck starts up with really bad rattle. After a couple seconds and banging sounds it quiets down. The sound definitely is coming from in the pan, no lifter noise etc... Idle is smooth and steady and oil pressure is same as always (by the idiot gauge). The only other cause I can think of is the starter gear and the flex plate, but it looks good from the inspection plate. Let me know of any Ideas or if you've had any similar issues. Truck is an 88, AOD, with ~170,000 miles on it. Thanks in advance.

 

[Elmo]

Check the oil press with a guage dont trust the factory "guage" But as would stand to reason IF the pickup came loose you would have ZERO oil press and i cant see where the pick up falling to the bottom of the pan could cause any noise,the crank would not be able to hit it as the pickup is already under the crank so if it came off the pump and the bolt that holds it to the bottmo of the main bearing cap came off then it would fall aprox 1-2 inches further from the crank and as stated you would not have any oil press at all. it sounds more like you are experiencing low oil press I once had a 351m that would make some godaweful knocking for a few seconds after startup but then would quieten down, it also only had about 15psi oil press when warm

 

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Delayed thanks for the replies. Finally got to work on it. Turned out to be a bad starter (gear) -- thank god for softer gear metal (chewed up real good) than flex plate steel. It stopped fully retracting but still turned the motor. Glad I didn't have to drop the pan. Pulling the motor for an overhaul or a 351W will have to wait for another twenty years /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> , or the 500,000 mi mark /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I probably won't even remember how to do it by then. :huh: