Melling makes 3 oil pumps for this engine.
3.5l oil pressure issue poll. How did you fix it
- Thread starter Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
- Start date
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Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
SHO Member
I was considering that top one and swapping in the original pressure spring. Figure higher volume would create some additional pressure anyway and as long as everything's getting oil at the right pressure no need to start popping seals.
Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
SHO Member
One test left before I take apart the car I haven't even made a payment on yet. I hadn't heard of oil pressure issues or even water pump failures on the 3.5 until literally the day after I bought the car. Everything I had heard was positive, with failures usually happening from tunes. That said I thought I was buying a solid platform, but the 3.5 has some known issues. Here's the theory,oil pumps have not failed on any 3.5 cyclone based blocks that i am aware of, or if they have, failures are EXTREMELY rare. couldnt hurt to put in a new one once you are in there tho, keep the old one if you have room at home.
now livernois did build a custom part to improve oil flow for @bpd1151, idk how well it works, one off that i can recall.
fits a wide variety of applications, naturally asp or turbochargedOriginal 2007-2023 Ford Oil Pump GL3Z-6C639-A | Levittown Ford Parts
2007-2023 Ford part # GL3Z-6C639-A - Oil Pumpparts.levittownfordparts.com
if you want to upgrade the pump. but unless you are heavily power added, i dont see a reason for it.
Owned by a younger guy, not super mechanically inclined, runs it with water in the oil long enough to damage the pump. Has the obvious repair done and has a pressure light start coming on. Having just spent over 3k on repairs probably decides to trade it in since the light is sporadic and will probably stay out of sight long enough to get a trade out of it.
Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
SHO Member
The cars history leads me to believe it had a younger owner last (2nd owners kid). The car was brought to ford for service with a note on the service ticket "customer states "water in oil, replace water pump" customer self diag." So they did the pump, chains, tensioner, seals, etc. All to the tune of $3600, then traded it in 2 weeks later to the dealer I bought it from where they did an additional $1300 worth of maintenance. I'm guessing in those 2 weeks the light started and the guy gave up. Just a theory
Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
SHO Member
Good point and she's quiet and smooth as glass, even idle WITH the light on. I guess there's a glimmer of hope it's not the pump. I just don't know where else to look. Someone said something about the pressure switch harness being a problem after a failed switch. Maybe replace the pigtail?
If true, I'd be inclined to think he ran till the "Oil Change Required" came on. That's way too long to wait. Looking in the oil fill, what color is the cam cap and head below? Shiny silver, clean engine. Light brown, oil quality or long change interval. Dark brown, well you can guess.
I'd agree. A high volume, high pressure pump may be a band aid fix.
You need to connect a manual gauge to get a true reading on the oil pressure.
And remember the oil cap side of the engine is the clean air intake for the PCV. You really want to bore scope the other side through the PCV connector to get a better idea of the previous owners maintenance schedule. But to me, your next step should be to get a reading on the real oil pressure. You can diagnose the oil pump operation at idle, 1500, and higher.
Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
SHO Member
Gauge is in the mail so ill be doing that this week, going to try a heavier oil tomorrow just to see what happens or at least buy some time. Right now I'm not driving it with a low pressure light and i kinda need the car. From the cap, the cams and valley are practically silver, it's the lightest of browns if at all but there is some darker spots toward the front of the cam. Service records all through ford its whole life but it doesnt show the intervals on the paper i have, it looked to be well taken care of.
Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
SHO Member
Update: switched to syn blend 10w30 with 20% lucas oil stabilizer. I pulled the filter and it was a part number i had never seen and I can't find an application for it motorcraft number FL-2121-B12, 1 forum said it was for a Cadillac ats.
Between the wrong filter, and the drain plug needing a breaker bar to remove Im guessing the **** tech was a ***** and likely put the wrong oil in it. I put an fl500, did a long crank cycle to prime everything before starting it and ran the car pretty hard for 15 minutes. Every time I came to a stop no light came on, but as soon as i got back to the house, light popped on. Shut the car off, waited 1 minute started it back up, no light, let it sit for 10 minutes just idling with no light, cycled it through gears to bring the rpms down still nothing.
Right now I'm beyond confused. Taking it for a good cruise tonight to see what happens
Between the wrong filter, and the drain plug needing a breaker bar to remove Im guessing the **** tech was a ***** and likely put the wrong oil in it. I put an fl500, did a long crank cycle to prime everything before starting it and ran the car pretty hard for 15 minutes. Every time I came to a stop no light came on, but as soon as i got back to the house, light popped on. Shut the car off, waited 1 minute started it back up, no light, let it sit for 10 minutes just idling with no light, cycled it through gears to bring the rpms down still nothing.
Right now I'm beyond confused. Taking it for a good cruise tonight to see what happens
Either FL-500S or FL-2121-B12 is OK to use. See attached:
Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
SHO Member
Thank you for that, looks like ford just has a new line available for dealers and fleet services. 500s is just whats available in retail market I guess, they do have physical differences.
Stolen from ecoboostperformanceforum.com
Check the PCV valve oil separator passenger back side on engine. Pull the valve get a flash light and look for oil pooling. See stolen pics fr9m xpost. Also others discussed the CAC. Remove the plastic cac hose from TB. Check for oil pooling in the CAC. Also Ford recommends not changing the weight of the oil or adding additives. I state this to say one item. You could be complicating the condition. It also sounds that a mechanic or last owner might of f'd things up. Going back to Ford standard weight with proper filter, etc etc... mixing things up and chasing issues while not keeping to Ford specs can add to the problems. I say this non judgementaly...
Make sure to CAC pipes are not drowning in oil. It is normal for there to be some oil, however look for caked up oil and pooling @Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
Check the PCV valve oil separator passenger back side on engine. Pull the valve get a flash light and look for oil pooling. See stolen pics fr9m xpost. Also others discussed the CAC. Remove the plastic cac hose from TB. Check for oil pooling in the CAC. Also Ford recommends not changing the weight of the oil or adding additives. I state this to say one item. You could be complicating the condition. It also sounds that a mechanic or last owner might of f'd things up. Going back to Ford standard weight with proper filter, etc etc... mixing things up and chasing issues while not keeping to Ford specs can add to the problems. I say this non judgementaly...
Make sure to CAC pipes are not drowning in oil. It is normal for there to be some oil, however look for caked up oil and pooling @Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
SHO Member
I will definitely be looking in to that, during my oil change I pulled the intake tube off the tb and noticed a little line of oil, unsure of how it got there I cleaned it and ignored it, after an hour test drive of varying driving styles the light has stayed off. I plan to check these spots you've shown here and drive it, next oil change if it behaves and I don't find anything else I'll go back to Ford spec oil, the oil I put in was more of a test than anything, but I'm still planning on checking the actual pressure with a Guage too. More to come soon, thank you for your help
Ta2dResqr
SHO Member
Another item that may help is putting SeaFoam in the oil to break up deposits in any passages. I have had this help with many cars. From variable valve timing solenoids to cylinder deactivation solenoids to pressure sensors. Anything that has a small passage and is oil pressure controlled. After adding it to the oil and running it for a little while (I did about a 30-minute idle and then once around the country block or ~4 miles of light driving), change the oil, filter, and turbo filter screens. With the mileage on the car, changing the turbo filter screens would be a good idea anyway. I also second sticking with the manufacturer's suggested oil viscosity. The only change of viscosity that I could see argued is going to 0w-30. In the later models (2017 and up I believe) the manual calls for 5w30 synthetic blend for -20*F+ or 0w30 for all temperature ranges. Also, if you feel the need to add Lucas, make sure you get the newer Pure Synthetic or Low Viscosity formulas.
Another "possible" reason for low oil pressure issues. Also watch this video, good info.
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Shadow351
SHO Member
I had a similar experience, See: Oil Pressure Warning at idle . I had to do timing chains anyway so I threw an oil pump in it while I was in there and I haven't had the oil pressure light return in the last ~90k miles. Definitely start by checking the oil pressure with a proper gauge; I used an oil filter sandwich adapter so I could run the gauge without removing the sending unit. I think I read somewhere that the switch threshold was 6 PSI so definitely don't sleep on it too much.
Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
SHO Member
I just got the guage today, ford did the chains and water pump less than 1k ago but opted out of the oil pump. Update for today was 100 miles no lights, she even seems smoother with the oil change. Still cautiously optimistic but if I can get through the week with out a light I'll check the oil pressure and all the spots detailed in the videos this weekend.
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