What’s the scoop on GM LS oil pump failures?

Is this a thing? I've seen more than one SS sedan ad stating "oil pump failed, engine replaced by GM." This concerns me. Should it?

EDIT: i'm asking because SS Sedan 6MT presses pretty much every button for me.

Given all I've ever heard and witnessed, you have a better chance of a lifter failing wiping everything out than an oil pump. Now did it fail because they aerated the oil from rpm abuse with a low level or something similar meaning dumbassness?

My son has a '10 Camaro SS with 150K miles with no (well, very low) oil pressure. During his researching he ran across several forum threads from as early as 2012 of oil pump failures on them. He's got a Melling pump on order now.

In reply to Ranger50 :

The SS sedan did not get AFM or VVT so maybe lifter failure should be less likely? And you're absolutely right, could be over-revs or other abuse situations.

Don't forget that in ads any loss of oil pressure is listed as needing a pump regardless of whether or not any diagnosis has been done.

Worn cam bearings and oil pump pickup orings cause the majority of low oil pressure in LS engines.  I trust the OE pumps way more than the Melling pumps which have a history of outpacing the oil drains in the heads and sucking the pan dry.

In reply to RacetruckRon :

Is there a specific defect which causes the oil pump O-ring failure?

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Incorrect seating upon install or degradation of the rubber with time and heat. It's not really an issue unless it's a fresh build or a 200k mile engine.  The oiling system is the achilles heel of the LS but it's faults are consistently overstated for normal street use. You don't hear hundreds of thousands of people talking about how great the oil pressure is in their LS powered vehicle but that's the primary oiling system for GM V8s from 1997-2017.

Adding this to the conversation in case it helps: LS oil barbell talk. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I like Improved Racing's oil pan baffles but I vehemently disagree with replacing the barbell at all let alone with non-OE parts.  Far too many "while I'm in there" parts can cause issues or be installed incorrectly with severe consequences.  LS oil systems should only be OE or dry sump.

Y'all aren't scaring me, and that's good. I think there's a manual SS sedan in my near future.

I had 2 oil pump failures on my former 2012 Camaro SS.  Neither was lifter related and being an LS3 it didn't have any AFM or DOD.  Problem I had was the internal bypass valve (round steel valve in aluminum housing) would get stuck open and when you shut the car off, the oil drained back into the pan.  At startup the oil pump was unable to pull the oil back up.  Both times it happened with the GM pump.  First time was under warranty, second time I changed the pump.  The Melling pumps don't have the issue. 

Damnit, now I'm looking at the SS. Understatedly nice.

I'll add to the mix that as the oil pressure sending units in LS motors start to fail they tend to read low. If you can shine a light back there sometimes they'll also start slowly dripping oil at the same time. 

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Y'all aren't scaring me, and that's good. I think there's a manual SS sedan in my near future.

Thats one of the very few 4 door cars I want.

The later trucks have a solenoid to control oil pressure, so you can get a .003 mpg improvement. They break sometimes.

But, .003 mpg saves a lot of cash over the life of the truck, so that kilobuck you spent to fix it was well worth it.

Not.

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

I blame the weird fetish the OEMs have to run the engine as absolutely slow as possible.  They need that extra oil pressure when they're lugging the engine at 1500rpm all the time, but an oil pump that can do that is hideously oversized the rest of the time.

I've replaced those pumps.  The solenoid fails to engage when hot.  Because it was at least competently engineered, the solenoid fails to high pressure, not low pressure.

Now, let's talk about the accessory drive on those engines... THAT is pretty dumb.  It's about five steps too many to get the water pump housing off because of the accessory bracket that wraps around it, that uses an A/C compressor mounting point as a through stud.  And why does it have a belt driven vacuum pump when electric pumps are bulletproof at this point?  Said vacuum pump must be removed to get the timing cover off... and did I mention that the pump is mounted with a gasket to the crankcase?

I want this one. But I really don't need another car.

I actually parked beside an SS two days ago - the first one I've seen in a very long time. They're such an anonymous looking sedan, they're a great Q ship. I'm a little more partial to the G8 styling-wise, but no matter what I do love a Commodore with a big engine.

A coworker has a black and white Chevy PPV (another Holden with a Chevy badge) and I know it can be a challenge to get some parts. They're all low volume cars in the US and the Australian factories are all shut down.

dclafleur said:

I'll add to the mix that as the oil pressure sending units in LS motors start to fail they tend to read low. If you can shine a light back there sometimes they'll also start slowly dripping oil at the same time. 

Sorry to threadjack, had some scary oil pressure drops indicated on my C1500 with the old-school small block.  Turns out the oil pressure sending unit was leaking.  After replacing the sender (and fixing the adapter that broke off in the block) oil pressure is rock steady again.  This thread made me check there first instead of pulling the oil pan and swapping in a new oil pump.. GRM is the E36 M3.

I replaced the Oil Pump on my LS3 Miata.

It was a low Oil Pressure situation and was listed as a pretty common item on the forums.

Meiling was put in and that solved that. It was a crate motor with under 50K miles on it. 

In reply to bmw88rider :

Didn't know that. Good to know. 

Pilotbraden on here.  His father has a white 6speed Chevy ss that he bought new and just loves.  I love that his 84 yo father still drive a manual.  My father always had manuals also till he bought a Tesla a few years ago.  I think you will really like it if you drive one.  I have no input on the oiling though.

06HHR (Forum Supporter) said:

dclafleur said:

I'll add to the mix that as the oil pressure sending units in LS motors start to fail they tend to read low. If you can shine a light back there sometimes they'll also start slowly dripping oil at the same time. 

Sorry to threadjack, had some scary oil pressure drops indicated on my C1500 with the old-school small block.  Turns out the oil pressure sending unit was leaking.  After replacing the sender (and fixing the adapter that broke off in the block) oil pressure is rock steady again.  This thread made me check there first instead of pulling the oil pan and swapping in a new oil pump.. GRM is the E36 M3.

Had the exact same issue on my '89 C1500 with the 4.3 (3/4s of a 350).  Replaced the oil sending unit and all was good.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I've got a thread to point you to.  Let me find it.......