Just asking around to see if it's more trouble than it's worth to try it with motor still in the car. I have an 04 base. Just got it and the motor doesn't maintain oil pressure. On initial cold start up you hear a knock for a couple seconds then goes away. Oil pressure gauge goes a bit past halfway (I think 60 is the halfway mark?) After about 10 minutes, pressure starts dropping down to 0. A couple startups before, it started knocking then I turned the car off.

I'm thinking oil pump because of the inconsistent oil pressure? Clogged oilpickup? Previous owner admitted that she missed a couple oil change intervals and even oil starved it at one point when the quick lube spot she took it to didn't properly tighten her filter.

I'm trying to save this motor as much as I can before shelling out RevUp or HR swap money. Do you guys think this is an oil pump issue and I should change it out for an 05-06 RevUp pump? How difficult is the install? On my SR20DET it was drop pan > drop pan > loosen timing chain > out, in, boom. Is a VQ35DE off an 04 similar? I read the FSM and it said remove timing chain for the install. I'm wondering if all you really need to do is loosen a tensioner somewhere.

Sorry for the newb questions. Just want to get my Z running right. Please go easy on me lol.

 

I have my 03 VQ on a stand right now and just went and looked at it. To ME, it looks like it would be more trouble than it's worth to try it with the motor still bolted to the mounts/in the car. From memory to get the oil pump off, remove the electric fans, crank pulley, p/s pump, alternator, front timing cover, primary timing chain, lower and upper oil pan and then you can remove the 3 10mm bolts that holds the oil pump on. (I may have left off a few things to remove)

The main hurdle I could see for trying to get the oil pump off with the engine still in the car is the upper oil pan which has to come off in order to get the oil pump off.

If you had absolutely no way/time/help/tools etc to pull the engine, you MAY be able to unbolt the motor from the mounts, catalytic converter brace, transmission mount etc, place a jack under the bell housing and you MAY be able to get enough clearance to drop that upper oil pan enough to get the oil pump off but then again you MAY NOT. But, by the time you get all that done, you could have easily have had the engine out. In my personal and quite non-professional opinion, I'd pull the engine.

If anyone sees that I am misinforming him in anyway, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POINT IT OUT! Hope you can get your Z straightened out.

 

Excuse my brain farts but I really should have added in my first reply in reference to the above quote. If you were hearing knocking and if it was coming from the bottom end, that would most likely be your rod bearings. It would be the wisest thing to go on and pull the engine, get it on a stand so you can go through it to check your rod and main bearings, crankshaft end play, cylinder walls and any other things that could go kaput from oil starvation. It would be a wicked bummer to just change the oil pump, get it all back together, start 'er up and hear...knock knock knock knock knock knock.

 

Thanks for the response! Guess I'm pulling the motor haha.

 

No problem at all! Just remember, have fun, don't get excited and enjoy making up your own cuss words