Hi Charlie -

Once coolant temperature comes up, oil temperature follows, but it seems to me that oil temperature continues to climb - yet coolant temperature does not. Coolant temp levels at ~ 200?F. After that, I can feel oil temperature climb by touching the dipstick handle, watching the oil pressure drop and hearing lifter clatter get louder.

Most of the lifter noise is on the driver side, but on the last startup, it seemed to start on the passenger side also.

I did pack the pump with assembly lube to try to avoid a long priming time. Everything seemed fine during the first 20 minutes of high-idle warmup, after which I changed the coolant, oil and oil filter.

I then warmed it up again and went for a drive. All was well for maybe 15 miles until the engine seemed to lose power and I saw no oil pressure. Ever since then, I've had the oil delivery issue. The only way I know the top end is starving is because of the noise - I haven't yet removed the valve covers.

I installed the same lifters that were in the engine when the blower went bad - perhaps they had some debris in them, but I wouldn't think that would cause pressure to drop. Anyway, they were fine during the first warmup.

When I installed the main studs, I did not follow ARP's advice and align hone the main bores. All except the rear bore showed .002" clearance with plastigage - the rear one showed .001"... tight, but within standard spec. I oiled the crank with 30W, retorqued and turned it by hand and it felt fine - so I didn't align hone the main bores.

I've tried changing the oil and filter a second time with no change.

I've now removed the oil cooler and thermostatic valve - same results - so that is not causing a blockage.

The pressure gauge is before the filter on the 3.0L Montero adapter, so it would appear that the problem is in the pump. The assembly lube may have caused the pump relief valve to hang, but I know several local engine builders who pack pumps with the stuff and do not experience problems.

This same pump was new 7000 miles ago and on initial startup the relief valve hung closed (or nearly so) and oil pressure spiked to 100psi - took a while to come down and I remember being concerned about bursting a filter at the time. During this rebuild, I took the pump apart, cleaned it and checked the clearances.... it was tighter than standard spec on side clearance, but I figured if it was ok before, it would be ok now. I guess not.

The next thing is to pull the filter adapter and see what it looks like. If it looks ok, I plan to replace the pump and see what happens.... and hope the heat hasn't ruined anything.

Frank