Could be the oil pump?? Something broke

I went to the track last night. On the second to last run I started to hear some noises(sounded like exhaust). On the way home this noise got louder and louder. I noticed my oil pressure gauge(which never worked since I owned the car, or so I thought.) was way under red. The thing is the oil gauge never worked but did come up to the line above the redline. Meaning it one, never worked or two was not accurate. Anyways the broken gauge was below normal. So I popped the hood when I got home to my buddy's house. Heard alot of chattering, knowing it wasn't just an exhaust leak. So me and two friend took the value covers off and checked the rockers and rods. Everything feels good and looks good there. So we went to get another gauge to hook up, but need to put everything back on to start to build(attempt to build) oil pressure. Had a guy in a sick notch(built 01 Cobra motor with turbo) pull up and he said he would be the oil pump after describing the problem. The guy seemed to know what he was talking about.

Any thoughts?

jka said:

Hook up a mechanical gauge to the engine and if the oil pressure is 48-52 when the engine is cold it's okay. And you said the car sounded louder well i know say that you don't have an exhaust leak but if you are racing your header bolts will become loose and your car will get louder.Plus every car or truck that had the oil pump play out that i know of the exhaust did not get louder but the engine did or it just locked up. So check the oil pressure with a gauge that will show you the number of psi thatyour engine is running like any aftermarket mechanical gauge and check your header bolts to see if they are loose. Good luck.

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Got it. just going to pull the distributor and run it will a drill to check it. I took the value covers off too and checked everything, but didn't run it with the value covers off. The exhaust maybe contributing to the noise but something is wrong with the motor as well.

93 5.0 GT said:

Yeah i wouldnt run if you can keep from it dont want to ruin the motor just use the drill and oil primer.
Also a sticking or collapsed lifter can tick like a mofo

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Checked those. All good there.

The oil pump didn't quit working. Spent some more time on it tonight, the shaft from oil pump to the distributor snapped. Probably in the last couple miles on the way home. It was probably part of the exhaust that was loud, and the shaft looks twisted but I won't know until the pan is removed.