Got tired of searching the internet and not finding answers so I thought I would try here.


I own a '98 Durango since new. At 195,000 miles the 5.2 Magnum engine failed. I installed a '99 5.2 Magnum engine with only 30,000 miles. It ran fine for 18 months then the oil pump went bad.


I decided to rebuild the motor. I had the crank ground, installed new main/rod bearings, new camshaft w/ new bearings, new lifters, new oil pump, and new seals/gaskets.


When I primed the oil pump there was no oil getting to the rocker arms so I removed the intake and it appears there is plenty of oil flowing through the galleys that run underneath the lifters. On the right side of the engine some oil is making its way through the lifters but not up the pushrods. There is NO oil coming through any of the lifters on the left side.


From what I know about the oiling system on this engine is the oil is pumped down the right side galley first where it gets dumped into the timing cover then makes its way back down the left side galley where it gets dumped into the oil pump driveshaft hole. There appears to be a good flow of oil making this loop.


All of the lifters were pre-soaked in oil and I double checked to make sure I installed them correctly in the bores.


Why is there only a little oil getting through the right side lifters and none through the left side lifters? Am I not driving the pump fast enough to get proper oil pressure/flow? If my cam bearings spun would that affect the oiling of the lifters?


Sorry for the lengthy post.