Inliners International Forums General Discussion Vortec 4200 Atlas 3.7 low oil pressure

Hopefully this is not too far off topic. I recently bought a 2010 Canyon with the 5 cyl engine, 113000 miles. Shortly after I got it the engine light came on. Code P0014, camshaft position. A few miles later the oil light came on when I stopped at an intersection. Haven't driven it much since then but it seems to happen about half the times I stop and the engine idles. I've read that the P0014 code can be caused by low oil pressure. I know that replacing the oil pump is going to be expensive. I've been told $1500 to $2000. I've read on the net that low oil pressure could be caused by sludge restricting the oil pickup tube. Are there any tricks that I can try to clean out some of the sludge to increase oil flow? Any suggestions will be appreciated. I really don't want to spend $2k on this truck. Thanks.

The VVT solenoid has a screen on it - try changing the solenoid, its easy to get at and 1 bolt holds it in (above the PS pump). And change the oil/filter ( put a qt of AFT in after the engine is warm and let it IDLE for 10 min. Then change the oil/filter napa gold or eqiv.) using a high detergent oil / additive. Repeat after say 500 miles a couple of times and see if it goes away. Don't rely on the oil change interval system.

CHAPTER 2 of this saga. I flushed the oil and changed the cam position solenoid and took care of the oil pressure light and the P0014 code but the engine started rattling so I took it to a mechanic and he said the timing chains were worn out and he recommended replacing or rebuilding the engine because there were metal chips visible and he thought there were bad bearings. The quote for rebuilding was $7k so I bought a used engine with 90k miles. Unfortunately the replacement engine rattles even louder than the first one. I replaced the tensioner and idler with no change. I replaced the water pump and some of the noise went away but not all. Now it's throwing the P0014 code again so I replaced the cam position solenoid but it's still throwing the code. I've noticed that when the engine is started after sitting for awhile it takes exactly 38 seconds for the rattle to start. If it has been running recently it starts rattling immediately. I'm looking for ideas of what could be wrong. I'll probably have to take it to a mechanic but I usually have better luck if I have a good idea what's wrong before I turn it over to someone else. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.