I have a 97 ss Camaro about 4 months ago i broke the timing chain, teeth on the crankshft gear, Camshaft gear, timing chain cover , i had bent puch rods and a bent valve .......so i did the following i replace it with all new **** new heads chain pushrods gears ex........so i fired it up yesterday and everything was good sounded good ran good but my oil preasure is very low about 5 to 20 at all times and it will get so low it will throw a light. I have 75k miles on the motor it could be oil pump or sending unit or guage or bearings or oil what do you guys think so far i have ran 10w 30 and 5w 30 and no change

 

That's where my oil pressure runs.

 

I take it your oil pressure wasn't that low before? When you did all that stuff, did you also drop the oil pan to retrieve any gear shrapnel that may have flowed down there which could possibly plug up the oil pump pick-up screen?

 

Before going crazy replacing parts, verify the pressure with a test gauge. Also check the gear that drives the oil pump off the end of the camshaft, it is purposly made of soft material to protect the camshaft, but eventually the theet can wear or break off. I've had a case where the gear was totally stripped but there was enough friction left to drive the oil pump enough to produce a low oil pressure.

 

How can the chain brake so early i heard that timig chains take ages to break?

 

Camaro69's idea sounds like a winner if you didn't drop the pan. Had similar happen to an 86 Ford p/u 351, changed the valve cover gaskets, some hard carbon buildup fell into the pan and clogged the oil pickup screen. The longer it ran the lower the pressure would go. let it sit and it would be fine for a while.