Oil pump chain SLIPPED

2010 CITROEN C3
60,000 MILES • 1.4L • 4 CYL • TURBO • 2WD • MANUAL
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CERA26
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Hi, my car has a HDI Diesel engine (same one installed in Ford Fiesta). Big end bearings damaged, crankshaft too, pretty much the symptoms of (mysterious) oil starvation.

Mechanic tells me the oil pump chain slipped. Could somebody confirm this is even possible? I mean surely it is, but I fail to understand why the oil pump engine slipping a gear would lead to oil starvation? the pump is not synced to the engine?

Yet this is what I am being told.
Sep 13, 2016 at 1:43 AM
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STRAILER
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The oil pump is not synced to the engine but it is driven by the crankshaft, if the pump locks up it will cause the damage you have described.

Please let us know what you find so it will help others.

Best, Ken
Sep 16, 2016 at 8:30 PM
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CERA26
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Thanks. Now that the pump has been removed it appears to have taken no damage whatsoever. The pump looks brand new and the sump is clear. The valve cover has been removed and there id no sludge whatsoever in the camshaft area. The turbo hasn't seized (or least not that we noticed before the big end bearings went). According to the dealership that first had a look at the car, the oil level was ok i.e. no leaks. Yet the bearings show signs of oil starvation, at 60k miles!

The oil was always replaced at 10k (15k km) miles or less, being a modern European diesel the recommended service interval is actually 20-30k km. Now I realize that is pushing it so I changed oil in shorter intervals. What would you be looking at next?
Sep 17, 2016 at 4:17 AM
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STRAILER
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There must be some internal blockage in one of the oil galleries. I would disassemble the engine and do a physical inspection on the block and cylinder head.
Sep 17, 2016 at 6:31 PM