It is there because of the way the oil galley is set up in the block. The oil galleys are drilled as part of the machining process when the block is new. When the oil leaves the pump, it flows through the galley to get filtered. Problem is, with the block design and filter location design, it is impossible to economically drill a curved oil galley hole - so they just drill a long straight hole - through the block to the oil pump. Then they drill 'up' to this long straight hole, to get oil to the filter. The gap between the 'up' holes (for the filter) must be plugged - so they installed this 'barbell' OR officially called the oil diverter. The issue with this diverter is that over time, where it "diverts" oil to run through the filter, this area becomes worn (because it's plastic). This causes some unfiltered oil to run through the system constantly. IMO, whenever the rear cover is removed, the plastic barbell (or oil diverter) should be replaced with a tight fitting metal barbell. This diverts ALL of the oil through the filter. Look up the LS Oil System Diagram. Then you will SEE exactly why and what the purpose of the barbell is.
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Nicely done. Good job. Thanks for sharing.
I wonder why G.M made a great engine and didn't take time to put in some not expensive dial pins
Put the barbell in the freezer over night lube and install no damage to rings
that's the easy way to do it let's see you do it on the vehicle
Can you use the alignment tool if the rear main seal has already been installed? I have a new rear cover that has the seal already installed
I wish I could understand what the purpose of the barbell is.
tells the oil which way to flow
It is there because of the way the oil galley is set up in the block. The oil galleys are drilled as part of the machining process when the block is new. When the oil leaves the pump, it flows through the galley to get filtered. Problem is, with the block design and filter location design, it is impossible to economically drill a curved oil galley hole - so they just drill a long straight hole - through the block to the oil pump. Then they drill 'up' to this long straight hole, to get oil to the filter. The gap between the 'up' holes (for the filter) must be plugged - so they installed this 'barbell' OR officially called the oil diverter. The issue with this diverter is that over time, where it "diverts" oil to run through the filter, this area becomes worn (because it's plastic). This causes some unfiltered oil to run through the system constantly. IMO, whenever the rear cover is removed, the plastic barbell (or oil diverter) should be replaced with a tight fitting metal barbell. This diverts ALL of the oil through the filter. Look up the LS Oil System Diagram. Then you will SEE exactly why and what the purpose of the barbell is.
Thanks for the explanation!@@tjoyce81