No oil pressure???

6166 Junkyard Dog · Post by **6166 Junkyard Dog** » August 25, 2009, 1:09 pm

Big Slick runs 50psi down the road and 20 at idle 390,, my Merc runs about 60psi down the road 30 at idle 390 motor and my 56 runs 125psi down the road 85 at idle the 2 390's are most likley standard oil pumps the 56 is high volume, with all oil openings open bigger in block and crank + runs oil cooler with a omberg oil filter system + being 427 it has pressure relief valve that has bigger spring in it etc...

banjopicker66 · Post by **banjopicker66** » August 25, 2009, 1:49 pm

It appears to me that one of the concerns is that the pump shaft may not be engaging the bottom of the distributor. Try this:
Put a small blob of colored material inside the bottom of the distributor. You could use a bit of red or white colored grease, or even a spot of fingernail polish.
Re-install the distributor, run the engine, and pull the distributor back out if the oil pressure is still too low.
If you engaged the oil pump shaft, you'll know it by looking at the top of the driven shaft, and at the inside bottom of the distributor's driving shaft.
If your pressure is too low, and the shaft DID engage, you have problems elsewhere, not with the distributor or the shaft.
I would look at proper rocker arm bolt placement, loose oil pump or pickup tube, missing oil gallery plug, crankshaft bearings, or similar. Did you have the engine rebuilt? The rebuilder may have left out a plug or something. Pull the valve covers, run the oil pump with the drill, and look for a fountain of oil spray. Maybe that may reveal something.
Best of luck to you.

qwertyd10n · Post by **qwertyd10n** » September 9, 2009, 11:57 pm

Pulled the new oil pump and shaft off the engine tonight. The ARP shaft is exactly the same length as the old shaft... if not a fraction longer (old one might be slightly bent). The shaft was properly engaged in the pump when I removed them.

Also checked that the shafts were both 1/4" and that they fit the bottom of the dizzy properly.

Finished cleaning up the old oil pump, checked clearances (which were good), lubricated everything and put it back together. I think I'm going to use the old pump with the new shaft and see what happens - maybe it is a high pressure pump or something.

qwertyd10n · Post by **qwertyd10n** » September 12, 2009, 2:16 am

Here's my latest update... as you can read in one of my other posts (http://fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12154, I realized that the bottom of my oil pan was concave when it shouldn't have been. So, after rectifying that problem, I went about putting everything back together.

As I think I wrote about in a previous post, I realized that I hadn't taken out the thrust spacer when I replaced the timing set with a camshaft gear that had the spacer built it. So, I pulled the timing cover and timing set again, yanked the spacer, cleaned everything up and reinstalled it all.

Then I moved down to the bottom of the engine. I installed the old oil pump and pickup, the new ARP oil pump shaft, and oil pan. I then filled the engine up with oil and ran the oil pump with an electric drill to see if I was getting oil to my freshly cleaned up rocker arm assemblies... and after the pump primed itself, I had oil coming out of all the rocker arms.

I also noticed one other thing when I was running the oil pump with my drill... when I had done this before, I got an oil pressure reading but heard some noise which I thought was just oil draining back into the pan. Now I don't hear that noise. Upon further thought, what I think I was hearing was actually the pickup sucking air due to the dent in the bottom of my oil pan and the thicker viscosity oil I decided to go with. That would make a lot of sense as to why I wasn't seeing any oil pressure at idle.

All I have left before it's running (hopefully) is to reinstall the one header I had to take off to get the pan off and sandblast and paint the valve covers while I have them off again.

Maybe by the end of the weekend I'll know if I've sorted the problems.

Cheers,
Dion

65f100_Thug · Post by **65f100_Thug** » September 13, 2009, 12:28 am

I just scanned most of the other replies, so some one might have mentioned this already.I hate to admit I actually done this but...when I put the timing set in my 302 I forgot to tighten the bolt that holds the timing gear to the cam (also has the fuel pump lobe on it) anyway it made a lifter tick sound and moved around as the cam had play. I had also bought a motor that was REBUILT already with the oil pan on already. Well I should have checked the pan for trash. It had trash from replacing the gasket Don't ask me how they done that but It eat up my main bearings and didnt go past that .But it had 5 pounds running at 2000 and 0 idling.

qwertyd10n · Post by **qwertyd10n** » September 17, 2009, 12:57 am

Hot d@mn! We're cooking with gas now!

I buttoned everything up on the engine last night and tonight, then the fateful moment when I started it up again... and I saw oil pressure... YIPPEE!!! Actually, lots of oil pressure... 50+ psi on cold start-up. I let the engine warm right up to full operating temperature while I watched for leaks and listened to see how it sounded... and at idle, I've still got 22 psi. Took it for a spin and was seeing 40+ psi just booting around the neighbourhood.

Also, no knocking sound now that I took that camshaft spacer out.

D@mn it was good to hear it running again... and just purring like a kitten I might add.

Guess it's back to working on the interior again...

Cheers,
Dion

Roger Carter · Post by **Roger Carter** » September 17, 2009, 10:57 am

Glad to hear all is well with the truck.

Roger Carter

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » September 17, 2009, 6:11 pm

Looks like all went well in the end, and you get to enjoy it with a smidge more summer lately here too.

Hawkrod · Post by **Hawkrod** » September 17, 2009, 7:37 pm

Congrats, sounds like the pan clearance was most likely your issue. It is actually more common than you can imagine. Hawkrod