no oil pressure on first start up?

biggyfan1 · Apr 12, 2008

well she is ready to be started for the cam break in so i turned the key and right away it starts and idles like a dream. im keeping an eye on the oil pressure from inside the car and waiting for it to go up so i can then move to the carb and let her idle at 2000rpm for 20 min....... well after about 15 sec the oil pressure never went up so i shut her down!! i didnt hear any knocking at all but then again i am only running headers right now and it was super noisy. i primed the oil system about 3 months ago with my drill on the oil pomp shaft, what i did was i took the valve covers off and put that drill on there and spun it until oil cam out the top of my roller lifters. it took about a full battery on the drill to make that happen.

is there a way to check the oil gauge to see if it even works?

D.Hearne · Apr 12, 2008

Loosen the gauge capillary line and crank the engine without fire to the coil and see if oil comes out of the line. It would be better yet to pull the distributor and reprime the system with a drill though and see if oil comes thru the pressure line.

biggyfan1 · Apr 12, 2008

ok. i just tested the gauge and it works. i hooked it up to a 9v battery and it went up. so now i will take out my oil sending unit/censor and see if oil comes out. if it does then i might just need a new sending censor huh? can those he tested?

D.Hearne · Apr 12, 2008

Oh, I thought you had a mechanical gauge. Remove the sensor and I gaurantee you'll have oil squirting out. Can't tell you how to test the sensor.

biggyfan1 · Apr 12, 2008

yes i had oil come out of the tube. i wouldn't say it squirt out with any type of pressure but it started to poor out. i had a friend turn the motor over for about 4-5 sec and oil poured out of the tube. should it have squirted out like a stream?

BarnStang · Apr 13, 2008

I wouldn't think it would squirt out unless it was spinning over pretty fast. If you get a new sending unit, make sure yo get one for a gauge, not the light. You can test your gauge faster next time by pulling the wire off the sender and grounding it. THe gauge should swing nearly full scale when you turn the key to ON (not start...). THis works for temp and fuel too. To save starting and stopping on a new break-in, get a cheap mechanical gauge at the local parts store ~$20 or pick one up at a swap meet for $5. Great to just have a short capillary tube so you can lay it on the intake and KNOW you have oil pressure and monitor while you finish the break-in.

biggyfan1 · Apr 13, 2008

ok great thanks for the info. i was hoping it didnt need to squirt out like a stream because thats not the case with the flow of my oil coming out of the sending tube :/

battyice · Apr 14, 2008

You should avoid interrupting the cam break-in process if possible. Starting and stopping the engine a bunch of times to troubleshoot an oil pressure guage isn't going to do your new cam any favors.

You may want to just install a mechanical guage until you are finished with your cam break-in.

LMan · Apr 15, 2008

You should use a mechanical gauge permanently. I would not trust my oil pressure readings to an electrical sender, but that's just me.

biggyfan1 · Apr 15, 2008

oil pressure

yah i have started it about 5 times now, each time has been no longer then 5-10 sec at most. I have a roller motor so its easier on the cam don't you think? i know i really need to break in the cam with one start for 20min @ 2000rpm but when the oil says 0 psi i shut her down. I though i fixed it and tried again then shut her down once again. Now after about 5 starts i think I'm just going to give it one more start and say F*** it and let it go for the 20min's that it needs. I'm 99% sure the oil sending sensor is bad and that i have oil pressure. It just gives me that sick felling when i see the gauge at rock bottom zero. getting that mechanical unit is the way i think im going to go. does anyone think ive done harm to the cam? i think NOT just because ive seen twice in my life where friends have cut the engine off after 5 mins in the cam break in proses because the car was getting hot real fast. if i can remember right they did this about 3 times before the car even got its 20min break in. in the end the car was fine.

battyice · Apr 15, 2008

biggyfan1 said:
I have a roller motor so its easier on the cam don't you think? i know i really need to break in the cam with one start for 20min @ 2000rpm but when the oil says 0 psi i shut her down.

I didn't notice you had a roller cam, sorry about that. There is no "break in periord" per say compared to a flat tappet. As long as you have oil pressure, it will be fine.

Even with a flat tappet, small block fords don't really have a problem wiping off a cam lobe. Nothing like a big block chevy.

Fast63 · Apr 16, 2008

every time I started up my roller cam engine after rebuilding it, I just let it idle. Never had a problem.

woodsnake · Apr 16, 2008

Are you sure the guage is the problem? Isn't there an oil plug that goes in the block at the rear of the motor under the intake? A lot of folks leave that out when the block comes back from the machine shop.

Also, when you primed the engine before, did the gauge work? Could you pull the dist back out, and have some body watch the gauge while you spin the pump with a drill again?

10secgoal · Apr 16, 2008

If you primed it and had oil come out of the rockers its fine. If you want to make 100% sure, start it and put your hands on the valve covers. You'll feel the clacking if there is not oil pressure.

biggyfan1 · Apr 16, 2008

started it up and let it run for a wile today, every thing went just fine. the sending unit must be bad. the gauge works and i have oil pressure so its the unit im sure. i even bypassed the stock wire and ran a new wire from gauge to unit to see if it were a bad wire and it still didnt work. she starts right up and sounds nice. im only a little mad about my timing gears not making any noise. i have the "loud" ones and i cant even hear them. i didnt drive the car because i still need a torque converter.

7D3mach · Apr 16, 2008

woodsnake said:
Are you sure the guage is the problem? Isn't there an oil plug that goes in the block at the rear of the motor under the intake? A lot of folks leave that out when the block comes back from the machine shop.

Also, when you primed the engine before, did the gauge work? Could you pull the dist back out, and have some body watch the gauge while you spin the pump with a drill again?

I had the same problem, the car started and ran fine but showed no oil pressure. The machine shop had taken the plug out when cleaning the block. The only real give away was that oil was leaking out from the back of the intake.

biggyfan1 · Apr 16, 2008

mine is not leaking anything. im just glad this thing is almost ready for the road. in an early post i put that my oil didnt spray out of the sending tube, but it just poored out. well now that i put a better battery in there with more cranking amps it cranks faster so i tried checking it again with the sending unit pull off and this time is sprayed all the way over to the fender. so yah i have pressure.
i went to auto zone to see if they had a sending unit and they did for 10.99 but it was huge. mine is like the size of about 10 quarters stacked up and the one they have is the size of half of a coke can lol. i said naaaaaa i will check in to the other style sender.

Rusty67 · Apr 17, 2008

That sounds like your problem right there. If I remember correctly, the sending unit for an idiot light is about 1/6th the size of the sending unit for a gauge. Sounds to me like you are trying to use an idiot light sending unit for a gauge.

jlangholzj · Apr 17, 2008

I'm suprised that nobody suggested pulling a valve cover and turning it over. granted you'll have a little oil spillage, but it would let you know for sure if you had oil press.

biggyfan1 · Apr 29, 2008

It was the oil sending unit. Thanks for your help and info guys!! the oil goes right up as soon as i crank her now. thanks again.

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