Oil Pressure??

[myfirstii]

Well i finally got my engine all finishhed and everything buttoned up. I fired her up and it crank right over and it fired. She purred like a kitten....Well maybe a kitten on steroids since i dont have any mufflers on her right now. But anyways, I t was running perfect. I checked my oil pressure guage and it wasnt reading anything and i didnt see any oil in the line that goes to it so that got me alittle worried. I shut the motor off and pulled a valve cover and started it again and i saw no oil. Isnt there suppose to be oil flyin everywhere under those valve covers? Or at idle is there little oil pressure going to the rocker arms? I dont know what could cause this? Theres enough oil, I used my old oil pumo from my 78 motor thats in perfect condition (only 27,000 miles on it) The original pick up tuibe and oil pump drive shaft. So after finding out there was no oil pressure to the heads i pulled the distributer and checked to make sure the oil pump shaft was still there and it was. The only thing is its not in the middle of the thing ...its kinda leaning on the wall...If that makes sense?? I tried to get a 1/4 inch socket over it to prime it by hand but because its against the wall i cant get it on. Can this be the problem?? Any help would be great.
Thanks,
PAt
78 Mustang
92 5.0
AFR Heads
scorpion 1.72 rr
Road demon carb
edelbrock air gap intake
e303 cam

 

[Wart]

Don't run it till you get oil pumping.

It's a bit late to vasoline (ie) the pump, so get a socket that will fit on the pump shaft, a 6" extension and an adapter for the reversable drill.

Spin the oil filter off until the gasket has parted from the block or better yet, remove it completely.

Spin the pump (+ rotation, CCW) till oil flows from the block. Put the filter back on, spin the pump till the gauge comes up then untill see oil in the head. Turn the engine one revolution and pump oil another 15 seconds to a minute.

Brother in law had his 396 rebuilt, stuck it in the car, started it and figured eventually it would make pressure. He wound up rebuilding the engine. Again.


BTW, I started doing the priming procedure every time I have an engine apart. I like to think it helps get any crud out of the engine that may have found it's way in.

 

[welder4956]

Sounds like a problem with the oil pump or the pickup. Don't start it again till you find the problem. A new oil pump and shaft are a good investment while it's apart.

 

[myfirstii]

WART- Thanks for the reply,I havnt ran the motor since. I really don't want to mess up the first motor that i built. What do you mean by Vasoline the pump?? Ive never heard of that. Do you happen to know what size socket will fit the shaft? Ive tried a bunch and cant seem to get one to fit. Why wouldnt there be any oil pressure? Does it just take a while to get it flowing? Im just scared I didnt do Something right and im going to have to pull the motor. well I'll go out and give it another try maybe im just getting to frustrated. Thanks for the Help.

PArt

 

[Wart]

Back in the days of old it was standard pratice to dissasemble the pump and coat the gears and inside of the housing to make sure they were sealed well enough to overcome resistance and start pumping.

Today it's been said pumps are made to tight enough tolerances that this isn't needed. OTOH I saw an artical on blueprinting the pump because they generally arent that well put together ..... Take it for what it's worth.

By removing the oil filter you have removed the major source of resistance, and since you will be running the pump with a drill motor you don't have to worry about screwing up the engine.

 

[myfirstii]

Well I got home last night for thanksgiving break and I went straight out to the garage and did what wart told me to do. Well unfortunately, i had no luck. But I did find out my oil pump is working. I have plently of oil running threw my block. I can see it from the distributer hole and when it poured out of the oil filter adapter. I'm just no getting any to my heads. What did I do wrong? Im getting really frustrated, i just want to get her back on the road before i go back down to college. Any help would be great
thanks guys,
Pat
5.0
AFR 165's emission legel
Rpm Air Gap intake
Road Demon 625 Carb
E303 Cam

 

[Wart]

But I did find out my oil pump is working. I have plently of oil running threw my block. I can see it from the distributer hole and when it poured out of the oil filter adapter. I'm just no getting any to my heads. What did I do wrong?

Maybe nothing.

Ford lifters don't always pass a whole lot of oil. If you are using a low speed drill it may not be moving enough oil to make lots of pressure.

Have an oil pressure gauge? What's it reading. Does the drill have to work harder with the filter installed?

What do you mean you can see it from the distributer hole?

About brother in law (ref previous post), finally got both sides of the story. Seems he installed the engine, ran the pump with a priming tool, didn't get pressure, so he took it on a drive from hell on the freeway to spin the pump up and make it work. Seems whoever rebuilt the engine forgot the soft plugs for the lifter gally.

Interesting how I heard both sides ... at a halloween party .... but thats another story. Suffice it to say brother in law doesn't want to see what cost him so much money was 'running' an engine with a gage showing 0.

 

[myfirstii]

Yes I have a brand new mechanical guage and It reads around 10-12 Psi when the drill is at full power. What i meant is that I can see the oil flowing over the camshaft gear and threw the block when i look in the distributer hole. The drill I'm using is a 1/3 hp electrical drill. When i run it at full power I can hear a kind of slapping or bubbling noise coming from what seems to be the under side of the heads. So i don't know if that tells you anything.
Thanks For all the help Wart Your a big help.
Pat

 

[myfirstii]

TTP

 

[Wart]

This stuff is so much easier to fo in person than to write about .....

Bubbling? Seems that would indicate air. Sure there is still enough oil in it and the pickup isn't sucking air?

Are you sure the oil pumps tight to the block? Did you remove the pick up?

You have oil going over the cam gear with 12 psi of oil pressure?

Your making only 12 psi in a cold engine? Even with a low speed drill (you should be using one able to run 2,000 rpm, HP doesn't matter) there should be much more than that.

This could be something as simple as running the drill in the wrong direction (should turn CCW), a PsITA such as a shot pump, a loose pump or pickup, or something as nasty as wrong, missing or loose parts.

Sorry, wish I had a definate answer.

 

[myfirstii]

Well, this is starting to be a big pain in the a**. I dont even know where to begin. Well after I primed the oil pump and I got the 12 psi I decided to start the engine cause I thought every thing was ok. Well after getting the timing right I started her up and immediatly checked the oil pressure and yup....no oil pressure. So it looks like im back to square one. Wart you said it could be missing parts. What parts would cause this? How about this, if you were me where would you begin? Thanks alot for all the help again.
Pat

 

[THE COBRAMAN]

For what it's worth, I once had the small soft plug at the rear of the lifter valley come out. This plug is where the passages are drilled to the lifter galleries, I believe. Since the oil was freely being pumped against the bottom of the intake, there was very little resistance, and showed no pressure. I learned this after I put (another) new pump on it (in the car) with no improvement . Pulled the intake, found open oil galley at the back.

Put (another) new soft plug in it, still runs fine today. Never really did figure out what happened, but from that day on, I put 'em in myself rather than letting the machine shop install them. Apparently it was undersize, or bottomed in the hole, and the pressure forced it out of the cavity.

Just something to check, without necessarily having to go to pulling the engine.

 

[vetwhat]

there's also a galley plug behind the timing cover& gear. it may be out. Are you sure the cam bearings are seated properly? those bearings have a chamfered hole for the oil to lube the cam, if they aren't in properly they would definitely stop up your oil pressure. i'm not saying take it apart just talk to whomever put them in and see what they did. woth a shot

 

[myfirstii]

Thanks guys for the input. The block is a ford racing shortblock so I would think everything was done correct. But maybe thats what I did wrong i assumed they did it right and didnt check my self. I guess im just lazy sometimes. Im at the hospital right now cause my mom is in surgery, so I'll pull the intake when i get home and check for the soft plugs. Thanks forallthe help.
Pat
93 5.0 Ford Racing Shortblock
Afr 165 Heads
Edelbrock RPM Air Gap Intake
Road Demon 625cfm Carb
E303 Cam

 

[myfirstii]

Well I fixed the probelm. It was the soft plug at the back of the lifter valley. I pulled the intake on saturday and put in a plug from my old motor, because pepboys had no clue what i was talkin about. And it worked like a charm. I primed the motor again with the drill and i got about 60 psi of pressure. So i put the motor back together and turned her over and I was getting about 55psi at 2000 rpm. Does that sound about right? I think so. Thanks to everyone who helped me get her running!
Pat