need help ive got no oil pressure

Well, if you primed it & it still isn't picking up then it could be a problem with the pickup.

You did remenber to put the pickup back in, didn't you?:twisted:

Did you put the gasket in where the pickup bolts to the block?

Is the pickup clogged up?

Oil in the pan?

Is the pump turning?

Will Lassie make it to the farm before the old mine caves in trapping little Timmy Forever???

Enquiring Minds Want To Know-

H.

 

Is your gauge electrical or mechanical? Wouldn't be the first electrical gauge that didn't work on a new installation..

 

I wouldn't start it again until you definitely have oil pressure. You should be able to get noticeable pressure on the gauge by just turning the engine over with the starter. I'd unhook the gauge line at the block and try spinning it over to check for oil flow.

 

Before you tear the engine apart again, I'd check that oil pump again. I've never been a particularly big fan of the "pack it full of vaseline" idea just because I've seen it not prime on occasion, just like this one.

Drop the oil pump off the engine and submerse the whole thing in a container of SAE30 oil. Gently spin the pump by hand several rotations in each direction and you should see it pump. Lift it out of the container and install it without draining the oil out of it. When you crank the engine, leave the coil wire off and pull the plugs so you can get some good spin on it without firing. Watch the pressure gauge as you crank it and you should see a measurable oil pressure reading or something else is wrong.

 

I wouldn't think so, but remember these machines were built before multi-viscosity and high-detergent oils were commonly available.

When I was into racing, the engine builders all told me the only reason NOT to run straight SAE 50 wt oil in a street/strip car was because you had to change it every 1000 miles and it would be harder to start in cold temps. My cars never saw 1000 miles a year or anything colder than about 50* so it was no big deal then. YMMV.

 

Theres 3 or 4 of those plugs if you look for them, they're at the ends of oil galleries that were drilled into the block at the factory. If one of them was removed by the rebuilders for block cleaning & not replaced that could certainly be your problem.

H.

 

:iagree:

Inside the front cover there is also a big hex-bolt looking doodad that has a tiny orifice bore into one side; this is the oil supply port for the timing gears and if it is missing the oil pressure will be very low due to the lack of restriction. The timing gears get their lubrication from a passage in the front main bearing, the screw-in orifice should point toward the timing gears.

 

FWIW a drawing.



Looking at this it would appear the plugs I mentioned are there to seal the feeds drilled for the camshaft journals. Even if one or more is missing or the timing gear oiler is missing as Steve suggested there should at least be oil making it into the main gallery. If you've pulled the fittings from the side of the block either at the pressure sensor, the line to the head or the feed to the filter & nothing is coming out at all I'd be inclined to say that theres no oil at all getting into the main gallery.

So-

the pump isn't pumping

or

the pressure relief is stuck wide open

or

the pump is sucking air

or

No oil is getting to the pump to be pumped


H.