Another oil pressure question

After 6 agonizing weeks I finally got my Dauntless-SM420-Saginaw steering conversion almost done. So I fire the old girl up and set down and cried because at idle I have 2-3 lbs of pressure and when I rev her up I get about 25 lbs. max.

The history: When I bought the motor the PO said that he had been driving it untill it was parked for a few years. It had a lot of oil leaks so I put a new set of gaskets in it. While I had it apart I decided to replace the timing set, and put a set of bearings in it. The old bearings looked pretty good and were standard size so I just threw a new set of standards in her. I also put a napa oil pump kit in it. (I used a feeler gauge and everything was within the suggested tolerances)

After seeing the oil pressure, I got the steal repair plate from Napa and put in the longer spring. This made no difference at all.
Next I bought a new gauge and line kit, this also made no difference.

What next?

I haven't gotten her up to operating temps because I'm afraid to let her run that long even though the lifters don't seem noisey.
The only thing I have left to try is heavier oil ( has 10W30 now)or new bearings but I sure hate to pull the pan if I don't have to

Any suggestions?
Curtis

 

recheck what you're already done
oil pickup screen in pan: cleaned, new gasket, bolts tightened ?
timing cover and oil pump gaskets: no leaks ? bolts tight ?
manual gauge ?

 

I have rechecked everything and now have tried 3 gauges. I am about to give up

 

Have you replaced the oil pressure sender as well, or is it a mechanical oil pressure gauge?

 

Mechanical and I even replaced the line.
One note, I accidently left the line off and it blew oil everywhere. Maybe it doesn't take much pressure to make a mess?

 

Is there a possibility the oil filter is restricting the flow? Seems all else has been covered.

 

I'm heading to town this morning to pick up a filter and some heavier oil. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Curtis

 

Well I changed the filter and dumped in some 20w50 and the pressure came up a tad but as soon as I got it up to operating temp the oil pressure dropped to about 2 lbs at idle and the lifters started clattering. I guess I'm going to pull the pan and plastiguage the rods and mains.

 

Is there any chance you left out an oil galley plug somewhere? I am not that familier with the dauntless, but I know some motors use them. Could be leaking internally and bleeding all your pressure away.

 

Is the Distributor seated all the way down on the oil pump shaft? Or is the pin at the bottom of the distributor still there? I know when I replaced my timing chain I thought I had it all the way down, at the start I had oil pressure, but with in seconds didn't...lost oil pressure. I ended up rebuild my engine after tossing a ton of money at it. I bought a shim kit, booster plate kit & a tool to run/check the oil pump pressure with a drill from TA Performance. Don't give up...this is how we learn. Asfor oil many here would recommend Rotella T 15W - 40 due to the flat lifters found in these engines. The Rotella T has a higher zinc content, which they need.

 

even with the high volume oil pump (and 30w oil) I have ONLY 18psi at idle when it's warmed up.

 

Could you explain to me what the shim kit is and how it works?:?

 

I used .001 to .003 Plastigage (green), and in a nut shell put the pump together clean. On four points of each gear I placed a small piece of plastigage. Put the cover back on and tighten to the correct torque setting. Take a part and check the readings. I know mine was on the tight side, so I shimmed it, and since I had minor marking on the cover plate I added the booster plate which is steel. The shimms are different colors representing different thickness, and you add until to have the correct clearance. If you want the specific instruction on the oil pump rebuild send me a PM, and I'll find them.

 

FOUND THE PROBLEM!!!!
I pulled the pump apart one last time before I was going to pull the engine.
While examining it I found a small piece of grit in the bypass. After cleaning it out and reassembling the pump I have 25 lbs at idle and can rev her up and almost reach 60 lbs.
Wow am I relieved!

Now if I can just find whats causing the sputtering when I rev it up.

 

Great news!

 

Glad you got it..

 

Happy you found the problem and glad you gave us the answer.

 

man am i glad you got that squared away.
i was having nightmarish flashbacks of me and the slug..

 

My joy was pemature. After I warmed it up, the oil pressure is still a lot lower than I want to see it. I pulled the pan and let her drip overnight and this morning I'm going to plastigauge the rod and mains.

 

Here is the results of my plastigauge project:
#4 & #5 rods are .002 under all others are standard
Mains: #1 .004 #2 .004 #3 .003 and #4 .002 under

Do you think this is my oil pressure problem?