I am at my wits end.

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Coyote Jack

Coyote Jack

Member #55, I'm old
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I am starting a new thread here in the small block forum.

My lack of oil pressure has me at my wits end. I built this engine from scratch other than the machine work. Here is what I have checked so far. All oil galley plugs are present and accounted for at the rear of the engine. I have checked visually or by probe the following plugs. Oil filter adapter area, plug just above the oil pump drive gear and the plug just above the oil pump. I measured down from the top of the block 7.5 inches to that plug. The plugs at the rear of the block must be there as oil is not leaking from there. The plugs at the front of the block on either side of the cam are not there but the cam retainer plate covers them and no oil is coming out of around the plate.
I have installed a new oil pump even though the old one still worked. I installed a new oil pressure gauge and line just to make sure it wasn't a faulty gauge.

Here is what I have. When I prime the oil pump oil slowly comes out of the oil sender hole in the block. It is not shooting out. I have oil coming from the front cam bearing and dripping down on the timing gears. Oil is getting to the main bearings, I checked the rear main and there was lots of oil there. All lifters are in their bores as I have the intake off so I can see things better. No oil seems to be getting to the heads although I did see some oil getting to the front of the passenger side head once. I have never been able to get any oil to the drivers side head.

Is it possible to install a head gasket wrong to cause a problem like this? I thought the dowels made sure you couldn't do that.

I am open to any and all suggestions you might have. The only thing I have not done is take the heads off.

Make a suggestion even if you think it is something trivial. I make mistakes just like everybody else so I could have done something wrong.

Jack
 
What cam and lifters are you running? There is another thread with the same problem and the lifter didn't cover the oil gallery at lift .
 
Did you rotate the motor (turn the crank by hand) while you are priming the pump? You need to to get it up to the heads.
 
What about the oil galley plug at the rear of the block that is INSIDE the block. You must remove one of the plugs on the back in the bellhousing area to access it. It is to the driver's side of the distributor and plugs the driver's side oil galley. There is also a plug that installs up inside the block where the rear main installs. If either of these plugs is left out, you will have zero oil pressure.
 
Bring the motor to TDC and prime, rotate 90* prime again, rotate 90* prime etc. You should get oil to each bank if cam bearing and block to head passage is good.
 
Also check for two plugs BEHIND THE CAMSHAFT THRUST PLATE!!!

I had a machine shop leave those out once and it took 4 engine pulls to find it. You have to remove the camshaft thrust plate to see them.
 
william said:
What cam and lifters are you running? There is another thread with the same problem and the lifter didn't cover the oil gallery at lift .
Click to expand...

If you have a cam and "dumbell" lifters with over about .525 lift this could be the problem. First time I put a cam in a 273, tore my hair out over this. Actually it is not at lift, it is with the lifter on the base of the cam.
 
william said:
What cam and lifters are you running? There is another thread with the same problem and the lifter didn't cover the oil gallery at lift .
Click to expand...

My cam is a solid flat tappet and the lifters are MP lifters. Total lift is .565. No oil is coming from the underside of the lifters so I am confident that the lifters are not uncovering the oil passage.

Jack
 
RustyRatRod said:
What about the oil galley plug at the rear of the block that is INSIDE the block. You must remove one of the plugs on the back in the bellhousing area to access it. It is to the driver's side of the distributor and plugs the driver's side oil galley. There is also a plug that installs up inside the block where the rear main installs. If either of these plugs is left out, you will have zero oil pressure.
Click to expand...

Thanks Rob, but both of those are there.

Jack
 
krazykuda said:
Also check for two plugs BEHIND THE CAMSHAFT THRUST PLATE!!!

I had a machine shop leave those out once and it took 4 engine pulls to find it. You have to remove the camshaft thrust plate to see them.
Click to expand...

I checked them and they are not there. Only problem is not all blocks had them and as long as the cam thrust plate is not leaking then that is not the problem. The cam thrust plate is not leaking.

Jack
 
Coyote Jack said:
I checked them and they are not there. Only problem is not all blocks had them and as long as the cam thrust plate is not leaking then that is not the problem. The cam thrust plate is not leaking.

Jack
Click to expand...


That's what prevented me from getting good oil pressure in a71 340. I would put them in to be safe.
 
Coyote Jack said:
I checked them and they are not there. Only problem is not all blocks had them and as long as the cam thrust plate is not leaking then that is not the problem. The cam thrust plate is not leaking.

Jack
Click to expand...


The thrust plate maynot leak all the time. When I primed the pump looking for the problem, it didn't leak. When my "monkey see, monkey do brother saw the priming shaft and drill sticking out of the engine, he just had to try it. Then a couple of jets of oil squirted out at me. That's how I found the problem. After putting the plugs in there, my oil pressure was normal...
 
Is this an LA or a Magnum engine?
 
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