Zero Oil Pressure.

[itoktoeatfish]

I'm trying to take my Shelby Lancer to SDAC 27. Of course the engine developed a knock at the end of April. I didn't have time or money to rebuild it before SDAC comes around so I pulled it out and installed a known good, running, no issues bottom end from a 86 Shelby Charger along with a head from known good, running, no issues 91 Lebaron GTC.

I got everything cleaned up real nice and in stalled new seals. Nothing internally was touched. After getting this engine installed and started, dash gauge showed no oil pressure so I shut it off and then verified the sending unit was hooked up. So I hooked up a mechanical gauge, again no pressure.

I primed and installed a new oil pump I had kicking around. I pulled the spark plugs and had some one watch the gauge while cranking. No pressure.

I've blown air through the turbo oil feed line and there are air bubbles coming from around the lifters and with the threaded part that the oil filter threads onto removed air out of there too. The last place there is fresh oil is in the block where the threaded oil filer check valve goes. The check valve is not stuck.

I thought maybe I had gotten the wrong or a defective oil filter so I installed the old one. No pressure.

With the oil filter off, oil is flowing from the pump out of the block.

I don't see how there can be absolutely no oil pressure with out a large leak.

Am I missing something real stupid? Thanks for any and all help!

[cordes]

That is a really interesting problem. Without any oil pressure at all it makes me wonder if your sender and mechanical gauge aren't both bad? Either that, or your oil pump took a catastrophic dump on you are the most inopportune time. Have you verified that the rotor is turning?

[itoktoeatfish]

Well its a brand new pump that I primed by hand and is flowing oil to the filter.

I wish it was as simple as bad gauges but there is no oil in the turbo feed line or oil to the head.

[cordes]

Bad pump right out of the gate? If you primed it, I would think that you'd get pressure. I've cut the tip off of a spade type wood drill bit before and used a drill on the slot in the oil pump where the dist rides in order to prime a pump. It would bog down a very large drill that I own when it made pressure. Perhaps try that?

[tryingbe]

Well its a brand new pump that I primed by hand and is flowing oil to the filter.

Prime some more by hand.

If you turn the intermediate shaft by hand, you should feel the resistance as it suck up the oil.

[itoktoeatfish]

I could try it. Couldn't hurt at this point.

The only other thing I've thought about is possibly a main bearing got spun and blocked an oil passage. I don't know the "mapping" of the oil passages and in what order things get oil pressure from the pump.

Thanks for your replies BTW!

[cordes]

If I'm not mistaken, it goes from the oil filter through the front oil galley in the block which runs along the front side. I assume you've got a mechanical gauge at the oil distribution block on the front of the cyl block. If that's the case, there should be nothing to impede the flow of oil unless there's a major blockage right up front. That's highly unlikely unless you got a bunch of crap in the oil pickup or perhaps the front of the block somehow when replacing the pump.

[Dr. Johny Dodge]

the distribution block that the oil sender , switch and line to the turbo are all screwed into ...

check you haven't threaded it to far into the block - it's quite easy to do

remove the sender , switch and oil line from it and remove it from the engine

check the depth of the hole vs the length of the part of the oil distribution block portion that threads into the engine

if it's screwed in to far it can block the passage to the top of the engine - and into the dist block

and on that same note , check you haven't screwed the sender to far into the distribution block as that could block oil from reaching the sender

same for the switch if it's between the sender and engine in it's position on the oil dist block

and lol check you haven't blocked something here with a bit of teflon tape that might have moved across one of the oil passage holes on something when you installed it

I have in the past stuck a couple of washers on the thread of the oil dist block where it threads into the motor so that it would insure the thread would not go to deep into the engine yet still give me a tight fit with the threads

that threaded portion of the dist block is longer on some dist blocks than others

[Dr. Johny Dodge]

oh yeah , I should add ---

NEVER EVER use a brass or bronze fitting on the oil dist block for any reason

not unless you are keen on the idea of accellerator induced rust proofing of your engine compartment

yep total evacuation of all engine oil , instantly ... whatever is screwed in using the brass or bronze fitting will blow off with enough force it could even dent your hood
(not that mine did when the switch blew off)

as for the rust proofing part , yeah , it won't miss anything ......

a smart man learns from his mistakes
a wise man learns from both his mistakes and those of others
a fool learns nothing

[Dr. Johny Dodge]

sometimes when thrashing an engine together our hands keep feeling for tight instead of threaded in enough
I've done this to with the vacume source plastic thingy on the older log motors
just finishing up a motor or head install I threaded that vacume can on the log intake in to far , .. hand feeling for tight , when I heard a pop sound
no the plastic thingy didn't break but instead the part above the thread on it that V's upward to the canister part pushed down into the hole in the manifold , SPLITTING the aluminum manifold in a couple of inches to either side of the hole

half a days work shot to hell as we know what's involved to swap an intake manifold ...

an absolutely stellar fudge up there if I do say so myself

hopefully after these posts you can smile and chuckle as you check that dist block

oh there's a really quick way to add a drain plug to a 525 trans
pull out the lowest most bolt on the driver's side diff bearing retainer plate .. fill hole with silicone , reinstall bolt
remove rear cover and remove chunk of case that blew out into the diff area

it should taper slightly outwards from the bolt hole to about a quarter sized circle on the inside surface of the case without any other damage

yeah I still had some old silicone in that hole when I reinstalled the bearing retainer ...

[Keito]

Oil restrictor to the head installed?
Will he have zero pressure if it's missing, I thought the pressure would be low.

[Chris W]

I'm trying to take my Shelby Lancer to SDAC 27. Of course the engine developed a knock at the end of April. I didn't have time or money to rebuild it before SDAC comes around so I pulled it out and installed a known good, running, no issues bottom end from a 86 Shelby Charger along with a head from known good, running, no issues 91 Lebaron GTC.

I got everything cleaned up real nice and in stalled new seals. Nothing internally was touched. After getting this engine installed and started, dash gauge showed no oil pressure so I shut it off and then verified the sending unit was hooked up. So I hooked up a mechanical gauge, again no pressure.

I primed and installed a new oil pump I had kicking around. I pulled the spark plugs and had some one watch the gauge while cranking. No pressure.

I've blown air through the turbo oil feed line and there are air bubbles coming from around the lifters and with the threaded part that the oil filter threads onto removed air out of there too. The last place there is fresh oil is in the block where the threaded oil filer check valve goes. The check valve is not stuck.

I thought maybe I had gotten the wrong or a defective oil filter so I installed the old one. No pressure.

With the oil filter off, oil is flowing from the pump out of the block.

I don't see how there can be absolutely no oil pressure with out a large leak.

Am I missing something real stupid? Thanks for any and all help!

If you replaced the oil pump did you use anaerobic sealer when installing the new one? Did you use an O-Ring on the oil pick up tube? Two easy mistakes people sometimes miss that can cause low or no oil pressure.

Chris-TU

[masterjr33]

# Check ball

fresh oil at the check valve may be from you putting in a wet filter.

take a punch and push on the check ball. make sure it moves.


# oil distributions block.
unscrew the oil pressure block some. see if that fixes it. some times you can screw them in to much.
what oil lines are you running to the turbo?
# pump spinning????
remove dizzy. remember angle of pump slots .
turn engine over some.
did the angle of the pump slots move? can you verify the pump is turning?


# getting oil out of motor
keep plugs out untill you figure this out.
keep the plug out of the plug on the oil sender and turn it over untill you see oil come out of there.
it will SHOOT out of there if it is moving oil. the plug you put a mechanical gauge on.

# prime more.
remove timing belt.
Get a wood bore bit. the flat style.. grind it untill it fits the dizzy shaft.
or put an air rachet on the intermediate shaft.
Spin it for a few minutes. had one with a large air bubble in the galley . took about 20 minutes to get it cleared.

# oil pump/pick up/mounting.
if you verify that the pump is turning with the shaft.
take the filter off. and turn over the pump by method above.
oil should come out of the filter hole if the pump/pickup/mounting is correct.
if you spin the pump with oil in the pan and nothing come out of the filter area.. you need to drop the pan and check the o ring and the mounting of the pump. or a blockage at the pick up.

# head restrictor.
if you get oil from the filter area. and you get some oil from the sender area.
remove the bolt on the drivers side of the head in the middle.
and turn the pump over. oil should squirt out of there although not as hard as the sender area.

if it flows but does not squirt. i would suspect your restrictor might be missing.
you can also remove the cylinder head and look. possibly tell if the top end is getting to much oil.

[itoktoeatfish]

Thanks for the replys everyone!

Most of those things I had already checked but some I hadn't thought of.

I thought I would try priming the pump again. This time I used an old distributor housing and a drill with a big enough chuck to fit over the shaft. With the timing belt off I spun the distributor and almost instantly had oil pressure. I let it spin for a few seconds and verified I had oil going to the head and lifters. I then reinstalled the timing belt, cranked over the engine with the plugs still out, and verified pressure while cranking. I then started it up and let it run for roughly 45 seconds and it held over 60 psi according to the mechanical gauge at idle.

I'm not sure what changed or maybe it wasn't cranking fast enough to pull oil through to prime the system but for now it seems ok. I will of course keep the mechanical gauge on.

I have a lot of work a head of me to make it to SDAC 27!

[cordes]

Glad to hear you have that worked out. I hope to see you at SDAC.

[masterjr33]

nice to hear. i had one fight me for half a day. Dead dry new engine.
I think i had an air bubble in the galley and it just would nice build any pressure.

[thedon809]

Thanks for the replys everyone!

Most of those things I had already checked but some I hadn't thought of.

I thought I would try priming the pump again. This time I used an old distributor housing and a drill with a big enough chuck to fit over the shaft. With the timing belt off I spun the distributor and almost instantly had oil pressure. I let it spin for a few seconds and verified I had oil going to the head and lifters. I then reinstalled the timing belt, cranked over the engine with the plugs still out, and verified pressure while cranking. I then started it up and let it run for roughly 45 seconds and it held over 60 psi according to the mechanical gauge at idle.

I'm not sure what changed or maybe it wasn't cranking fast enough to pull oil through to prime the system but for now it seems ok. I will of course keep the mechanical gauge on.

I have a lot of work a head of me to make it to SDAC 27!I have found these engines a pain to prime initially. I usually squirt oil down the oil filter hole until it starts coming out. Then I crank until I see pressure and then start the engine.