Low Oil perssure ???

[Hydro-Thunder]

What all causes low oil pressure? It always has been low about 30-40 but now at idle it drops to about 10 psi? Any Ideas.

[78Eliminator]

Hydro-Thunder:
What all causes low oil pressure? It always has been low about 30-40 but now at idle it drops to about 10 psi? Any Ideas. A bad oil pump or REALLY hot oil will cause it to drop. Check your oil and/or water temp as well.

[Hotcrusader76]

10 psi at idle is not bad. That's around normal psi for an average oil pump.

[78Eliminator]

Hotcrusader76:
10 psi at idle is not bad. That's around normal psi for an average oil pump. Ty is right. I was assuming it was a HP oil pump.....

[Hydro-Thunder]

It is a stock pump and the pressure is not going up past 20 or so now. I dont have a oil temp gauge or cooler but the engine is out now and is getting a 10qt. pan and oil cooler with thermostat and gauge. I was just worried that something else might be bad. It has only two seasons on it and runs very strong otherwise.
How much pressure do you think I will add with a HV-HP pump? Milodon says aprox. 30% more?
Jesse

[Fiat48]

Verify the oil pressure with a known good mechanical gauge. If you are that low on oil pressure, get the pan off of it right away.

[Hydro-Thunder]

When I get the pan off is the only thing that I am looking for the bearings? what else should I be looking for?

[Hotcrusader76]

Silcone stuck inside the oil-pump pick-up screen....Hmmmm... :rolleyes:
Experience speaks louder than words....LOL.

[stix818]

I agree with fiat. If you only have 10 pounds at idle I think you definately want to investigate. I've never seen normal pressure to far below 40 psi. You and Hydro Thunder mentioned good starting points. I would verify the oil system (pump and drive) also when you have the pan off. Check those and then give us a shout and we'll try and help from there.
[ April 14, 2003, 08:03 PM: Message edited by: Stix818 ]

[Dyce51]

Hydro-Thunder:
It is a stock pump and the pressure is not going up past 20 or so now. I dont have a oil temp gauge or cooler but the engine is out now and is getting a 10qt. pan and oil cooler with thermostat and gauge. I was just worried that something else might be bad. It has only two seasons on it and runs very strong otherwise.
How much pressure do you think I will add with a HV-HP pump? Milodon says aprox. 30% more?
Jesse

[Dyce51]

Hydro-Thunder:
It is a stock pump and the pressure is not going up past 20 or so now. I dont have a oil temp gauge or cooler but the engine is out now and is getting a 10qt. pan and oil cooler with thermostat and gauge. I was just worried that something else might be bad. It has only two seasons on it and runs very strong otherwise.
How much pressure do you think I will add with a HV-HP pump? Milodon says aprox. 30% more?
Jesse Ok I alway run High Volume pumps on any engine I build..You can never have enough oil...but High Pressure you risk too much......excessive wear on bearings mainly and Milodon is a good choice
[ April 14, 2003, 08:06 PM: Message edited by: Dyce51 ]

[paradigm shift]

If you have pulled it out to install a new pan your right there you may as well check / replace bearings. That is if you don't find silicone or a relief valve stuck on existing oil pump. Do you cut you rol doil fiters to look for early signs of wear and tear? Pan and oil cooler are an excellent addition. Something has changed if oil pressure is lower now then before I am thinking. I would rather find it now and know I am good to go. :)

[Hydro-Thunder]

Thanks for the help I am going to go through it this weekend so I will get back with the results.

[LevoeDCB22]

Jesse [/qb][/QUOTE]Ok I alway run High Volume pumps on any engine I build..You can never have enough oil...but High Pressure you risk too much......excessive wear on bearings mainly and Milodon is a good choice [/QB][/QUOTE]
How much oil pressure is too much

[058]

LevoeDCB22:
Jesse Ok I alway run High Volume pumps on any engine I build..You can never have enough oil...but High Pressure you risk too much......excessive wear on bearings mainly and Milodon is a good choice [/QB][/QUOTE]
How much oil pressure is too much [/QB][/QUOTE] I would think anything over about 75 lbs at maximum rpm would be too much. General rule of thumb is 10 lbs pressure for every 1000 rpms.

[HammerDown]

058:
LevoeDCB22:
Jesse Ok I alway run High Volume pumps on any engine I build..You can never have enough oil...but High Pressure you risk too much......excessive wear on bearings mainly and Milodon is a good choice How much oil pressure is too much [/QB][/QUOTE] I would think anything over about 75 lbs at maximum rpm would be too much. General rule of thumb is 10 lbs pressure for every 1000 rpms. [/QB][/QUOTE]
Intresting thought...but would 10 lbs per 1000 in Marine VS Auto(street) vs Drag Car require the same application? The stress on a Marine motor really is in a league of it's own...maybe a little more volume is a good thing.
Makes me think why Mercuriser is using a HV pump in all there motors...even the moderate HP ones.

[eliminator777]

Every one has there ideas I just finished a 468 for a friend new hv pump with 800rpm drill and primer shaft 72lbs on auto meter oil filled gauge.50wt.oil.I'm doing a 468 for pipesclean and were useing a moroso blue printed pump on it.it will pump 80lbs 50.wt. oil thats cold. May be I sound stupid but motors cost to much,when you run hell out of them like we do in most boats,not to freshen up yearly. bearings rings gaskets,oilpump are cheaper than replacement.It's hard to under stand .you can spend a little or run it until it breaks,spend a lot.one thing to remenber oil pressure keeps the rod centered on the crank.Rule of thumb is bearings go away when the oil pressure drops :cool: :cool: . :cool: :cool:

[Fiat48]

I agree with constant checking of the motor at least each season. Many guys may have different opinions, but here's what I do. After the 1st hour running, I'll check the valve lash and look for any metal particles with the valve covers off. Then I remove the oil filter and inspect it after the first weekend running. Then I'll run a 2nd weekend and check the oil filter again, run a spring tension check and a leakdown test. If all is well, change the oil and it should be good for the season. I'll check the valve springs again mid season. End of the season, I'll leak it again. Check the bearings. I may magnaflux items depending on how hard it's been run.
Drag car is different. It's much harder on main bearings. Constant monitoring of the oil filter, valve lash checks after each run (tends to tulip valves if too lean).
Oil pressure is generally 80 lbs cold (25-50wt or straight 50 depending on season) and never under 60 lbs hot. I'm probably the only one you know that uses Penzoil racing oil. Currently the boat motor is dry sump and I am so impressed with dry sump that the Fiat will be dry sump this year also.

[stix818]

Dry sumps are the way to go. The only problem for me is they are a little more than I can currently afford. Oil pressure wise, my boat usually runs around 60 psi (warmed up) and we switched over from Penzoil to 10-30 Mobil 1 Synthetic.

[Fiat48]

Stix818:
Dry sumps are the way to go. The only problem for me is they are a little more than I can currently afford. Oil pressure wise, my boat usually runs around 60 psi (warmed up) and we switched over from Penzoil to 10-30 Mobil 1 Synthetic. Watch Ebay. I bought a dry sump pan for $130 and Stef's tank for $150. Made the drive setup on the lathe and the mill, now all I need is a pump. But I'll use the pump off the boat for now since I can't drive 2 at once. New pump is $650, seen pumps on Ebay for $250.
[ April 22, 2003, 10:49 PM: Message edited by: Fiat48 ]

[stix818]

I will defenitely be watching ebay now. Was there a certain search criteria that you used?
[ April 23, 2003, 09:08 PM: Message edited by: Stix818 ]

[Fiat48]

Stix818:
I will defenitely be watching ebay now. Was there a certain search criteria that you used? Here's a dry sump pan that didn't sell. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2410986915&category=38657
and another one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2410531473&category=38657
You might "ask seller a question" and ask him to relist. Dig around under "Dry Sump".

[Hydro-Thunder]

Thanks for the advise everyone it turned out to be the F'n Gauge. It was new but not accurate. The new Mec. gauge is at 65Psi.!!
Jesse

[skeepwerkzaz]

ALWAYS CHECK THE EASY STUFF FIRST. Let this be a lesson to us all gents.......Wires, senders, and gauges in a marine environment are a lot more prone to failure than usual.

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

I always run a guage plumbed in right at the sending unit to varify the console gauge. I ran a house brand (PAW) high pressure high volume oil pump one time and it cranked about 90psi, it also washed out my bearings. So I would have to agree that you can have too much oil pressure but never enough volume.