[ve3ham]

Ok here goes my question..
I have a 351 windsor engine that I put new heads,Cam.Lifters.
Heads ...> Dart Senior.
Cam...>Comp Cam......
gross valve lift .541 intake .544 exhaust
duration at .006 tappet lift 284 int 296 exh
The engine had only a few miles on it with the stock heads and the stock cam .(rebuild at 30 over )
I had no problem with the oil pressure as the engine was stock.
I changed the heads and the cam,lifters.
When I spun up the oil pump with a drill it only would come up to about 20 lbs and the drop down..
I fired up the engine and the pressure came up to about 40 psi.
I did the break in time on the cam and as the engine warmed up the oil psi dropped to about 20 at idle.
I talked to several people and they said that maybe during the installation of the new heads ,cam,lifters there might have been some carbon deposit that dropped into the pump .
I used some engine flush and that worked ....65 psi when cold.
About 50 psi when going down the track and about 25 at idle.
All was well until I took out the gear off the distributer.
I put another distributer in and oil psi was all over the place .
I did another oil engine flush and the pump seemed to come back to life.
Steady when cold 60 psi but going down the track last week I heard the lifters starving for oil and I had a look at the oil pressure gage at it was at 20 psi not enough for 6000 rpm.
I cant figure out what is going on is my oil pump on its why out ?
I have changed oil and filter several times to make sure thar was no deb re from the distributer gear that went bad on me.
I have tried several grades of oil and the last oil change was 4 liters penzoil and 1 liter Lukas oil.
That did not help with the oil pressure .
I am lost the next thing I am about to do is lift the motor and change the oil pump as that is the only why because my oil pan is a double hump and that is the only why I can get a new oil pump in.
If you think I have missed some thing let me know.
Thanks for any info in advance.......Ray.

 

[coldknock]

Get the pump off and remove the plate that cover the gears inside. Look for any evidence of contact.

I've sold a few recently that had a bad misalignment with the face of the pump gears and the pumps gear cover. The gear faces weren't parallel with the pumps gear cover. The edges of the gears ground into the cover until they twisted the pumps driveshaft and all hell broke loose

Also, if the clearance between dist., pump driveshaft and oil pump isn't adequate the pump gears will bind on the pumps gear cover.

Larry

 

[machine shop tom]

Get the pump off and remove the plate that cover the gears inside. Look for any evidence of contact.

I've sold a few recently that had a bad misalignment with the face of the pump gears and the pumps gear cover. The gear faces weren't parallel with the pumps gear cover. The edges of the gears ground into the cover until they twisted the pumps driveshaft and all hell broke loose

Also, if the clearance between dist., pump driveshaft and oil pump isn't adequate the pump gears will bind on the pumps gear cover.

Larry

Hey, Larry, what kind of pumps were they?

tom

 

[coldknock]

Melling M68. I check all of them now or tell the builders to check them beforehand to be sure.

Larry

 

[brainsboy]

Well it worked before and not now only after heads, cam, and lifters. First someone mentioned carbon, this really is not likely do to the oiling system length, and the heads do not have any oil pressure ports in them. There are two spots I would check. 1st would be to check the oil pump shaft or inside of the distributor for wear, sometimes these will oval out, and give some wild readings. If all is ok with this, pull the intake, you didnt say if the cam was a roller or not, but in roller cams even with those lifts some lifters will come out of the bore enough to expose the oil slot.

I think the key is in the cam setup, since the pressure instantly was low


Ben

 

[ve3ham]

Oil Pump

Thanks guys for the replies .
Larry I don't no what kind of pump it is stock ford as far as I no.
As far as gears the oil pump is driving via the distributer witch is driving via the cam shaft.
The Distributer has a hexagon on the bottom of it that drives the oil pump shaft.
I wish there was a easier why to put a new oil pump on other than taking the engine out.
Thanks again guys keep the ideas coming....Ray.

 

[brainsboy]

I dont think its your pump, pumps dont just go bad, could be a few things in your cam setup. Lifter diameter, cam journal diameter, lifters coming too far out.. This is the only thing u changed since the problem...

 

[ve3ham]

Brainsboy.........Yes I was thinking it was not the oil pump also.
Yes all I did to the new rebuilt 351w was change the heads,cam,lifters.
And that is when my problem started with the oil pressure up and down and not consistent.
There was one thing I forgot to mention was after the distributer gear was ground off I put a long hexagon bit down to the oil pump crank shaft and it was showing residence as I turned it clock wise to make sure it was not seized.
After I EFL that I put some penetrating oil down the hole where the oil pump shaft goes and started to turn the shaft again and it freed up the shaft.
I don't no what that was all about but it was almost to the point of being sized maybe that is what happened to the gear on the distributer.
Ok hope that helps for more info.
Thanks in advance ...Ray.

 

[brainsboy]

The gears grinding off is a common problem. That is usually caused by running a steel cam with an iron dist. gear. Suggest you replace your dist. gear with either a bronze, steel, or polymer(Comp Cams) gear. As your gear wears out, the distriubtor shaft can move inward which can bind the oil shaft and pump.

Ben

 

[ve3ham]

Oil Presshure

Hello Boys....
Well I have placed a order in for a high out put oil pump today also the drive shaft for the pump.
I also called Com Cams in regards to the Dis gear and yes the steel gear that I had is the proper one for the xe series of cams.
I explained what was going on with the oil pressure to Com Cams and the Tec there said that would not happen after changing the cam,lifters,heads so he figures its the oil pump.
Now comes the fun to take out the motor.
I was hoping to do the last weekend down at the track this weekend but that looks like thats out.
I wish I did not have to pull the motor but with the double hump pan in my 1982 mustang things are just to tight I think.
This is a great Forum lots of help from all sorts of people.
Thanks ....Ray.