Slant 6 oil pressure woes…

RustyRatRod said
It could be. That's a common problem. When I first got Vixen back in 2019, she took longer than I liked for her oil light to go out from startup. I verified it with a manual gauge and then yanked the engine out. There was about 1/2" or so of sludge in the bottom of the pan. I cleaned it up, cleaned up the pickup, replaced the rod and main bearings even though they were good. I just happened to have some. I also put a new timing set back in it and put it all back together. I still have that original engine against the wall in the shop. It had great oil pressure when I put it back together. It was getting pressure before, but it was restricted just enough that it delayed the oil light going out. I still think before you do anything, you should verify the oil pressure loss on a manual gauge. Then you won't just be guessing. I just hate guessing. lol

Yeah. That’s fair. I’ll see if I can’t get my hands on my brother’s gauge before I do the pan. It’s just so frustrating. I’ve never had issues with the oiling system in the car. Never even had that light come on for a second until just a couple weeks ago. It could be the pickup. It could be the pump just finally giving out. It could be both at once. I don’t know. But I can tell you that the pump is about 10 years older than the mother, maybe 8-9. I don’t exactly remember. But I have a brand new one and I have some fiber gasket material and some right stuff and the memory of last time I made this exact gasket. It’s not fun to cut a gasket out with an xacto knife but it is what it is. The money I’ve already out into it the last couple weeks and the stress of my apartment manager freaking out about it sitting for any length of time or an oil leak is always weighing on me. And it sucks too cause right now I got perfect spring cruising weather and this is the time of year I like to daily this car. Did it last year no problem.