disc brakes and oil pressure

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65TerrorCuda

65TerrorCuda

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After doing the 10.75" A-body disc swap on my 65 Barracuda, it stops so well that the oil pressure light comes on. The engine doesn't stall, so I'm thinking the oil pickup is becoming uncovered. Idling my oil pressure is over 25psi hot and it's a stock replacement melling/stock pickup on the 273. Do I have to spring for a new pan? Weld in a baffle maybe?
 
Dumb question but have you checked your oil level?

How hard are you braking?
 
Yeah it's a full 5qts if I remember the volume correctly... Dipstick is happy anyways :) And it gets the low pressure at pretty damn hard stops, at or near squealin the tires. The old drums would simply lock up(hard 13" tires), now it stops like nuts.
 
I will try the idle +50.. Would adding a 1/2 qt oil help any? It does have a windage tray. This thing is going to make the stops better- more weight over the front end eh?
 
As long as the light isn't coming on during normal driving, I wouldn't sweat it too much. Yes, you are sloshing the oil forward in the pan, and a trap door baffle would help. But the engine is most likely at no load (throttle closed) when you screech to a stop, so oil requirements should be low.

If the light comes on if you slam on the brakes real hard, quit slamming on the brakes real hard... problem solved.
 
Add an extra quart and see if the problem goes away. If it does, you'll need to pull the pan and find out why the pickup isn't down in the oil. We're assuming you've put in a measured 5 quarts and the stick reads correct?
 
Hmm I did replace the dipstick tube with a chrome aftermarket one, and maybe I looked at it wrong. Those chrome dipsticks are terrible to read. I always just do 5 qts oil change. I kinda leery of putting 6 qts in. Maybe the pickup is sitting too high?
 
65TerrorCuda said:
Hmm I did replace the dipstick tube with a chrome aftermarket one, and maybe I looked at it wrong. Those chrome dipsticks are terrible to read. I always just do 5 qts oil change. I kinda leery of putting 6 qts in. Maybe the pickup is sitting too high?
Click to expand...

If it was my car, I'd drop the pan and see if it's even has baffles and if not add some, at the same time I'd check that the pickup is damn near touching the bottom of the pan.
 
1) I'd change the oil sender unit for the dummy light. Maybe its tripping at too high pressure? Did you check the gauge pressure, with the light on? assuming you have a guage and the dummy light. correlate the "light" with the guage.

2) You may have a split (crack) in the pu tube maybe near the top or midpoint of the tube. If not a crack, maybe the PU tube is loose at the oil pump. Was it sealed properly? IN that case, change the PU tube.
 
1/4 inch. use the pan to push the pickup down and then give it another 1/8 then install the gaskets. Some weld up 1/4 standoffs to the pickup edges to prevent the foot from sucking down to the pan bottom. I would gather 4.5 qts in the cold pan and scratch the dipstick as "full" taking into account the .5 qt in the filter. Baffles couldnt hurt as well as windage tray or crank scraper.
 
Strange, my reply didn't show up..
I like the standoff idea for the pickup- along with baffling the front of the pan. Nothing fancy, just get the job done kinda deal.
Never did glance at the gauge during the panic stops, so I don't know what the actual pressure the idiot light comes on at.
Maybe add a crank scraper while I'm in there. I'd do an aftermarket pan, but I hear so much about hitting the K frame on early A's
 
oil warning lamp goes on/off at approx 9 lbs.
 
Are there any good designs out there for baffles I should look into? Or perhaps a (great) aftermarket pan? There's not much room between the K and the pan IIRC.
Edit: forgot to mention it does have a crank baffle in there already
 
Change the oil and filter, add 6 qts, then remark your dipstick. Then replace the sender, as red said.
 
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