318 low oil pressure

RustyRatRod said:

Then it's probably the same as O'Reilly Microguard filters. They are also made by WIX. I will have been with O'Reilly four years in May and have yet to see a bad Microguard filter. Not saying there aren't any. There are defective parts in all brands, but as of yet, I have not seen one in Microguard. If all these cheaper filters were so "bad" you'd see it all over the internet. I have seen a lot of bad stories regarding Fram. Never had a bad experience with Fram because I don't use them.

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I never had a Fram go bad and have been using them since the 1960's

At this point, it might be worthwhile to cut the Parts Master filter apart just to see if something was obviously amiss.

By chance, this "clear, Mobil 10w30 non synthetic" that was drained, was there too much of it, as in diluted with gasoline? Maybe it was very thinned down, give it a look.

Max1196 said:

By chance, this "clear, Mobil 10w30 non synthetic" that was drained, was there too much of it, as in diluted with gasoline? Maybe it was very thinned down, give it a look.

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Actually give it a 'smell' ! Good thought.

The oil does not smell like gas and does not appear to be thinner. There was also the proper amount of oil on the stick.

valiantwagonguy said:

I never had a Fram go bad and have been using them since the 1960's

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I've never had a Fram go bad. I don't use them. Not because I think they're junk, I just use other brands. I've never seen a Fram collapse or stop up in person either. I've seen people claim it on the internet. lol

I raced on Frams thousands of miles... the old standard PH8A. No problems.

FWIW, most of I can find of the internet complaints is that when they started selling through Walmart, supposedly they cheapened them up but I have no knowledge one way or another on that. The cases on the ones I put on my wife's Taurus X V6 would collapse/crinkle if I gripped on them too hard, and then get a hairline crack and leak where it crinkled; case was just plain too thin. Happened twice before I switched to Wix for her car. Lost 3 of 5 qts oil before I caught it the first time.... thank goodness for using Mobil1... no engine damage.

I have not seen those thin case problems on other Frams... but I have not looked at each model!

I had a Fram distort and ballooned out on one side years ago.

I'm back, sorry for the long delay on a update, today we took the valve covers off to do the gaakets. Inside all the passages were clear and the valve springs and rocker arms were like new. The oil pressure has been good from when we changed it from 10 30 to 10 40. Below are pictures I took of both sides of the top of the heads and one of the bottom of the cover itself with the new gasket.
Thank you guys again for all your help and imput

Looks nice and clean!

Yea, very clean in there

Did you check the valve stem seals? Broken pieces could cause blockage in the pickup.

Wow, that's a clean engine! I run a transmission shop and sometimes I get offered vehicles that the customer elects not to repair, due to a bad (expensive) transmission. IF I'm interested, and decide to buy the vehicle and repair it for my own use, I try to baseline the engine the following way. Usually the oil is dark and/or low, so I add regular (cheap) Dextron III/Mercon fluid to fill the pan to the full mark, then add one more quart ATF. The trans fluid is high detergent, and is still OIL (albeit thin weight, like 0w-20 thin), so it lubricates. I leave this mixture in for a good while, like during the trans repair and shakedown drives. Not a hundred miles, but maybe 20. Then I dump the original oil/ATF and install the regular oil called for (usually 5 or 10w-30) and a good quality filter (WIX/Purolator, etc.). This gently flushes the engine without clogging the strainer or filling the pan with solids like dedicated (solvent based) "engine flush." I have seen these solvent flush products kill engines by washing them out "too good" and starving the bearings. Plus you can't DRIVE the vehicles with that solvent in there, so it can't circulate much and reach everything as good. After I've driven the "new to me" vehicle a while, assessing it and monitoring oil consumption, I keep it full of oil until my regular oil change interval and the last time it needs oil before changing, I add 1qt ATF and repeat the gentle flush. My Jeep Gr.Cherokee 4.0L six had 170K on it and now has 250K, with the oil staying much cleaner, longer, using this tactic. Not a big fan of "snake oil" but I started adding a V8 size "Engine Restore" to it every oil change at 200K and honestly the oil consumption went down from 1qt. every 1500mi., to 1qt. every 3000mi., so it cut it in half. Couldn't verify a power increase, but the Restore does actually work with no ill effects. As clean as your motor is, and low mileage, I'd skip the Restore, but the ATF trick can't hurt. Use 10w-30 and a good filter afterwards and you're set. I'd also use a zinc additive on any flat-tappet engine, like Rislone EOS or Lucas TB-Zinc or even regular STP (has zinc).

I agree with @Bighead440 only thing I would add is BE CAREFUL with zinc additives. Often what you will find is, the container says ZINC on it in big letters on the front, but when you flip it over it will say something like "contains no zinc" or some such. Just make SURE what you are buying has zinc in it. STP oil treatment is another good zinc additive. But DON'T get the store brand in the same size and color bottle. It contains no zinc. The Rislone that BigHead440 pointed out is a good one.

u have great advice. overhaul. will fix .

When I had the valve covers off I forgot to check for the umbrella covers or check the condition of the valve seals themself. Eventually I will do a oil pan gasket when I find the time to see if there is any sludge(most likely none) and check the pickup to see if there is any blockage.