It's ALIVE, sort of.

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Coyote Jack

Coyote Jack

Member #55, I'm old
FABO Gold Member
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I fired up the 340 blower engine for the first time today. I immediately shut it down. Absolutely no oil pressure on the gauge. This was after priming the oil system and getting oil to the right side rockers. I figured I was good to go. But I am not going to run an engine that has a zero reading on the pressure gauge. I had an oiling issue when I first started to prime it. I thought I had resolved it but I guess not. I will be diving into the engine again this week after I cool down a bit. I also have an issue with the exhaust. The new headers are a little higher than the old ones and now my exhaust hits the tranny crossmember. More fabbing. This has really been a test of my patience getting this engine together, it has fought me all the way.

Jack
 
After all the hard work. Sorry to hear this. Best of luck
 
Sorry to hear, best of luck straightening out the problem! Hope its a quick fix.

By the way when you primed it did you have a gauge on it then?
 
Dang Jack.. It's just getting oiled on one side :shock:.
I am going to do some back tracking :-k:-k
I hope we get some good news on this soon, It's been a nail biter for me Can't wait to see this monster making sweet music to our ears :clock:
 
This sucks! Nothing worse then having to take a bigger bite out of a crap sandwich. Good luck!!! Kick Mr Murphy where the sun doesn't shine!!!
 
4spdragtop said:
Sorry to hear, best of luck straightening out the problem! Hope its a quick fix.

By the way when you primed it did you have a gauge on it then?
Click to expand...

I had the wife watching the gauge inside the car. She told me 10 PSI which I thought was o.k. as I was using a cordless drill in low gear so it was not turning very fast. Also had oil to the top passenger side.

Jack
 
Here are the things I have checked so far and the results.

plugs in back of block -- I remember seeing them as I checked to make sure they were there.

plug above oil pump - it's there but not sure if it's the right height. I believe it is supposed to be 7.7 inches from top of block. will check tonight.

plug in oil filter area - yes it's there

plug near cam at back of engine behind dizzy. -- yes it's there

plugs at front of cam -- will check tonight but shouldn't make any difference

oil pump - brand new, will test it tonight.


If you guy's can think of anything else to check, let me know.

Jack
 
Just had this exact problem last Saturday with a 360 I helped install in a truck. The oil galley plug was missing from the left bank and none of the lifters pumped up on that side. We did have oil pressure when we primed it but it came up VERY slowly and only to about 15-20 psi. Once the engine was running it only managed maybe 25-30 psi @ 2500 rpm. I'm pulling the intake tonight to put the plug in place.
 
Coyote Jack said:
I had the wife watching the gauge inside the car. She told me 10 PSI which I thought was o.k. as I was using a cordless drill in low gear so it was not turning very fast. Also had oil to the top passenger side.

Jack
Click to expand...
You was turning the engine over as you was priming it, I seen some where that the engine needs to be spinning a bit as you spin the oil pump to prime.
 
O.K. next report.

I started taking the engine apart tonight. I found a small water leak from the intake so the top end had to come off. Here is what I have found so far.

Rear plugs are in, otherwise there would be oil all over the garage floor.

Rear plug inside the engine beside the cam is there. I can see it very well now.

Rear plug above rear main is there. I measured down to it from the top of the block and it was just over 7 1/2 inch's. That appears to be normal.

Plug is in filter adapter area.

Oil pump appears to be working as I tried it out side the engine. I'm not sure how much oil it should push out that way but it seamed to be a fair amount.

The rear main had lots of oil on it when I pulled the cap so I am confident the bearings are still good.

I will pull the timing cover off tomorrow night and have a look at the cam retainer plate area. Maybe that is where the problem is seeing as I have eliminated pretty much everything else. Like Spock said, "eliminate everything else and whatever remains, must be real".

Jack
 
Coyote, I hope you have some luck, I am having the same problem with a 383. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Did the last of my inspection today. I found that the 2 plugs at the front of the cam were not in. The cam retainer plate appeared to be flat using a straight edge. I put it back on and installed the oil pump and oil pan. Filled it with oil and tried priming again. There was no oil going to the gauge but I noticed oil coming from the very front of the cam which told me that oil was getting to the cam. I unhooked the sending unit for the oil pressure gauge. Spun the priming rod again and voila oil coming from the sending fitting. I believe my biggest problem all along has been a bad sending fitting for the mechanical oil pressure gauge.

How much oil (pressure wise) should come out of the sending unit passage?

Jack
 
"Pressure" should be the same in all parts of the pressurized system.

"Volume" might not be much, if you are talking about the (probably) 1/8" line for the gauge, but if you remove that sender and get a "full flow" hose plumbed into the block, that sender port will spray oil all over with engine running, and will provide a steady stream on a drill.

'Be a lucky break if that turns out to be the problem. You ARE getting oil to both rockers?
 
That's what I was getting on a slow drill speed. A steady flow of oil but not shooting anywhere.
No oil to the rockers yet. I am going to reinstall the timing gears and try rotating the engine over then.

Jack
 
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