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Oil pressure problem
15

Oil pressure problem

Oil pressure problem

(OP)
This is not work related, but is really getting me down. If anyone feels it should be red flagged, then fair enough.

I just built a 409 CI SBC for my very good friends social ski boat, being the boat I regularly ski behind. It has been nothing but trouble in many areas and with several changes of plan mid stream.

I will stick to the bottom end and oil system at this stage.

Crank. Brand new Eagle 4340 non twist forging std 400 CI SBC configuration.

Rods. Eagle "I" beam 5.7" stroker rods with 3/8 ARP 2000 Cap Screws.

Oil pump, Brand new (well never used, but 15 years old) Mellings 55 oil pump.

It is a so called centre mount configuration, with the motor in back to front so it drives of the timing cover end of the crank, and is close to the bottom of the boat with the flywheel and the bottom of the timing cover only about 1.5 to 2" off the bottom.

This calls for a flat wide shallow pan, that has journal #1 running into the oil, but the oil pump clear of the oil.

It has a roller cam and the lifters restrict oil flow to top end. It has 240 deg at 0.050 and 0.600 lift.

It has new Clevite cam bearings installed by a reputable machine shop.

It has new King main and big ends. These are Std +0.001" bearings.

The pick up is an OEM flat pan shaped thing that is about 4" dia, has a bottom side half cover that stands 1/4" below a fill circle screen, so it keeps the screened pick up area about 1/4" clear of the bottom of the pan.

It has a tray of sorts that presses this pick up down below oil level.

With the engine turned off and plenty of time for drain back the oil is about 3" deep and well over the top of the pick up.

The inlet port of the pump has been tapped to 3/8" BSP thread and a -8 nipple inserted with originally Loctite 515 and later with Teflon thread seal tape.

The pick up has a -8 nipple welded to it.

The pick up is connected to the pump via a 1/2 steel reinforced high pressure rubber hydraulic hose over press in -8 fittings.

The oil pump was assembled with Clevite assembly lube, and the cover was sealed down with Locktite 515. Remember this pump is well above normal oil level due to 14 deg incination of the motor.

Filter is in stock location.

Main galleries and lifter galleries had plugs removed and tapped to 1/4 BSP as required to properly clean and reseal. Plugs were checked for length so as not to cover galleries and were installed with Locktite 515.

No plugs leak oil.

Sump Gasket. Felpro one piece.

Tray is a simple hoop with rear facing louvres. It clears the crank by a country mile and really does nothing but hold the pick up down.

The sump, tray and pick up are all from the previous engine.

It has good oil pressure when started, but it falls away fairly quickly after a minute or two running. If we stop, and restart 15 sec later, it has 75 psi pressure again, but falls to 10 psi at 2000 rpm and develops a knock.

We have had it in and out 5 times now, replaced the hose, checked the pick up position in the sump, re tightened the fittings, checked cap and pump are down square etc.

It uses Penzoil 20W50 GT or something or other oil.

On original assembly, many shortcuts were taken, to the point of the owner snatching parts and tools out of my hands and doing it himself as I was "wasting time checking things". These things were ring end gap, cam timing, piston to valve, and bearing clearances for instance.

It is carby/petrol with no apparent dilution of oil. There is a little water in the oil from a previous head gasket problem due to a dowel pin holding the head off just enough so the compression sealed, but the water did not and came up one stud into the rocker box, but only very slight discolouration due to emulsification.

Every time I question the system, I get abruptly told it worked OK for 25 years.

It has about 7 litres of oil. The old engine (an old school bog stock 350 CI SBC) with the same oil system except it had a BBC pump, previously ran OK with as little as 5 litres of oil.

Bottom line.

How can an engine have good oil pressure, loose it quickly after a few minutes, then have it again 15 or 20 seconds later, then loose it again after a few minutes running on a repeating basis in a stationary position resembling attitude of normal operation. The temperature rise of the oil was minimal and had no impact on the results.

It is the quick decline while running at a fast idle, then the instant recovery after stopping and restarting that has me puzzled as it seems it is not sucking air, at least not where we can determine.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

excessive aeration of the oil due to crank dipping?

Do you have an external filter mount kit?  You could try to rig up a viewing glass inline with the oil hose, and see what the oil looks like as it goes by.

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
Thanks ivymike.

That thought crossed my mind, but it improved somewhat when we increase oil level or lift the nose of the boat. The improvement is in the form of extra time to loose pressure. Also recovery on stopping is virtually instant, when I would expect it to take some time for the air to escape. Maybe a layer of froth is laying over a layer of good oil.

This engine has 1/4" more stroke, but more compact rods, so I can't imagine that is increasing aeration enough to make that much difference. In the old system it aerated the oil or left more upstairs and dropped level at sustained speed over 5000 rpm, like after 5 min running.

I have gone from a BBC oil pump to a high performance SBC oil pump to reduce oil flow and get less upstairs. It also has oil flow limiting lifters to put more to the bearings and less to the push rods and valve train. I expected this to help the sustained high speed situation.

Thinking on it overnight, I intend making a good windage tray and scraper and about 3/16" deeper sump. At that depth I estimate it will occasionally have light contact with the bottom of the boat, but not hard enough to cause a problem. It will have a full steel pick up bolted to a main cap via an extended stud. It will extend further back toward the back of the boat and will have some gates to trap oil at the low end. It will still have the crank running in oil at #1&2, but not so deep.

If I can improve return and windage, I can run a lower static oil level and reduce aeration.

The real answer is a simple dry sump system.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
The filter is in the stock location.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

pat, my thoughts...

If the "friend" pulled the tools from my hands because I "was wasting time checking things" then my obligation ends right there.

My response would be along the lines of
"You built it ; you fix it".

"Friends" like that I don't need.

The fluctuating oil readings may be either entrained air or a sticking relief valve from the 15 year old oil pump.

Cheers , Pete.

RE: Oil pressure problem

I'd feel better about that steel reinforced high pressure hose on the pump suction if it had a gun spring trapped inside so the liner couldn't collapse.

.. or if it were replaced by steel tubing.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
He has been a friend for over 50 years and is more like a brother. He is to good a friend to let this become a real problem at a personal level.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

Pat you are right about friends being more important than mechanical problems.Your also rt about the dry sump sys.The thing I can,t get past is the angle of the eng. The design requires the bulk of the oil to drain at the rear of the lifter valley so it misses the crank.One thing you might wanna ck before you pull it again is the bypass valve. If you still have the old eng just remove it and swap em. Its in the thing the filter screws on, but you knew that.
good luck, hope you get it figured out

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
I used the bypass valve off the old engine.

It bypasses the filter but still feeds the main gallery, so no real change in pressure.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

I tend to agree wit MikeH, I would be concerned with that suction hose section. How long is it? Was it replaced during the rebuild?  If not, it could be too old, if it were, it may not be equal to the old.  It is designed for internal pressure, not negative pressure.  

I don't know why you mentioned the use of TFE tape on oil system fittings, but that is not a good idea.

The other thing is (not clear if these are new to the engine), you have a lot of fittings on the oil inlet system that necessarily reduce flow area.  That should not be an issue at idle, tho.

RE: Oil pressure problem

One other thing:  Most of these engines are installed in a car with the nose a few degrees up.  If I'm understanding what you're doing here, the engine is installed nose down, maybe more than ten degrees.

... which brings up the question of whether there's an adequate oil drain channel from the lifter valley, at what is normally the high end.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Oil pressure problem

Melling 55 is a stock replacement pump.  
55A is a high volume pump.

About 35 years ago I put a TRW hi volume pump (not sure if it was std or high pressure) in an old Chevy truck with a high mileage 283 that had slightly low hot pressure. When driving much over 40 mph with the HV pump the Stewart Warner mechanical oil pressure gauge would start to swing wildly, dropping real low and recovering every few seconds.  My  theory (which I now consider imperfect) was the oil drain passages in the heads and valley were too sludged up to let the oil return properly, and the high volume pump was pushing more oil everywhere, including up into the heads and valley than ever before, so in time the pan level dropped too far.  At any rate, a new stock pump cured the problem.

I understand the sump, pickup and tray are the original items. Is that hydraulic hose new both times?  How stiff is the new hose compared to the original?

Milodon says something like 1/4 " minimum to 3/8” maximum clearance between pickup and pan.

How long has the engine run at each re-assembly?  

Is that long front to back pump pickup line path continuously up hill as mounted in the boat, or is there an up and down hill run with a possible high spot before the pump?  Centrifugal pump manufacturers make a big deal about not allowing pockets on the top of suction piping that can trap air.

Before I took the engine out again I might change the oil for something real thin, then pull the distributor and valve covers, and use an electric drill to run the pump like I was priming it, while I watched the oil pressure and the oil caught in the heads, and checked the pan oil level. That would be an attempt to get crank whipped oil froth out of the picture, and gauge how much oil is making it upstairs.

If that test could re-create the low pressure condition, but the oil level in the pan stayed pretty good even with low pressure it would at least kind of shoot down the too much oil upstairs theory.

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
Ross

The hose was replaced twice, first time with a softer hose that was canvas reinforced and rated to 300 psi internal oil pressure, It could be squeezed down with very hard thumb pressure, but that was replaced with new steel reinforced industrial grade 3000 psi internal pressure hose. The second hose is identical to the hose on the original engine.

It is about 12" long (maybe 14" max). It is very hard and hardly deflects with thumb pressure till your thumb really hurts. It will not collapse with 15 psi outside and vacuum inside. I think you could probably drive a fork lift truck over it.

I never use Teflon tape. I use Loctite 515. It has never ever leaked before on threads sealing petrol, oil or water, or on metal to metal joints like VW crankcase halves. The owner insisted on using Teflon "just to make sure" because that is what he did last time. At least it was good "skived" Teflon tape or gas grade.

The new engine has a slightly longer tube and a 90 deg instead of straight fitting going into the pump as the SBC pump is smaller in outside dimensions, is shorter (so mounts higher in the sump, and has the inlet in the side rather than in the end closest to the timing cover like the BBC pump in the old engine. I have run a 3/8" drill through all fittings. I did that at home before I delivered them so as not to be seen as wasting time.

Mike

It is 12 to 14 deg nose down as installed. I enlarged the drain back holes into the timing cover, grinding the bottom of them down to level with the floor of the valley and adding a radius to the turn into the timing cover to assist drain back and I polished drain back channels in the valley floor with the inclination in mind. I checked the gap between the front main cap, timing cover and sump and while not a lot of room for drain back, it is at least as good as previous and I polished and enlarged any areas that did not impact on seal integrity or strength. In fact I ground a little off the edge of the pan gasket rail on the block in the area inside the gasket contact area, but I was not convinced it improved the most restricted area between the cap and timing cover. I did not tough the cap for obvious reasons.

As 400s have a bigger cap and wider spread main cap bolts, and as I type this, I now wonder if this area is more restrictive and restricting drain back. The timing cover/dog clutch housing/thrust bearing housing is very bulky around the front sump to timing cover seal area vs a std timing cover. The 400 main cap might be further restricting that area.

Tmoose

From old memory, I bought the pump as a Mellings high performance small block pump, as allegedly fitted to genuine OEM Z28 an LT1 engines.

The engine has been run 5 or 6 minutes average total each instal, so say 15 to 20 minutes with good pressure and 5 minutes max at low pressure. The second last time, the boat was driven and I only have the owners word. He claims it was OK for a few minutes then dropped off suddenly in a turn at about 4500 rpm.

We pulled #7 big end after this and it looked OK

Last time out we used a pump priming shaft and electric drill and removed the pressure sender to see what came out. with the flywheel end low, it pumped a bit of oil then froth and even pumped a reasonable supply of air. When we rocked the engine over to it's as installed angle, it instantly sprayed oil everywhere as it blew out little PVC hose off the temporary adapter. By the spray pattern it was at least 50 psi on the drill. On reconnecting the line we ran for say 15 or 20 seconds but stopped as the drill was getting hot. To do more we need a heaver duty lower speed drill.

The hose is new and is parallel to the crank and runs consistently uphill at about 12 to 14 deg.

We run it with no tappet covers and there is only a dribble of oil in the heads as is normal with Competition Cams roller followers which deliberately restrict oil to the top end. This is desirable as it has roller rockers and only needs minimal lubrication.

I need to fit a sight glass to the sump and I need to install a remote filter adapter so I can temporarily intal some clear tube to see the oil flowing.



Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

Pat, I think I remember something about oil leakage around the distributor body, especially if it is an after market distributor assembly. I just quick glanced the posts here, what about bearing clearances? What viscosity oil?
How about lifter bores to tappet clearances? Just some extra input here maybe it will help.

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
dicer

Thanks for the thoughts.

I was going to check the dissy annular grove.

This still does not explain why it comes back almost as soon as you shut down.

I think it has to be one or more of the following five, in order of probability considering attempted rectification already done.

Sticking pressure relief valve.

Sucking air into pump or pick up.

Aerated oil due to increased stroke and poor tray design.

Poor drain back between front main cap and timing cover.

Sucking pick up tube flat due to lack of coil spring liner.



Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

Pat, I would replace as much hose as possible with SS pipe.  Even my old flathead has a solid 3/4"-ID suction pipe.  It's the only theory that immediately explains the quick recovery.

RE: Oil pressure problem

I run 2 .060 restrictors scewed into the rear cam galleys with a 4 quart pan. oil pump is stock. z-28s used stock pump with a stiffer relief spring.This is now the same spring supplied in all gm small block replacement pumps I believe.You may want to check with comp cams on this but i think the lifters restrict the upper oiling by edge orfices at the top of travel which is going to put it in the lifter valley and its still gonna get wound up in the spinning crank on the way back down.

RE: Oil pressure problem

Any chance that the pickup itself is collapsing or being drawn down such that the open area in the bottom is being restricted?  Given that the pump suction is a through a flex hose, how is the pickup restrained against moving downward and/or rotating?


Norm

RE: Oil pressure problem

I am curious as to what the rod and main bearing clearance is? Based on the components you listed and the intended use I would expect to see between .0025 and .003 on the rods and .003 and .0035 on the mains. If you are significantly looser than this then I could see the pressure falling off because of that.

My other thought was regarding the pick-up screen becoming uncovered based on the pan you have and the angle of the engine making proper drain-back an issue. However, I have seen pick-up screens become uncovered in the past (high volume pump with stock pan - for instance). But when this ussually happens the pressure will drop to zero and that does not sound like it is happening based on what you are saying. Best of Luck

-Good Day

RE: Oil pressure problem

It sure sounds like you are collapsing the hose inbetween the pick-up and the pump. No matter how much pressure it's supposed to hold from bursting, avoiding collapsing from vacuum is a totally different ball game, especially when we are talking about a fairly heavy oil. I could see this tolerating some very small connecting hoses, with the oil pickup replaced with pipes. Cut the pipes so the ends of them almost touch if you want to change the pick-up assembly to something you can guarantee won't be the cause..

One thing occured to me, but I don't have a solid answer for all of the arguments against this. What about the discharge from the pressure regulator "fire-hosing" the oil away from the pick-up? It's possible the reversed mounting on the engine would have the normally positioned regulator flow blowing right at the pick-up. Engine RPM would play a major role in this because the higher the RPM, the more discharge there will be from the pressure relief.

If I had to pull this out one more time, I'd be rigging this to be run out on an engine stand in order to solve this problem.

The majority of engine oil flow in a running engine is pick-up, pump, and then pressure relief valve. By your description the failure has to be occuring before the filter, and then the rest of the engine.

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
I need to look, but I thought the pressure relief valve on this pump discharged into the pump inlet port.

I am really starting to wonder if the larger main caps is blocking oil return.

I think I really do need to build a stand to run it out of the boat.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

Pat,  are you saying you think the front main cap is too closely surrounded by the pan to allow oil to flow to the pickup?  I don't see how that could be, the counterweights surely must project further down than the caps.

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
I suspect that the rather bulky casting for the timing cover where the seal between the pan and the cover is held in the cover, is very close to the front of the #1 main cap. I have not assembled it without the sump on then taken time to look, but it is a lot bigger than a 350 CI SBC main cap and might be totally covering the space the oil drains through when exiting the cover. Because of engine inclination, virtually all oil from the heads and valley is draining back through the timing cover.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

If it were any mechanical problem, it would manifest itself as soon as the engine were started.  Since it has pressure as soon as it starts then drops off, I am inclined to think that either it is pumping all to the top end, or the pump is cavitating (collapsed inlet hose).  The fact that it recovers as soon as it has a chance to drain back down sort of supports the theory of oil retention.

Cold oil is harder to pump than hot oil, BUT, the hose would be stiffer when cold (hmm, a quandry).

The engine sits tail high?  From what I surmise so far, the engine has a remote oil pickup.  These boats have a high plane angle and the oil may drain away from the pickup, especially on high G acceleration and turns.

Also, in the 60's, Chevrolet had the Nova with a front sump and a remote pickup.  I ran one successfully in G/MP drag racing with some minor oil pan baffling and a windage tray.  7500 RPM gear shift changes and top end were common.

Franz

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RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
The engine is nose down at about 12 to 14 deg, but the nose faces the back of the boat.

The oil moves toward the pick up due to acceleration and angle of plane.

This problem occurs on the trailer, and I think is worse at nose down and better at nose up. To many hurried repairs and to little proper controlled tests under to much time pressure to really be sure. That makes it sound more like a drain back problem.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

I would take a guess at a drainback problem Pat.

With one end of the larger crank swimming in oil making things worse by picking up the oil and swinging it around.

Easiest way to check would be to drain oil and dump a load of  a very light viscosity oil, it should reduce the prob slightly.      

www.retallickeng.com.au

Was told it couldnt be done, so
i went and did it!

RE: Oil pressure problem

Could you remove the distributor, drive the pump with a drill, tap into the pressure sender or some other port, hook up a hose and direct the flow into a valve cover and watch what happens ?  see the flow or lack thereof and accurately read the dipstick without turbulence ?
  good luck

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
Tried the drill thing with the gauge sender disconnected and a clear PVC pipe into the tappet cover area. It was then hanging from an engine hoist with the flywheel end well down. It pumped a noticeable supply of air, I think proving the pump was good. When the flywheel end was raised to more like the as installed angle, it pumped so much it blew the clear PVC hose of the sender unit and sprayed down the workshop, proving heaps of pressure. The drill would get to hot before we ran long enough to loose pressure, so we can't do as you suggest with the current equipment. Maybe a much heavier duty drill would make that possible. I can borrow one next week.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

Pat having built many race engines for boats in the past I can say that it sounds like you may have a few problems one is a rubber hose in the pan is a bad idea. I would replace it with a steel tube with rubber mounting this will get rid of any problems with the hose. to I would pour a quart of oil into the lifter valley and see how long it took to drain back. boats tend to have some problems with this you may have to open up the drain port so they drain faster. you mite even want to look into a dry sump system this will take the problem of the pickup running dry due to the lack of oil around it. you have to remeber that most high volume pumps move alot of GPH (gallon per hour) and if your using a thick oil and there is not enough room aroun the pick up you are sucking it dry the cold oil can not flow fast enough to get to the pick up. these are a few thing I have had to deal with good luck

RE: Oil pressure problem

Pat, my first though was also drainback. I didn't see what kind of cam drive is being used, but I'm guessing it went from a silent or single roller drive on the previous engine to a double roller on the new one? Did the cam gear go from one with holes to one without? I also didn't see what kind of block is being used. I wouldn't be surprised if the 400 block has less room between the cam gear and block.

Definitely keep us posted on your progress.

ISZ

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
I see no difference in the timing cover area of the block.

Both engines have Cloyes twin row true roller timing chains.

Both have cam sprockets with big holes in the face.

My current thinking is the 3/8" BSP tapered pipe fitting screwed into the pickup port of the pump is distorting the housing enough to cause the pressure relief to stick open.

I think the process might go like this. As the PRV bleeds oil back to the pump inlet port, the sheer of flowing around the pump then into the port then back to the pump could have the oil in the pump heat up somewhat quicker than the oil in the sump, but once stopped the valve resets, oil drains of through the bearings and the pick up and cooler oil is there on restart.

I think very little oil is flowing to the valley area and cannot imagine it not being able to drain back to match the slow supply.

We are pulling the engine on Friday and I have a commitment we will take as long as it takes to do it right.

I will keep you posted about the result.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

"The new engine has a slightly longer tube and a 90 deg instead of straight fitting going into the pump"

Most charts list 90 degree fittings as being equivalent to 4 or 5 feet of pipe, flow wise.  An elbow formed of tubing is about half as bad (restrictive).

Just one more thing either not working in your favor, or clouding the issue until an eye witness can be found.

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
I know a 90 deg fitting is not ideal, but there are a great number of SBC with SBC oil pumps out there in this type of boat. They all have a 90 deg fitting at the oil pump inlet port. Some may be swept, but most are sharp. They don't have problems.

I am now convinced that the taperd gas thread fitting is distorting the inlet port housing enough to cause the pressure relief valve to stick open until the engine is stopped, and as it dumps oil into the pump inlet port, a high enough percentage of oil is recirculated to cause a considerable local oil temperature increase in the pump due to the sheer. The hot oil still maintains just enough pressure to allow the valve to stay stuck open, but when stopped, the spring can close the valve as there is zero oil pressure.

The friend is back, and has agreed to do a thorough pull down, and do it right from start to finish this time. I will certainly clean up the PRV bore and ensure no sticking. I will also screw the fitting in lightly and silver solder it into place.

Before we pull the motor, I will tip a few litres of oil into the valley with the manifold off to view drain back rate.

I will also run the pump up with a much stronger electric drill so we can run the pump without running the engine to see if the problem still occurs. We might do that tonight.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

Pat,

What types of oil temperature is the engine running?

A friend had a boat motor that with similar oil pressure problems.  The mechanic at his marina suggested a single-viscosity oil, not a multi-grade.  This solved the problem.

Boat motors tend to run much cooler than automotive.  It seems that multi-grade oils don't like the relatively low temperatures.

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
I pulled the sump today. Oil pump is definitely an old Mellings 55 HV.

PRV is not sticking.

On closer inspection, the pick up is damaged and the bit that holds it off the bottom of the sump is cracked and seems to allow it to suck down when it gets to close to the bottom.

I am pulling it right down just to be sure there is nothing else wrong and the bearings have not been damaged, and to find the knock.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

We have seen this issue in our shop on low sump pans where the pickup tube is to close to the pan and actually creates pump starvation

RE: Oil pressure problem

I've also seen this as a fairly common problem when a different or aftermarket oil pan is used.

The cracked support likely flexes closer the pan when more volume is pumped, creating your intermittent problem rather than the usual full-time zero oil pressure when the pickup and pan are solid but too close together.  Like electrical systems, it would've been much easier to troubleshoot if it wasn't an intermittent issue.

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
I found a second problem today.

The timing cover casting in the area of the front seal flange is virtually touching the front main cap all the way round.

The only oil return path is via this gap which is about 0.002" wide and about 4" long.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

That sounds like a parts mismatch... how did that happen?

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
Very marginal original design of the marine conversion.

I used a metal to metal joint and sealing compound at the joint between the timing cover and the front of the block as the timing cover carries all the propeller shaft thrust to the block then to the main bearers via the engine mounts. I have seen the OEM paper gaskets fail here before. Previous assemblies were not quite so bulky around the seal and had smaller main caps. This is something I had wanted to check.

I now need to fabricate a thin steel spacer to replace the paper gasket and maybe trim the cover and non structural areas of the cap to create a suitable oil return path.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
I trimmed the timing cover area that was close to the main cap to cut a channel about 2" wide by 0.120" deep.

It ran for 15 minutes no problem.

Also reworked the windage tray. No more knock.

All that was ever required was the time to look and think and take some care.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

congratulations on working through a difficult problem. This has been a very informative "real world" thread.

RE: Oil pressure problem

Good job.

RE: Oil pressure problem

(OP)
In the end, the technical problem was easy. It was the personal issues that caused all the problems. Once that was solved, the solution was found with enough time for reasonable observation and  moderate thought.

Regards

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RE: Oil pressure problem

Pat, I followed this thread with some interest.  I'm only vaguely familiar with the engine you were discussing, and couldn't offer any hints beyond what you were already looking at.  But your narrative description of the forensic process you went through was informative, and deserved a star.

RE: Oil pressure problem

Pat, thanks for the star and glad you got that engine going again! It had to suck yanking that engine in and out of the boat. ISZ

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