Help me! New rebuild. Low oil pressure. SOLVED!!!

[Zundfolge1432]

[SRP1]

^^^^Aaaahahahaha, no joke! good sense of humor that John Muir had.

[andreas5bmw]

No body said if you used the correct paper gasket for the front oil pump cover gasket,,,,I have seen some people use the thicker gasket causing low oil pressure,,,,you have to use the paper thin gasket.

[mcmscott]

[Danwvw]

Well, it still sounds like it's missing on a cylinder to me, one remote possibility is a rod fell off the crank but I doubt the Empi steel cover would have helped that. In fact, the steel cover should not make that much difference it's almost acceptable. It depends. Is this video with the engine cold and it still won't build oil pressure hot? You should not need a 30mm pump or 20W50W oil or straight 30 even oil it should build this kind of pressure with lighter oil unless oil temp is up a bit then it would build to only about 45 lbs, well with a 26mm pump. One thing that happens with the 30mm pumps is if you have a small oil pickup tube or a restriction on the intake thicker oils can cause loss of oil pressure usually at rev cold.

Link

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1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!

[mikedjames]

Even with the thicker oil and the 30 mm pump there is something crazy about the oil pressure bouncing around half way up your gauge. The pump should be producing a smooth increase in pressure with RPM , the variations have to be air in the oil which must be getting in the suction side.
Try an extra quart of oil above full on the dipstick. If the pressure is smoother then you have an air leak on the pickup side.

I have had to do this when I took the cover off my oil pump to check it for wear and forgot to pack it with Vaseline. It starts and runs OK like that and you can get rid of the excess oil by sucking it out of the dipstick hole with an oil change vacum pump.
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Ancient vehicles and vessels

1974 VW T2 : Devon Eurovette camper with 1641 DP T1 engine, Progressive carb, full flow oil cooler, EDIS crank timed ignition.
Engine 1: 40k miles (rocker shaft clip fell off), Engine 2: 30k miles (rebuild, dropped valve). Engine 3: a JK Preservation Parts "new" engine, aluminium case: 26k miles: new top end.
Gearbox rebuild 2021 by Bears.

1979 Westerly GK24 24 foot racer/cruiser yacht Forethought of Gosport.
1973 wooden Pacer sailing dinghy

[VW_Jimbo]

[GARRICK.CLARK]

AS esde has said, check the oil pump cog isn't spinning on the rod that locks into the end of the cam. I had this issue recently, it was the pump cog spinning on the shaft.

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

[esde]

another remote possibility, is that you dropped half a cam bearing when you mated the case halves. I did this on my very first engine build in 87, and the engine had weird oil pressure issues. It pumped enough oil to keep everything lubricated, but never made good pressure, especially when hot. I found the bearing half when changing the oil, tore it all down, reassembled, and the pressure was great. (Was a fun little motor, built with the best parts a kid could order through JC Whitney.)
SD
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[VW_Jimbo]

[quote="Danwvw"]Well, it still sounds like it's missing on a cylinder to me, one remote possibility is a rod fell off the crank but I doubt the Empi steel cover would have helped that.[\quote]

I agree that it sounds like it is missing on the number 2 cylinder. Again I will say, I have not been able to get to far in my setting up basics. The oil pressure is consuming my attention right now.

I doubt a rod fell off. That makes a hell of a racket and one which I am familiar with. Built enough engines to know a rod knock or main bearing knocking when it is present. I will say that I think the knock you may be hearing is the lack of oil between the bearings and their shafts or components. That is what I believe is the noise. But it is less of a concern to me right now, due to the fact that oil pressure will help that out, albeit the damage may already be done. That will suck and the wife will not let me live that down!

[Danwvw]

With that thick oil, it should hold 40 idle not warmed up good. It should drop off though as it warms up to about 20. But a larger pump giving the engine oil pressure when a 26mm did not is a red flag on the build unless it was a bad 26mm pump, something may not be right. Wrong size of main bearings or something.

If you do drive it this way make sure to give the engine a minute to warm up and keep the RPM low till it's warmed up good. Don't get on the freeway and go over 65 with the engine not warmed up, a big pump and thick oil need some babying.

I don't know the best way to test the pick-up tube together with oil I am sure you could come up with a way though. I always check mine before assembly when I just have that 1/2 case ready to go by sucking on it with my thumb over the other end.
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1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!

[67rustavenger]

I think someone already suggested that you over fill the case by 1 qrt. above the full line on the dipstick and see if that steadies the suction side of the pump issue. Temporarily! If that cures the issue, drain to the proper oil level and fix the issue.

I really dislike oil pump issues. I had one fail last summer and was forced to drive the car 4-5 miles at "0" oil pressure. By the time I got home the damage was done.

Funny thing is that engine is still a runner. And has many K miles put on it since last summer.

I'm curious about the metal pump cover plate. I installed an EMPI cast one on my recent build. Before even installing it. I sanded the inside of the cover on a glass tile until I had a uniform finish all the way across the face of the plate.

You're a smart mechanic. This is just a little perplexing ATM.
You'll get it sorted and on the road in no time.

Hang in there buddy. We have all been there at one time or another.

Good Luck.
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I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[AlteWagen]

I always thought that when the hoover mods were done you NEEDED a 30mm oil pump to get good pressure due to the added oil passages. Did you check to see if the control valve port was enlarged as well?
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Grapes of Wrath $200 Engine Rebuild
Official Dual Carb Thread
Cylinder Head Quick Reference Sheet

[andy198712]

[esde]

[VW_Jimbo]

So, today, I went back through and adjusted the valves to a loose zero. They were way off. 4 valves had a .007 gap. Added a small amount of oil and started it up. Here it is after 20 minutes of idiling.


Link


Way better pressure than previously but still too low for me. And it totally looses pressure for 9 seconds when coming off the deceleration. What is that about! I need to add a quart to it to see if that helps still. Did not get that far today, as I went after the knocking that is present. Chased that with adjusting the valves a few times. It seemed as if I would get one side to stop and then the other bank started clanking. Got that sounding good, set timing, set idle mixture, then then idle speed. Went through that sequence a few times, synched the two carbs together and then got the linkage synched. Fricking thing was purring, but there was a faint knocking.

Went back through the valves hot, set to 0 lash. I could turn the pushrod, but a 1/10th of a turn more and it would not turn. Reset basics and it sounded good, except now a miss. I could hear it. Drop test showed number 4 not hitting. Gave it a shot of carb cleaner and it picked right up.

Removed the carb, removed the idle jet and found a plugged jet. Cleared it, reinstalled it, set the linkage back up and back through setting the carbs up again.

Finally, got it sounding good and then I could hear it! It was knocking, a deep sounding knock. Not a loose valve knock, but a deep thud knock. Drop test came back with number 1 cylinder had something going on inside. Maybe those approximately four hours of running low on pressure added up to more than I thought. Maybe that low pressure only had enough for the 3/4 bank allowing the 1/2 bank to strave. Whatever......

So tuned it the best I could, took it out for a 15 minute drive. Laid rubber down in a few spots. The engine was way more willing to handle the abuse I was dealing out than I thought it would. I figured I would get a rod to show itself. Nope. And really I am thankful that they stayed where they are supposed to.

Well, my next step is for next week. Pull the motor. Disassemble it, go back through all the measuring once again and see what needs to be repaired or replaced. Hoping to find a crank that need some polishing and a rod that need a new bearing. Brothers machining will let me know.

Or maybe just start with a new aluminum case for a new engine. I think I am done buying cases, with nothing but faith that a 40 - 50 years old piece of machinery will be in good shape. I will be saving my dollars for this next step, while seeing what I can do with what I have.

Thanks for everthing, from all responders! I truely appreciate the community. I have always preached the tribe mentality to my family, "It takes a tribe to.....", and this has solidified my thoughts even further. Again, thank you all. I would not have come to this conclusion as quickly without all of your input. I knew when I posted that something was not right but at that point, I was just thinking oil pressure. I did not open my ears until Dan wrote something about a rod falling off. I aint that bad of an engine builder, but I did lose my hearing when I focused in on that gauge! So again, thank you all. Truely appreciate the support!

If I do attempt a repair on this one, or it blows up, I will update this thread.[/url]
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[oprn]

[SRP1]

I've seen this before, it's sucking air on the pick up side. As others have said over fill the verify, but be looking for the problem between the pick up and pump.
Like I said before, check the depth of the pump in the case to make sure the pick up port is fully covered by the pump body.