Reply to "Oil Pressure??.. What say you??..."

I guess at some point I need to just let it ride and go with it. It's been over two years since I have driven this car. I'm ready to get on w/it...


My two cents

I’m a fairly new owner approaching two years. When I test drove my car I noticed midway through the test drive that the oil pressure was parked at 30 psi on the gauge. The owner said that the motor had 1K miles on it and he seemed like a decent guy. The motors appearance backed up the owner’s statement. I got the car home and started driving. I noticed significant oil consumption which turned out to be a loose intake manifold. Gaskets were replaced and I was on my way. As I became more familiar with the car I noticed that the oil pressure would go down under acceleration. Humm, what to do? I verified the pressure with a mechanical gauge, 50 psi gong down the road dropping to approx 30 under acceleration. I took it to a shop and they dropped the pan. The gasket at the oil pump/block junction had blown out. The gasket was replaced, pan reinstalled and there was no change to the oil pressure! I made many phone calls and spoke to lots of competent helpful folks some on this forum (thanks guys). After replacing the oil pump twice (1 high volume and 1 std. both melling), replacing the main and rod bearings, inspecting the lifter valley for cracks there was still no change. My car was up on blocks for about 4 of the last 10 months. When it was drivable I had to baby it because I didn’t want to damage the motor as it is stuffed with many fairly rare and expensive parts that I couldn’t afford to replace.

The bottom line

I didn’t give in and kept searching for the problem my gut told me was there. The culprit turned out to be an external oil cooler that had been plumbed with a 5’ run of -8 hose both ways. A check valve had been installed to allow the accusump to pressurize the system during startup. Somewhere is this setup was an obstruction that I believe was causing the oil pump to cavitate. My oil pressure now lives between 75-80 psi. and does not drop under acceleration.

In the comments above it sounded like your frustrated. I know now that these cars can do that to you. For me I couldn’t feel comfortable driving my car unless I had confidence in the car. Hopefully my experience will help someone else down the road.

CB