So Here I am ALREADY asking questions! I just bought my 79 F150 off craigslist for $2000. The truck is in pretty great shape for its age. Only minor surface rust in the bed, and small spots here and there at seams. The main selling point was the crate 302 under the hood. with around 5500 miles on the motor swap its a great start to a project.
Im driving it daily to work and notice the Oil pressure is always way high. The oil level seems fine. I do seem to see a bit of oil around the heads and manifold, but havnt had a chance to degrease the whole thing to see if is an active leak. the truck runs strong and is responsive.
Any pointers on what to check first?
Thanks!

 

Welcome to FTE btw!
Any idea what psi it is exactly? The stock gauges are finicky. My 64 Falcon has a 302 (supposedly a stroker 347 but I haven't taken the pan off to see if the PO is FOS) and it idles at 70-80 psi oil pressure haha. Has a high flow oil pump in it. Then there is my highboy which idles at 15psi. Darn FE motors :P

 

No clue what the pressure actually is. I know these old gauges cant be trusted!
Its just always sitting almost at the "H" The gauge might not even be functional for all I know it doesn't react to changes in rpm or motor load from what I can tell.

 

I wouldn't worry about it but go to the local parts store and get a triple gauge pod for under the dash. Water temp, oil pressure, and alt gauge. Then you can actually get a real # from whats going on under the hood. I have all autometer stuff and it works great! Autogayge is another good brand oriellys carries and they are made by autometer

 

Asking questions and getting help is what we are all here for, welcome to FTE.

This all catches my eye, crate motor, 5500 miles, and a bit of oil, have to degrease it?? WTH? Crate motor with that low a miles and leaking already?

Ck your valve cover for being loose or too tight and having bent the outer edges. Good idea on getting some aftermarket gauges, especially a oil pressure one.

 

If you don't know what the pressure is or if the gauge can't be trusted, how do you know it is actually high?

 

I was thinking the same thing. Put a true mechanical gauge on it, then go from there.

 

Thanks Guys! Ill pick up a set of gauges this week and get them in there and see what we see. Im pretty sure the stock gauge is not correct. I really need to clean it all up and go around and check all the covers etc. because yeah for a newer motor ( actually not sure if its crate or not ) its greasy around the valve covers and manifold. and back toeards the transmission.

 

Leaking back towards the trans....maybe you have popped an aft intake manifold gasket?

 

That seems to be the likely culprit. if you look in the pic its clean and dry around the valve covers, but is all oily/greasy right under and around that aluminum intake manifold.




Baby's 302

 

Is the sending unit good, is it installed correctly, is the wire hooked up?

What happens when you turn the key on, does the needle on the gauge move at all?

Any more pics of the engine?

 

The needle goes straight up to almost H when i crank it up. stays there the whole ride solid as rock then back down when i shut the engine down. its Functional, just not sure how accurate. I picked up a set of triple gauges (temp,oil,volt) im gonna throw those on and see what happens, also oil and filter change to see if that helps.

 

could also put a new oil pressure sending unit in.

 

Well now Im just confused! Did an oil and filter change on Blue (Synthetic 10W-30, Fram filter) cranked her up and all was well but same High pressure reading. Figured Id put in the new triple gauge set and see but ran out of time.

Took her out for a jaunt to church the next day and Gauge reads no pressure and Temp gauge reads Boiling! got to church checked all fluids. All normal safe levels no leaks fro filter/drain/anywhere. drove home from chuch with same readings on the gauges
(the cold engine read hot on the temp gauge instantly after startup) checked all fluids upon arrival home, all good.

I took some time after the oil change to run all loose wires into fire proof conduit, and rout them appropriately but left all connected as I found them. Im hoping that the gauges are all just old and fualty. Guess Ill find out when I get the time to Install the spare set!

Also took time to de-grease and hose down the motor and tranny to see where all the oily grime may have been originating, and nailed it to the driver side valve cover rear corner. Guess Ill be doing gaskets this week. Any Tips for VC Gaskets?

 

Once the the VC are off, take a 6" steel ruler or other flat edge and ck the mounting surfaces for flatness, especially around the bolt holes. Sometimes they get over tightened and pull that area down and that can lead to leaks. Carefully tap back flat.