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Hello guys. I have a 1973 F100 with a 360 V8. It has about 6K miles on it as a newly installed crate motor. It starts right up, no noise or rattles and runs so smooth at idle that I could balance a nickel on the manifold. Several days ago the oil pressure gauge started to act erratic. The only thing I had done was to install a new valve cover gasket but I made sure that the interior of the head was clean of all debris or foreign crap before putting the cover back on. There are no leaks.
I tried to tighten down the wire leads at the sending unit and move the ground wire to a better location. No difference. I have not replaced the sending unit yet. I have decided to remove the electrical unit and temporarily install a mechanical Oil pressure gauge and see what happens. If the problem persists what could be going on internally at the bottom end? Even though remote is it possible that a bearing had been spun? Would it require pulling the engine even with only 6K miles? Thanks, Donald.
We were just talking about this in another thread. Sounds a little like the oil pump pressure relief valve is sticking, if the gauge indication is accurate. Read about it here Technical Melling
Ok. I have the new mechanical gauge installed. Pretty quick. I will take a cruise and let you all know what it reads. If the problem persists can I drive the truck? I do not take it on the interstate but just around town. Would the fluctuating pressure kill the engine? Seems sad if I had to pull the engine with only 6 thousand miles on it.
I wouldn't recommend it. How high is it spiking? We talked about that too. A sticking oil pump relief valve is no bueno. Maybe that isn't what's going on, but if it is and is stuck closed and the pressure spikes high enough, the oil filter can blow clean off, or blow out core plugs in the cylinder heads. Not pleasant. Or if the pressure is too low at times, then bearings will be starved for oil. You can guess the rest. The relief valve can stick closed, open, or somewhere in between none of which is any good.
Hi guys! Thanks for responding to my post. Just an update; I took the truck out for a long ride. The weather temp has fallen out here now so I wanted to be sure the engine was at operating temperature. Since new install my engine likes to run at 60 lbs cold then falls slowly to 45 lbs or so at cruise when warmed up. Idle at 20. it has been running fat, dumb and happy at those numbers since it first hit the road new. That is exactly where she ran today. No bouncing around or strange readings at all. I even gained about 3 or 4 lbs at cruise pressure. I must then suspect a bad sending unit in my electrical oil pressure gauge which is an easy exchange. Obviously I am very relieved! I was so happy that I drove it to the city next to us and bought a couple of cigars!
Thanks for the suggestions and I am glad that this story has a happy ending.
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