Just got my 292 started from a fresh rebuild I have a mechanical oil guage on the truck but It seems low though.

What should the oil pressure be on a 292 at idle? My truck is in a heated shop and hs just idled a bit not reved up yet. It has 10W 30 oil

Thanks
Ryan

 

Hi here are your oil pressure 35-55psi
my 292 run about 25 idle hot cold 80 + on the road about 45 (15w 50 )

 

OK my guage was reading 15-20 ata idle.

 

That seems OK to me if this is warmed up It should be plenty to oil the top end

 

You may be able to raise the oil prressure by putting a spacer(washer) under the oil pressure relief spring in the oil pump (it's a new pump right?)


If that doesn't raise the pressure you may have poor clearance in the (new?) cam bearings.


Be absolutely sure you check your gage with a known gage.



Everybody I talk to suggests using 15W40 oil, not for the higher viscocsity, but for the higher levels zddp additives which protect the flat tappets and cam lobes. http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/flat_tappet_cam_tech/



Regards,

Rick

 

All the oil makers with the exception of the avation oils are taking the ZDDP out of oil. It should be gone already. Use STP Oil Treatment. Not too much because it leaves sludge in the pan.

 

I'm skeptical about STP and other after market "snake oil' oil additives.

I am reluctant to use oil additives when car manufacturers suggest NOT using them and those additive companies are sued by the FTC for false claims.

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1995/12/stp.htm

Supposedly the zddp is causing problems with gasoline engine cat converters.

Oils for diesels still have to meet ASTM D5966-02 "Roller Follower Wear test".

 

I would suspect that a 600-1000 rpm idle that it should be somewhere between 10-30 psi unless you put the heavy duty high volume, higher pressure pumps in it. As a loose guideline, most builders like at least 10 psi per 1000 rpms. Any less there could be trouble, and more there could be trouble too. How low is it? Better check that guage.....Also, seen oil pumps that are bad right out of the box - especially the really cheap ones that most autoparts companies sell.

 

If your number are correct then my motor is fine but I have been hearing numbers 40psi a 2000rpm.

 

How much oil pressure you have is dependent on many things. One thing that is really important is how hot the engine is. The warmer, to a point, the better the oil will flow which will result in lower pressure readings. Another consideration is the vicosity of the oil itself. 5-30 will typically have less oil pressure than a 20-50 because it flows better. Additionally, another item that effects oil pressure is the oil pump itself. The stock pumps typically flow enough, but if you want to really see that guage jump put in the higher pressure, higher volume after market pump. Also, and surely the most important factor for a number of reasons, are your bearing clearances. Were they within specs when you put this thing together? Loose bearing clearances will cause lower than usual oil pressure readings. If your bearing clearances were fine you probably don't have anything to worry about. 40 psi at 2000 rpms is a good amount of oil flow, Just curious, what does it have at 1000 rpm when it is fully warm? The 351 I just built myself with double and triple checking everything has 17 psi with 5-30 in it at 190 degrees and a 700 rpm idle. At 2000 rpm it has 50. This is with a factory ford pump. It now has slightly higher readings than it did when it had 200,000 miles on it - with the exception of idle, it had only 6 psi at idle before the rebuild. It never knocked or gave me any trouble...rebuilt it because it loved to drink oil.