oil pressure question
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I just pulled the screen sight panel on the oil pan and found a good amount of sludge in there. I cleaned it all out and I'm going to put 20w50 wieght oils in it and see how it does. Does 20w50 sound like it's a little too much? Should I go with just a 40 weight?
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From: NM
Mains are .002", rods are .003" for "wear limit". That's where mine are and I have good pressure. (Measured with plastigage) Here's a good reference on use of plastigage:
How To use plastigage to measure clearances | eHow.com
Note -- you don't need to jack against the crank for the front main if your belts are still on. Flatties have such a stiff crank that jacking won't make much difference anyway (if you do jack, jack against a counterweight!!)
Edit: just saw your post about the sludge; I'd pull the pan and clean it out good. Straight 30 will do more good than 20w50
How To use plastigage to measure clearances | eHow.com
Note -- you don't need to jack against the crank for the front main if your belts are still on. Flatties have such a stiff crank that jacking won't make much difference anyway (if you do jack, jack against a counterweight!!)
Edit: just saw your post about the sludge; I'd pull the pan and clean it out good. Straight 30 will do more good than 20w50
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I put the 20w50 in before I checked back. I'll put straight 30 in it next chance I get. I cleaned the sludge and put oil and Lucas oil additive in it then took it for a drive. I'm getting about 5psi at idle when the engine is warm and about 20-30 while driving. I'll have to wait until this weekend before I can pull the pan off to check my clearances. Would the oil pump be a possibility too. I'm trying to figure out any problems that it could be so I can know what to look for when I pull the pan.
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I was just cleaning up from working on the truck and I found what looks to be part of a piston oil ring on the oil drain bucket that must have come out when drained the oil (don't think becaust the peice seems too long) or when I took the oil screen panel off the pan. Could this be it? How much do these play a part in oil compession?
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From: NM
I can't think how a piece of ring would get in the oil pan; part of the lower cylinder bore would have to break off first. I'd guess at some point it was rebuilt pretty sloppily. Got a pic of the piece? Any chance it is part of a lockwasher?
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From: NM
The oil rings look just like OHV modern rings; some brands are solid 1-piece cast iron, others (Hastings I think) use two steel rails over a corrugated spacer. What I meant by a sloppy rebuild was that someone would have dropped a piece of ring in the pan during the assembly; I can't even think how they'd do that. The pan would be off.
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I talked to the PO and he said it was rebuilt by his father before he got it. He didn't put a lot of miles on it when he had it. He wasn't sure of how many miles was on the motor when it was rebuilt.
I keep reading about the engine noise when the mains go bad but I don't hear any engine noise comming from mine. I had about 25-30 psi on the way to work this morning and 5 psi at idle. No noise, vibration, or any sign that the bearings might be going bad except the oil pressure gauge. Either way, I'm going to pull the whole pan this weekend and just get this thing fixed. I have a new oil pump to put in it and I'll check my clearances.
I keep reading about the engine noise when the mains go bad but I don't hear any engine noise comming from mine. I had about 25-30 psi on the way to work this morning and 5 psi at idle. No noise, vibration, or any sign that the bearings might be going bad except the oil pressure gauge. Either way, I'm going to pull the whole pan this weekend and just get this thing fixed. I have a new oil pump to put in it and I'll check my clearances.
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I had heard that flatheads don't loose oil pressure when the mains wear out. I didn't understand why or how that would be. I'm going to start pulling everything off to take a look at the bottom half tommorrow. I'd like to start tonight but I had to clean out the garage before I could get the truck in there.
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I just got done checking the mains (0.0015) and rod (0.002) bearings and eveything looks fine. I did find metal shavings inside the oil pump. I looked everywhere I could get to with me eyes, fingers, flashlight and mirror and found nothing. Some of the peices were too big to fit through the screen so I'm thinking the pump is my problem. Anyone seen/had this problem before? What made it do that?
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From: NM
There are a lot of posts on the HAMB about crappy replacement flathead oil pumps, as I recall even the Mellings. They are made in China now, and tolerances and materials are just what you'd expect. Many folks are rebuilding their old pumps with new gears and bushings, lapping the surfaces on the plates, rather than deal with questionable quality. You may be able to find NOS Ford pumps from JobLot or others, but make sure it's an 8BA/8RT pump.
So if it is the pump, you are a heartbeat away from real problems if chips got up into the galleries. Honestly, I don't know what you can do. No real way to backflush it on the truck. This is one problem with sidestream filtration...
Speaking of which, pull your filter element and see if there is any metal in it. IF there is, you can be sure there is more inside the engine. Good luck!
So if it is the pump, you are a heartbeat away from real problems if chips got up into the galleries. Honestly, I don't know what you can do. No real way to backflush it on the truck. This is one problem with sidestream filtration...
Speaking of which, pull your filter element and see if there is any metal in it. IF there is, you can be sure there is more inside the engine. Good luck!
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No chips in the filter and alreadt had an oil pump so I just installed it and tried it out. I'm actually getting worse pressre now than what I was with the old pump. I tried 10w30 oil because it was all I had. Should I try a heavier oil again? I'm lost at this point.
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From: NM
What is the pump you just put in? Rebuilt, new, ?? Melling, BrandX? The common complaint about chinese rebuilts is they have sloppy clearances between the drive shaft and body so they leak pressure.