Well, the reason I am concerned about the oil pressure, is that when it reads low, the lifters have that annoying 'tapping' sound that bugs the heck out of me. The needle on the after market gauge reads at zero with engine off, the factory in dash gauge reads 1/4 in. below the line with engine off.......It may be normal, but it still bugs me !

 

If you are experiencing "tappet clatter" at idle, this would indicate you are NOT adequately lubricating the valve train. As I mentioned, I have a 360 that idles low at about 5 or 6 lbs. in my estimation of the gauge. Although it idles at this low indication I do NOT hear any tappet noise at all.

Given this, I suspect the possibility some of your adjustable valve train could be allowing a "leak" of some of the oil it now receives, therefore is losing some of what little oil pressure it actually is receiving at idle speed. This would cause the hydraulic lifters to clatter. Clatter indicates low lubrication. This could be allowing extra wear to be happening and I think you would be wise to eliminate this if possible.

If it were me, I would install a New High volume oil pump as soon as I could. If you already have a new high volume pump in it, I would have the relief valve spring changed or stretch it to increase oil pressure at idle. The relief valve spring of an older pump loses its tension over time and lets it open up too soon and is something that could be causing your low pressure problem. It is even possible for these to "stick" open and then at idle your oil pressure would definitely be lower than it was supposed to be. My Recommendation: New High Volume "tricked" Oil Pump! Good Luck!

 

If you are running hydraulic lifters with an adjustable valvetrain and have it adjusted to the solid lifter specs, then it will be very loud. You need to set them so you feel slight resistance when you spin the pushrods. The lifters are supposed to cushion the system and take up all the slack.

 

^ damn u beat me to it. i have read that in hot rod magazines and was about to mention it.

 

On most engines with adjustable hydraulic tappets and individual studded rockers, the rocker arm adjustment requires that the valve lash be brought to zero and then the nut is tightened an additional 1/2 to 1 turn.

This centers the inner piston in the lifter bore. It allows the tappet to use oil (hence the name "hydraulic") to provide a solid bottom to the piston while allowing oil to flow through the upper bore for lubrication of the valve train.

Think about it. When the rocker shafts on a stock FE are tightened down, they DO collapse the lifters some.

If you're using zero clearance for your rockers, you will inevitably have some "clatter" in the valve train.

I suggest that you contact the manufacturer of your camshaft and find out the true specs and procedure for valve adjustment on your particular camshaft.

 

I compensated for the hyd. lifters when adjustment was done........The high volume oil pump just might be the ticket........Thanks guy's

 

Number 1-
Get that Pissoil out of that engine.
Number 2-
What is your above-idle oil pressure? If it's 40+ psi, there is no need for a high volume oil pump, and that may cause a good number of problems like twisting the oil pump drive or eating the distributor drive off the cam. These are not fun things to fix, especially if you suddenly and completely lose oil pressure on the highway while you're busy driving instead of looking at the gauge. How many pieces do you think come out the oil pan then?

 

Ooftus,

If you get the High Volume Pump let us know if it helped. I also have 360 but stock and am having concerns with my gauge reading very low. I have just started hearing my engine tapping after being driven for awhile and at idle. However, I have heard concerns about using them as has been described in this post.

 

BGBRY, Sounds like your engine may be well worn also, I don't believe swapping oil pumps would be a good idea for you either.

It was the way the oil flow was designed for that engine series that causes low idle pressure on worn engines.


John

 

I know the 360's used an aluminum body oil pump that was easily worn when oil was not changed regularly. I did my oil pan gask. and rear main on my 360 a couple of years ago and installed a high volume pump while it was apart. My oil pressure is just shy of the middle of the gauge when idling warm.