Low oil pressure solved

[Ken/Alabama]

Installed a newly rebuilt 59A in a 32 for a friend. Engine was rebuilt by a well known flathead shop on the west coast . It came as a short block and I fitted the heads ,oil pump and pan,intake etc. Got it up and running but noticed it had about 5 lbs oil pressure at idle and less than 20 above idle. I removed the oil pan thinking maybe something was wrong with the oil pump or pickup tube. Didn’t see anything unusual but replaced them anyway with a known good pump. Still low oil pressure. I pulled the intake to take a look at the oil relief and spring in the front of the block. Nothing unusual there either. So while I was standing there scratching my head I noticed that the fuel pump push rod bushing was protruding above the hole by a 1/4” or more and thought that was unusual. I put my air gun on the bushing and when I blew in it air came out up front where the spring and plunger goes. That shouldn’t be I thought. I took a piece of stiff wire and put a small 90 degree bend in it and slid it in the bushing and could feel that the bushing was not installed deep enough to register in the bottom thus allowing oil to escape and not building pressure. I drove the bushing on down flush the blew air in it again. No air came out up front this time. All back together and now it has 45 lbs idleing hot and 60 going down the road . All this because someone wasn’t paying attention or was in a rush .could have ruined a new engine.

[Mart]

Good catch. Thanks for sharing. Every little snippet of information that can save a problem for someone else needs to be shared.

[flatjack9]

A well known shop, but not reliable.

[Tim Ayers]

Good catch. Not the first time I’ve heard some concerns from a well known CA rebuilder

[Ronnieroadster]

Originally Posted by flatjack9

A well known shop, but not reliable.

My thoughts exactly

[Bob C]

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Any chance they are in La Crescenta?

[Ggmac]

Thanks !

[jimTN]

You lost me, are you saying air came our around the cap that holds the spring and poppet at the front of the valve gallery? There have been posts here about not running a fuel pump and the bushing was not supposed to make any difference, I have never believed that however, I do not understand the relationship of that busing going deeper in the hole to make more oil pressure.

[keith oh]

Another oil low oil pressure hint is if a bypass oil filter has been installed without a 60 thousands reducer in the inlet oil line to the oil pressure will read very low.

[Ken/Alabama]

Originally Posted by jimTN

You lost me, are you saying air came our around the cap that holds the spring and poppet at the front of the valve gallery? There have been posts here about not running a fuel pump and the bushing was not supposed to make any difference, I have never believed that however, I do not understand the relationship of that busing going deeper in the hole to make more oil pressure.

I had the cap removed along with spring and poppet . The bushing was not installed deep enough to seal it off from the tube that runs the length of the block. Running without a push rod won’t affect oil pressure, but the bushing must be in place. This engine is running an electric pump and has no push rod .

[jimTN]

Thanks Ken, that makes more sense to me.

[Ken/Alabama]

Originally Posted by keith oh

Another oil low oil pressure hint is if a bypass oil filter has been installed without a 60 thousands reducer in the inlet oil line to the oil pressure will read very low.

It has the restrictor fitting .

[alanwoodieman]

here is another low/no oil pressure problem. 221 A block, totally rebuilt but little to no oil pressure! did the same check pump-oil relief spring, pulled the timing cover and gear and found the problem the builder forgot the oil gallery plug behind the timing gear!!!! went to another engine in storage a pulled plug and put it in, 50 lbs cold, 40 lbs hot at 1500 rpm, 20 lbs at idle. my one concern is wear on bearings but I pulled front main and it looked good

[tubman]

This is really odd; engines generally constructed well, but with one glaring error; This is not the first time I have heard of this; it seems fairly common. I had it happen to me once. I spent "Big Bucks" on a "quality" rebuild on an O/T 327/350 for a Corvette. It came with a HV/HP oil pump that kept the gauge pegged, even a hot idle. After a few miles and a lot of oil consumption, I pulled the pan and put in a stock spec pump which brought everything back to normal.

The only thing I can think of is that a Melling HV/HP pump is 1/3 the cost of a stock replacement (If you don't believe me, look it up). The rebuilder screwed up the job to make an extra $40 (and possibly brag "I upgraded your oil pump to a racing unit").

[scicala]

Mistakes can happen to the best of engine builders. If it happens on a regular basis, that's a different story.


Sal

[aussie merc]

not defending anyone but you'e got to remember any shop is only as good as the tech that actually did the work .It takes years of hard work by a team of good people to earn that name and one hiccup by one person or supplier to destroy it overnight My question is Did you contact the shop. and how did they handle you thats the measure of quality work

[Ken/Alabama]

Originally Posted by aussie merc

not defending anyone but you'e got to remember any shop is only as good as the tech that actually did the work .It takes years of hard work by a team of good people to earn that name and one hiccup by one person or supplier to destroy it overnight My question is Did you contact the shop. and how did they handle you thats the measure of quality work

I agree, I’m not here trying to bash anyone but I’ve learned a very good lesson . I didn’t build the engine so from now on I’ll be paying more attention to some of those kinda things .

[Talkwrench]

Originally Posted by Mart

Good catch. Thanks for sharing. Every little snippet of information that can save a problem for someone else needs to be shared.

Agreed!

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by Ken/Alabama

Engine was rebuilt by a well known flathead shop on the west coast.

Ken, with all due respect, as soon as you made the above statement, most/many of us here knew exactly who you meant.
I think aussie merc made some good points in his post and I thought the same thing as soon as I read your post #1.
By going back to the re builder and letting them know what happened might help the guy in their shop who made this mistake to remember to double check things more carefully, and possibly avoid this from happening again.
On the other hand, by letting us Fordbarners know about that pushrod bushing not being in its proper location, which caused low oil pressure, was educational for many of us here as something to check for, should we be faced with a similar problem of low oil pressure

[ford38v8]

John, of course we all agree, so why are you yelling?

[39portlander]

Ken, good find and a great thread/reminder. It goes further than a flathead, most if not all our trades people fall in to this "learning curve".

With out proper supervision and being an apprentice of sorts, if you don't know you made a mistake and learn from it you will keep making that mistake.

As Sal said best, "mistakes happen, If it happens on a regular basis that's a different story".

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

John, of course we all agree, so why are you yelling?

FYI ALAN, because when I quote someone's post.... I normally type my response in bold so it does not appear as part of the quote.... that's not considered to be "YELLING" by most folks... YELLING WOULD NORMALLY BE CONSIDERED WHEN USING ALL CAPS, this could either be in BOLD or not in BOLD.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by 39portlander

Ken, good find and a great thread/reminder. It goes further than a flathead, most if not all our trades people fall in to this "learning curve".

With out proper supervision and being an apprentice of sorts, if you don't know you made a mistake and learn from it you will keep making that mistake.

As Sal said best, "mistakes happen, If it happens on a regular basis that's a different story".

I understand this logic, but if it’s the shop I think it is you are paying for a premium product. Someone should be inspecting an apprentices work if that’s the case.

[Frank Miller]

A friend once said, the difference between an experienced and novice technician is the experienced one has alredy burned someone else's equipment.

[KGS]

Originally Posted by Tim Ayers

I understand this logic, but if it’s the shop I think it is you are paying for a premium product. Someone should be inspecting an apprentices work if that’s the case.

Well, even at the "Big Three", there are Monday cars and Friday cars.
Maybe the "apprentice" was on his way to get the tool to press that bushing into the block when someone stopped him to offer a roll of toilet paper or hand sanitizer at a "good price"...

[Kurt in NJ]

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Years ago we started to have some cars towed in with wheels that fell off, they all had one thing in common. They just got tires put on at the local warehouse club-- eventually we asked the guy running the tire department--- his answer---"we put hundreds of tires on each day, a few are goin to fall off"

In the Ford engine rebuilding book it says every engine should get a oil pressure check--- before the pan is put on, a pressure pot is to be connected to the oil gallery, and oil dripping is to be monitored, --- everything should drip, but steady stream is a problem

[ford38v8]

Well shucks, John, as my post didn't actually quote you, how come you're so sure I meant YOU?





EDIT~ I'm just funning with you, John, have another cup of coffee!

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by KGS

Well, even at the "Big Three", there are Monday cars and Friday cars.
Maybe the "apprentice" was on his way to get the tool to press that bushing into the block when someone stopped him to offer a roll of toilet paper or hand sanitizer at a "good price"...

Haha. Could be and totally understand. Which is why that tiny detail of driving a bushing down 1/4" more that could have wiped out a brand new motor would be infuriating if I was the customer.

In this game of big dollar, non-essential toys, most businesses can only afford so many "come backs" before folks start going elsewhere.

Let's face, no one really needs a high-dollar flathead. If that's your bread and butter, you better make sure people are getting what they pay for.

I'm making a lot of assumptions as to which shop it is, but this is not the first time issues with quality control have been brought up.

[flatheadmurre]

And on top of lack of pride in the work or stress or what else it is...we have to deal with failing new parts...
Had a brand new oilpump push out the lower bushing due to the fact it had to little pressfit...thought the days of bad oilpumps was history...

[TomT/Williamsburg]

Good catch Ken - now miles of smiles for your friend!

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by KGS

Well, even at the "Big Three", there are Monday cars and Friday cars.
Maybe the "apprentice" was on his way to get the tool to press that bushing into the block when someone stopped him to offer a roll of toilet paper or hand sanitizer at a "good price"...

LOL, or maybe he was on his way to the bathroom, and someone stopped him with TP and hand sanitizer telling him he may need these items because the dispensers were all empty, and as he was taking care of business, somebody pushed the button, and moved the assembly line forward ...

[Aarongriffey]

I really appreciate posts that warn us of things like that.
Thank Ken.

[Aarongriffey]

Reminds me of one I was involved in.
I was working at a new car dealer in St.Paul. in 1966 the dealer in Minneapolis sent over a car to our dealership for me to find out why it had circulation but no oil pressure. They had tried oil pumps, rod bearings, relief valves filters, I don’t know what all, but they had given up.
It was a three liter straight six pushrod engine. Brand new car, had not been sold yet.
The first thing I did was pull the radiator and timing cover. I thought maybe the chain tensioner had been left out. It was in there.
I watched the front while another guy turned on the key and pushed the starter button. It fired the first turn and shot a pint of oil under my work bench.
It turned out there was no front main bearing insert on top of the crank! The factory had set the crank in without it.

[Mart]

Lol at that one^^^