as some of you know I have been battling oil pressure problems for a while now and the symtoms more or less are when the engine is cold oil pressure starts at about 40psi and steadily drops as time/heat goes up. pressure drops when under load. recently installed a melling oil pump and think that based on the problems i have had that the o-ring was improperly installed (pinched/rolled).

so i thought an easy way to find out if the o-ring was sucking air or not when the motor heats up is to basically bury it in oil. by adding more oil into the motor until the oil level is above the o-ring sealing surface.

question is, would this method properly diagnose it or cause more problems than its worth?

Any suggestions?

 

any one? bueler? bueler?

 

if pressure is dropping under load i would look for excessive endplay in the crank. i just lost a motor to this. it held strong pressure cold and lost alot as the motor got hot. still held and built pressure when in nuetral though. as soon as the car went in gear it lost pressure and wouldn't build with rpm. hopefully that's not your issue but i would check for peace of mind

 

whats a good way to check for this?

 

remove the belts and try to pry the crank back and forth in the block. acceptable endplay is .004-.008 i believe. mine was almost an 1/8 inch