CharlieCobra03

on startup. After running, tuning and a couple of test drives, I noticed the oil pressure was zero when I started it to mess with the tach. No knocking, squeaking or other noise, just zero on the gauge. The valvetrain did get a touch louder but it's noisy anyway, being a solid roller setup. I ordered a priming tool so I can pull a VC and spin the pump to see if it's pushing up any oil. So, we think either I snapped off the pump shaft or the frickin' pickup fell off the pump. The cheapest would be a plugged gauge line but I doubt I'm THAT lucky.

WAHUSKER

iTrader: (4)

That sucks! At least you found it BEFORE something really bad happened. We used to use a long flat blade (no handle) stuck into a drill to prime the pump. Just pulled the distributor & stuck it in. If you were in a hurry / pinch. But 0 pressure usually means something cheap broke or came apart. Much better than 5psi (i.e. bearings went away) Good luck Charlie!!!

Rawr256

All engines I have had a hand with being redone this is the same method we do also.

When my wife bought got her Probe I was riding with her and she was talking about haveing the extra gauges her Toyota didn't have. She said her Oil Pressure rarely moved, I looked over and it was bottomed out. She drove it all the way home with no noises and I said something to her dad, he said "as long as it isn't making any noise I tell her to just keep driving it!" If my oil pressure fluxuates outside of the normal realm I generally panic.

CharlieCobra03

Yeah, it had 40 PSI for the first few runs and then zero for this one startup. WAHUSKER's probably right. Something simple, like the pickup tube falling off. Either way, I can't pull the pan in the car so the motor has to come out. What a PITA.

Rokko

iTrader: (2)

Bummer, but at least you caught it before something catastrophic happened.