Oil pressure problems
Do you use conventional or synthetic?
i cant imagine any shop that rebuilds engines, especially hi-po wouldnt change the oil pump on a rebuild...i would start with the pickup tube o-ring and work from there...also pick up a chiltons manual and it will have a walk through of how to go through an oil pump, check all parts and clearances..
list of possible other places it can leak or cause issues-
front oil galley freeze plug on driver side under timing cover...not very common but can occur...
plastic "dogbone" plug for rear oil galley...o-ring inside that can leak...als not very common but possible...if either of these plugs were missing the engine would have zero oil pressure, so a leak would be the case in this situation of if it were infact the part in question.
camshaft retainer plate - there is a gasket on the back side that ties together the lifter oil galleys...sometimes they get flattened out or broken...replace if this is the case...if it is not broken just flat you can run a very VERY light coat of grey silicone to seal it...i cant stress enough how little silicone you really need to use...do not want anyof it to protrude in the galley borewhen plate is compressed..
loose oil pressure sending unit.
cracked pickup tube...this is not very common but can happen...ive seen incidents where they have been drilled by accident tapping oil pan for turbo drain lol.
service port on oil pan...if you look above your oil filter...there is a cast aluminumpiece held on by two ten MM bolts...it has a non tapped boss in it...on corvettes it is used for oil temp sensor, on fbodies it has no purpose...but there is a gasket behind it...it is also part of the sealed oil system so if it leaks you have issues...also not that common but possible..
oil pump to block...double roller timing sets are more common because of the spacers, butit can leak ona stock application as well...once again a very VERY light layer of grey silicone can help fix this issue...make sure the sealing surfaces are clean of any debris...as well as clean of any oil or else silicone wont seal properly...
collapsed lifters can cause oil pressure issues, but i dont think this is your problem...
bearing clearance can also effect oil pressure, but this is a new issue for you so i do not believe this is your problem...
from what you have explained so far, id have to say its probably the pickup tube o-ring..
also what oil do you run currently? 10-30?
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Hopefully today ill be doing the oil change and checking the filter
wont be able to buy O-ring till 2marrow since dealers are close weekends
Hopefully today ill be doing the oil change and checking the filter
wont be able to buy O-ring till 2marrow since dealers are close weekends
The reason I ask is when my old cam was having idle problems it would drop to 400rpm or so until it would idle and when it bogged down I would see pretty low oil pressure but thats because the motor is turning slower.
Checking oil pump and putting new o-ring this weekend thanx for everyone with the info and helping me figure this out.
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