As you probably know, it's easy to pull the pan on these cars, so you shouldn't have a problem replacing them without pulling the motor. But do you think you'll have the same problem afterwards - the low oil pressure that is.
I've Done It In The Old Mustangs But Wasnt Sure About The Mavericks, And Thanks For The Info! Makes Me Feel Alot Better
Have you checked the oil passages to make sure they are not clogged? Also have you checked the clearence between the pickup and the bottom of the pan? If it's too close it could be sucking itself to the bottom of the pan. Mine had a similar problem. Had great pressure on startup but quickly dropped to almost nothing. Tried everything. Determined it must have been a clearence issue with the new crank and bearings, even though I bought it as a matched kit, or the crank bore was not aligned.
Well, I'm going by the shop on the way home. We'll see what he says about the crank. What did you do to fix your problem?
I Dont Think I'll Have The Same Problem. And I've Only Noticed A Slight Problem With My Oil Pressure After I Gots Some Miles On The Engine. I Think Mine Will Lie In The Rod Bearings Themselves. Im Shopping Around Right Now For Some Clevite 77's For My Car. I'll Put Them In This Weekend And See What Happens. Ill Keep You Posted On It, To See If It Fixes Mine Or Not
I never did fix it. Engine is still on the stand in the garage! I had to have surgery last year, so havent had the money or time to get back around to it...
Sorry to hear about the surgery. Hopefully you'll be back to work soon. Sounds like we might have a similiar problem with the oil pressure.
If you have screw in oil galley plugs at the front of the engine, make sure they aren't in too deep blocking or restricting oil flow.
i havent read all the responses.... but this happened to me as well... oil pressure at startup.. gets hot.. wont get oil... check this... to be 100% sure engine shop ground the crank to .010 under and gave me .020 under bearing by mistake.. no oil pressure because of the .010 gap too much... plastiguage the crank bearings.. this can be done with engine in car.. remove oil pan... plastiguage #1, #3, #5 cap... and see what the gap is... if it is .001-.003 it is correct..but never more than ,010 gap... the bearing can be pushed out with a screwdriver (be etremely careful with your crank...do not gouge it at all)... and then the new bearings slips in.. and use a screwdriver ( be careful ) to make sure it is seated.. i did it.. and that was why my oil pressure was way off at the start... the engine shop wouldnt give me the correct bearings, unless they had the crank in their hand and i was not about to remove the crank from under the car.. so i did this and it fixed the prob... hope i didnt echo someone else.. this is just what happened to me good luck
When my buddy at the machine shop replaced my damaged cam bearing recently, he made the comment that the cam bearings need to be good and perfectly in line or my oil pressure would be screwed up. Just a thought. Dave
Sounds like cam bearing to me too. Incorrectly installed maybe?? Even a one thousands small on the rod journals, would not affect the pressure that much. Lifter bore's may be another item to look at, along with the type lifters being used. On some race engines, I have even drilled a small hole in one of the front oil galley plugs, to get extra oil on the dizzy gear(roller cam especially) and never have had that extreme pressure drop. One other thought would be that the cam retainer plate is either on wrong or even worn excessively?? Some nasty crack's, will not show up until certain temp. is reached to open them up. Wish I could be of more help on a very frustrating problem.
I will add that it sounds like a cam bearing to me as well. A little bit about pressure (of any fluid, air, water, oil, whatever).... Pressure is a sum of restriction. The more you restrict the free flow, the more pressure you will have in the system. Thus, if we had a clogged oil galley we would have good pressure yet most likely we would have smoked a cam/rod/main bearing. I too have always drilled the galley plug directly behind the dist. gear to aid in oiling the gear. With the roller cam and bronze gear, it helps to get every bit of lube to it you can. I've only had to replace a gear ONE time and that was because when I put the gear on the shaft, I got it a little too high (I think it was .050" too high on the shaft, or thereabouts) and the lower part of the gear was wearing abnormally...caught it by opening up an oil filter & saw the brass shavings. The little hole in the plug never has caused a measureable drop in pressure readings, and on the latest 414" windsor, it still carries a steady 50 psi, even with the "big" 1/16" hole in the plug. I normally drill them to 1/32". We don't need much oil on the gear, just a little to keep it lubed. Years ago I ran a stock crank 351w in the Maverick. Rando, you probably remember it...anyway, one morning before a bracket race, I started the engine, warmed it up, and noticed that pressure was 25 psi, cold, hot, wide open or idling...it never moved off of 25 psi. Figured a bad gauge. Ran it like that for 2 entire race days and the 3rd (maybe 4th...cant remember) race day it finally swarmed. Judging by the looks of the block, it appears that the main web had cracked and that was allowing oil to leak out of the feed hole, which in turn caused low pressure. Might be something to think about.... But, if you don't find anything obvious, it's probably time to get the micrometers out & start measuring clearances. IMO, if you're using plastigauge, you're throwing money out the window...I've never found any use for that stuff. Micrometer is the only way to be SURE that the clearances are correct. Years ago, I did a 250 Ninja engine where I work (smoked a rod bearing). I used plastigauge to set the clearance on the mains & rods. Owner put 150 miles on it and stacked the rod bearing again. That was an expensive mistake as those crankshafts are billet steel ($$$$) and the rods are forged. One new rod, new crank, and some gaskets later, he was back in business. This time I used a pair of mics (inside mic and an outside mic) to measure. It is still alive today, believe it or not...68,000 miles and still ticking, which must be a record for the most miles on a EX250! Rest of the bike is SHOT. Anyway, I hope new cam bearings were installed during the build. If not, we may have a problem. They are usually overlooked and often underestimated, but many times can be the cause of low(er) oil pressure, especially when up to operating temp. Had a 514 in a '83 F100....did same thing...and thats what fixed it. The cam bearings looked fine so I left them. 60psi cold, 10-15 hot at speed and real close to zero at idle. New set of bearings and it carried 60 continuously from there on out.
Last 2 times I have been to the machine shop with and engine they asked me if I wanted the cam bearings swapped. What?!?!? Of course I do! I stopped using that machine shop. Cam bearings sound like the most likely.
Thanks for all the advice guys. Last night I went by the machine shop and we looked at the block and crank. He is for certain that it's either line bore or incorrect bearings. The crank is .010 under and the bearings are all stamped that way. On #3 and #4 mains, there was practically no wear and looked new. I believe there is a huge tolerance issue on them. That's what lead us to the line bore or incorrect bearings. I'm dropping the mains caps and rods by today and he's checking the tolerances. I hope this is it, because if it's line bore, it won't take it long to fix. And if it's incorrectly stamped bearings I can always buy more bearings. I'll post more when I know it.
