hey guys i'm new to the nissan word, I've searched but found really nothing to my problme, i'm in need of help i've got this 93 nissan 240 ka24de & it has no oil pressure what so ever, it came to me with spun rod bearings & timing chain knocking like hell. I hook up the oil pressure gauge (aftermarket) and it shows no oil pressure, well maybe like 5-10 depending, so anyways I end up rebuilding the whole thing thinking it was a bad oil pump. I got new bearings, machine the whole dang motor all the works. got a new pump and everything...Sooooo start that thing up and it starts up fine, BUT still again no oil pressure...WTF... same thing again, checked everything and still nothing. and the chain is freken loud as hell, but i'm sure it's because there's no oil in the engine turning. ok so here is more info

I"ve took off the oil filter and started the engine, I have like bearly any oil coming out with engine running, I mean it does but only like if you were to poor oil slowly into the engine, I mean it should like come out crazy right guys?

ok so now I'm stuck...what is there that I need to know, what problems does these engines have.....thank you so much for reading my bs problem.

You must have junk in the oil galleys.. Either that or missing an oil galley plug somewhere.

If you have the block properly machined i would think they'd hot tanked it, which should have dissolved and removed anything in the galleys. Easiest oil galley plugs to check would be the ones on the backside of the cams. Pull the valve cover and check those first.

the block has not been hot tank, just cleaned from decking job. now when you say oil galleys do you mean in the block or the head?

If there's barely any oil coming out of the oil filter hole, there's only just a few things that be wrong:- missing O-ring in timing chain cover- missing O-ring in oil pickup tube- plugged up oil pickup screen- dented oil pan- oil pump not primed

I've got the exact same symptoms. Just completed a KA24DE rebuild on a '93 240SX. When I bought the car it had a "crack" in the valve cover (as if the timing chain and/or gears had exploded out the top.

Anyway, I completely rebuilt it. When I started it, same thing....no oil pressure to speak of. Did some reading and figured out when I was cleaning things up, I never saw the actual "regulator valve" in the oil pressure cover. I thought I had cleaned the regulator assembly, but now recognized that I had not done I very good job, because the actual "regulator valve" component had never come down out of the "tube".

I removed the oil pan to gain access to the pressure regulator tube and saw the valve stuck up at the top of the tube. I used an "easy-out" to "gently" "grab-a-hold" of the valve and pull it down and out. When I inspected it, it showed a little wear, but nothing I thought was too serious. However, my tech manual says the valve should drop in freely and mine would always hang up (using the easy-out did not marr the valve and besides, it grabbed the inside....the outside is the surface that matters).

I went to nissan and bought a new valve. It came in a little kit that included a new spring, plug, and washer all for about $12.00. When I installed the new regulator assembly, the valve still hung up a little, but not as much.

I buttoned everything back up and fired her up and......same problem. My engine was hot tanked, my oil galleys were clear. I didn't actually "mic - out" all the tolerances for the inner and outer gears, but that was because when the engine was "mic'd" it showed neglible wear.

I'm getting ready to pull the front timing cover back off (which is a lot of work) so I can "mic" the gears, and reinspect my oil pump cover (which also houses the pressure regulator valve). I suspect there's something wrong with my oil pump cover (either it's ability to seal or the housing for the regulator valve is marred in some way).

I'll let you know what I find and if it resolves the problem. Unless of course you've already resovled your oil pressure delimma in which case....what was it and how did you fix it?

Hope this helps, or better yet, maybe you can help me and save me the trouble of pulling my timing cover.

Rogoman,

I primed the oil pump back when I reassembled it but it was several weeks (months?) later when I actually started the engine.

I attempted to "re-prime" by pumping oil into my oil sending unit port.

How serious is the oil pump priming and is there a sure-fire way of knowing you have the pump properly/adequately primed?

rogoman wrote:If there's barely any oil coming out of the oil filter hole, there's only just a few things that be wrong:- missing O-ring in timing chain cover- missing O-ring in oil pickup tube- oil pump not primed

forgot about the o-rings.

OMG...so in other words i'm not the only one having this huh...ok well one thing, how do you prime the oil pump?? and how do you suppose to do it. wtf i've never had to do this to any of ANY engines i've build. someone please help us noobs

To prime the oil pump is simple.There are two ways to do it. First and probably best is to just fill the pump with oil before you install it for its first start. The second is to first make sure the injectors wont fire(either take out a fuse, or pull the harness off of them) and take the coil wire off, then simply turn the engine over for about 5-8 seconds. Do this until the oil pressure light goes offor gauge reads where it is supposed to if you have a gauge while turning it over. Should only take a few times to prime it.

omg, that's it...ofcourse i've done that, but doesn't explain why the old oil pump is bad and now the new one is doing the same thing, there must be something wrong with these ka and sr that is causing all this? why does nissan have oil issues? i've search and i've found so much about sr's and rb's having oil problems, someone has to know this.PLEASE share you info.

O.K., two things....

First:

LayNLow240 wrote:To prime the oil pump is simple.There are two ways to do it. ...second is to ..... simply turn the engine over for about 5-8 seconds. Do this until the oil pressure light goes offor gauge reads where it is supposed to if you have a gauge while turning it over. Should only take a few times to prime it.

This indicates that not having an oil pump primed is only relevant to the initial protection of the engine during start-up and is not relevant to the pump's ability to initially draw a vacuum (suction) on the oil strainer and to begin pumping oil (which is the problem here).

In other words.... If your oil pump is not primed, will it prevent the pump from being able to draw a suction and begin pumping? Or, is laynlow240 right, in that eventually the pump will begin pumping whether it was primed or not?

Second:

supra7m2002 wrote:....i've done that, but doesn't explain why the old oil pump is bad and now the new one is doing the same thing....

Are you saying you've put in a whole new oil pump and regulator valve assembly and you're still not getting any oil pressure? Or, did you just replace the gear set and you're using your original timing cover and regulator valve assembly?

To all, has anyone else had this problem? I'm suspecting a marred housing in my original oil pump cover/regulator valve housing and this is causing my new regulator valve to stick/hang-up and consequently "dump" the oil right back into the pan instead of allowing it to go on it's way to it's first stop (the oil sending unit port) and then onto the rest of the engine.

i've replaced the WHOLE front cover oil pump setup.......it cost me over 200 bucks....anything would still help guys, it's all pulled but I have no where and no other way of going with this

I'm in the same boat.

During the last week, I pulled the old oil pump. I checked the spec's very closely and they looked good to me. It's a lot of work to get to the oil pump, so as long as I had it out I decided to replace it to be on the safe side.

When I put the new oil pump on, I primed it by packing it with engine lube. I was really hoping that somehow, this was what my problem had been all along.

To date I've:- replaced the oil pump (which includes a new regulator valve assembly).- replaced the gasket between oil pump and pick-up tube assembly.- verified there was (and is) a new oil seal in the "pressure port" from timing cover to engine block.- inspected pick-up tube assembly for cracks.- primed oil pump by "packing it" with engine lube, and- utilized two different pressure guages to verify zero indication

I'm still reading zero oil pressure.

I pulled the oil filter and could see "particles" of engine lube (from the oil pump) mixed with oil in the filter, but when I pulled the valve cover, there didn't seem to be a lot of oil up top (there's some (a lite coat), but not a-lot).

There's a relief valve behind the oil filter mounting bracket. Before I pull the whole engine, I'm going to take another look at this. I didn't do anything with it during the rebuild, but I'm wondering.... if it were stuck open (somehow), would this cause a zero pressure indication?

If there's nothing to the relief valve, then the only thing left to "re-check" are the internals (crank and camshaft bearings, oil galleys and ports and the like). However, even if an oil galley were clogged (which I don't believe), it seems I would still have an indication of oil pressure (since this is the oils "first stop" upon leaving the oil pump). I just wouldn't have any oil downstream of the clog (which would be a whole different problem). Right?

I did the rebuild myself, but I had the engine "mic'd" and hot tanked at a shop (several years ago). I recall they told me there was neglible wear on the engine (crank, cylinder walls, etc) and they supplied the bearings and rings and such as necessary. Based on this, I don't recall actually "plastigauging" anything, but I'm having a very hard time believing that: a) all the bearing tolerances could be off, and b) that these "loose" bearing tolerances could cause an indication of zero oil pressure (as opposed to simply reading 30-35 psi instead of 60-70 psi)?

If the relief valve isn't somehow fouling things up, then the only choice I have left is tearing the whole engine apart again. I just wish I could be more confident that "loose" bearings could be causing this?

Is there anyone out there that can confirm that this could be the problem? Please tell me about any experiences anyone has had with crank and/or camshaft bearings effecting oil pressure.

Thanks!!

very good info zest, but it still doesn't help us...hehehe jezz I've should of just went to the junk yard and bought a used good running engine instead of rebuilding this ka. ok here is what I want to know,

you said

There's a relief valve behind the oil filter mounting bracket. Before I pull the whole engine, I'm going to take another look at this. I didn't do anything with it during the rebuild, but I'm wondering.... if it were stuck open (somehow), would this cause a zero pressure indication?

Now how would the relief valve act as a piece that's blocking the oil passive.

And rod bearings and main bearings being out of spec wont give you no or low oil pressure, it will just make noise like a spun bearing as in rod knock and such. soooooo hummmmm let's work on this, I'm pulling the whole front cover off and checking it today. i'll keep you posted, and also pulling the oil filter housing off and changeing that too.... if you have anything please post...thanks

O.K., as to the relief valve....my theory isn't that it's blocking a passage....my theory is, if it's stuck open, then perhaps it's enabled an alternative path for the oil to flow instead of flowing into the crank and continueing on it's normal path. And if it does enable an alternative path, then this may be the reason that no pressure is being built.

If water is coming out of a hose from your house faucet at 15 psi and then you take that water and "direct it" into a smaller passage, it's pressure will be increased. Conversely, it you take the water from the hose and route it into a larger hose (or passage) then it's pressure will be decreased.

That's my theory with the relief valve. If it's allowing the oil being "pushed" out from the oil pump to "expand" into a larger area and not get routed into the smaller oil passages of the crank, then there would be no pressure.....no oil pressure.

The problem is, I can't tell exactly what the path is with regard to the relief valve from any of the pictures I have in my service manual. I can say that the relief valve is designed to open if the oil filter becomes clogged so that oil will continue to be pumped throughout the engine despite the clogged (or malfunctioning) oil filter. What I can't tell, is what effect an open relief valve might have in the presence of a normally funtioning oil filter. I'll have to look closely at the oil filter mounting bracket to determine exactly how the oil is being routed into and out of the oil filter. All this is really just a "hail mary" though anyway.

As to the the crank and camshaft bearings....this was from a tech I had spoken with regarding the zero oil pressure problem. We talked about several different reasons a person may have an oil pressure problem and that was just one of them he mentioned. It follows the same line of thought in that, if the engine was designed to build or create pressure by "pumping" the oil through a specific gap (like the hose example) and that "gap" was larger than designed for, it stands to reason that the pressure would be less. Now the question is.....how many bearings would need to be out of spec and by how far for an engine to show zero oil pressure?

Remember, the "port" for the pressure reading is the first "point" out of the oil pump. If the oil isn't ever "forced" into any "small" space....and it's just allowed to "expand" out into the engine....then no pressure will be built and consequently no pressure will be read at that first point because the oil is essentially just flowing right on past it. Does that make sense?

Anyway, this is how I understand it to work. I could be wrong as this is just a hobby for me. I myself do not really believe that a new set of bearings, off by a couple thousands of an inch or whatever, would cause a zero oil pressure indication. I think it would account for low or lower than normal oil pressure, but I don't really believe it would cause zero oil pressure. But if I take the engine apart, and plastigauge all the bearings, and find out some or all are out of spec, and I fix them and bring them all into spec, and verify it with the plastigauge, and put the whole engine back together again, and start it up, and if I have oil pressure, then I guess I was wrong, and it could cause it.

Someone please save me from this....and quickly!!!!

so far, i've found nothing............

(qoute) Someone please save me from this....and quickly!!!!.......MEEEE TOOOO (HELP)

rogoman wrote:If there's barely any oil coming out of the oil filter hole, there's only just a few things that be wrong:- missing O-ring in timing chain cover- missing O-ring in oil pickup tube- plugged up oil pickup screen- dented oil pan- oil pump not primed

Here's my original quote. Also check the following:- make sure oil pump drive spacer is installed on crankshaft or else oil pump will not operate.- do not ever pack grease into the oil pump gears, only motor oil.- insure that there are no cracks in the pickup tube or else the oil pump will never prime.- insure that the pressure regulator valve moves freely in it's cylinder when the spring is removed. Insure that the spring has proper tension.- insure that the oil pump cover gasket (not the timing cover gasket) is not damaged.

Recently pulled the engine to further troubleshoot/investigate zero oil pressure problem. Wanted to check:- oil passage in oil filter mount (going to sending unit/pressure gauge)....it was O.K.- keyway for oil pump collar on crankshaft.....it was O.K.- "nozzles" for spraying piston pins....they were all in place- journal bearing clearances (recheck?) to see if they were "out to lunch"......they were all good (.001 - .002)

I'd now exhausted every possible idea I could come up with. I called the mechanic at the machine shop to see if he had any other ideas. He asked about the oil gallery plugs at the front and back of the block. For a moment, I thought he was onto something with a "front" plug. I had installed a rear plug but nothing up front. The front plug was there....it looked like a "hard core" freeze plug installed by the manufacturer. I only mention it because it is a possible reason (that no one else has mentioned) to have zero oil pressure if it was missing.

The mechanic also mentioned once hearing about a difficult oil pressure problem in an L-series engine due to something with the pick-up tube.

After hanging-up, I took a close look (again) at the pick-up tube, screen, welds on the tube, etc. It all looked fine.

I also new I had a small dent in my oil pan and as I was sitting the tube back into the oil pan, I noticed a "ring" mark in the bottom of the pan which matched the opening to the siphon tube.

I haven't put the engine back together yet, but I am positive this is my problem. I'll post a confirmation once I re-test the engine, but in the mean time, here're some pics (the dent was very small, and I hadn't thought it would interfere). Hope this helps!!

O.K. all,

My oil pressure problem is fixed!!!!! I'm embarrassed to say that I expended many many hours on this problem to find out ultimately that it was just a small dent in the oil pan.

This restricted the flow into the siphon tube and prevented the oil pump from getting any oil (to speak of) in which to generate any oil pressure.

By the way.....hat's off to Rogoman who mentioned dented oil pan in his post.

I haven't seen anything from Supra7m2002 in a while. How's your oil pressure problem? Have you inspected your pan closely?

Take care all! And, oh yeah....Happy New Year!!!!