No oil pressure

[WONit]

Like the title says i have no oil pressure and im trying to figure out what the problem is. The oil pan, pickup are clean im using 10w30 oil. The oil pump seemed to be good, i was told it only had about 40000 miles on it. I replaced the old one when it developed a hairline crack.The car itself has been sitting for about two years with the sr20 intact. I installed an aftermarket gauge and it just stays at zero. Its mechanical and you can see oil going in the tubing but it never reaches the gauge. Any help would be appreciated.

[myother45isalesbaer]

I have had this happen to other cars. Here is what I found to be the problem:

1. Oil pump is too lose internally and cannot build up pressure.2. Intake to oil pump is clogged with dirt and sludge.3. gauge the gauge. Not all of them are accurate. Make sure the gauge is correct.

One other thing. My Brother in law who is a fool from day one about cars somehow got all his upper drain ports clogged with gunk. No oil to the bottom end and all the lights came on. Not sure how he accomplished this amazing task, but he did somehow.

Did you just switch from syn oil to dino oil or the other way around? Some don't mix well........but more likely there is something else going on. Check the pressure at the pressure sensor port. Sounds like the oil pump is bad if I were to take my first guess.

Let me know......I am curious.

[WONit]

I have only used synthetic oil every since i had the swap done. I was also thinking bad oil pump but wanted to check other alternatives. Good thing i have another one lying around so i will just swap that out in the next few days. Thanks for the info, i'll let you know whats up.

[duffman1278]

Don't use synthetic oil for turbo'd motors. They don't like it.

[supreamS14]

With the key on for your stock cluster you should see a oil icon in the cluster. If everything's hooked up right, when you turn the motor over a few times b4 running it, if the oil icon is gone after a few cranks you have oil pressure n the aftermarket gauge is wrong. If the oil icon remains than you dont have any pressure. Hope that helps, it helped me!

[WONit]

Yea, i know i am not getting any pressure. i removed the stock sensor and used the hole to run my oil pressure gauge. there isnt even enough pressure to get the oil all the way up the tubing. I am thinking oil pump,but the oil pump is supposed to be good. checked and cleaned pick up tube also.

[myother45isalesbaer]

Sounds like oil pump, but in my old backyard mechanic days I had a similiar problem where it was not the oil pump. I am not sure if this would apply today to your car.

Is there any pressure or zero pressure? Zero could mean the pump is not spinning at all. They used to be driven by a shaft off the distributor. In my case that shaft broke. I know this is really dated and old school, but maybe it will help. Not sure how they are driving the oil pumps today. It has to be attached to some internal engine componet to spin. Maybe that is where is problem lies and not in the pump itself.

Let me know. You definately have my curiosity peaked.

[Hijacker]

Don't use synthetic oil for turbo'd motors. They don't like it.

That is the single most absurd thing I've heard in a while (all week and all month don't really apply to a Monday that's the 2nd of the month -_-). You should be using primarily synthetics because of their greater resistance to thermal breakdown over conventional dino oil. Turbos tend to destroy oil pretty quick since the oil is the primary cooler running over the CHRA shaft.

And before you say "It's water cooled!", the water cooling keeps the temp down so the oil doesn't take the entire heat load with it. The water never comes in contact with the wheel shaft, so it can only bleed off some of the heat while the oil does the primary cooling.

Conventional oil will break down quickly running it through a turbo. Back in the old days before water cooled turbos and neat synthetics, 1,000 mile or less oil changes were common on turbo cars. In this day and age, you'd be hard pressedto find someone who would recommend using conventional oil over synthetic oil in turbo cars.

Is there any pressure or zero pressure? Zero could mean the pump is not spinning at all. They used to be driven by a shaft off the distributor. In my case that shaft broke. I know this is really dated and old school, but maybe it will help. Not sure how they are driving the oil pumps today. It has to be attached to some internal engine componet to spin. Maybe that is where is problem lies and not in the pump itself.

If the imput shaft is busted, then the motor won't work because it is directly driven off the crankshaft. The nose of the crank passes through the pump and it directly spins the inner the gear.

Yea, i know i am not getting any pressure. i removed the stock sensor and used the hole to run my oil pressure gauge. there isnt even enough pressure to get the oil all the way up the tubing. I am thinking oil pump,but the oil pump is supposed to be good. checked and cleaned pick up tube also.

And you're absolutely positive there's no kinks in the line?

I've seen pumps that are just slightly out of spec build enough pressure to keep the dummy light off, but still not lubricate the bearings. The last time I saw this, the guy ran around for a week or two and finally spun a bearing even though the idiot light never screamed at him. The culprit was a slightly machined pump gear. The shop that built his motor machined the gear to get rid of some damage and ended up killing the tolerances. To properly check the pump for functionality, you'd need to test it with feeler guages to make sure it isn't out of spec. I can post up the spec data for you if you want. But from the sounds of it, your pump is probably your most likely culprit.

[myother45isalesbaer]

Sounds like he needs to try a new pump. You are right on about the internal tolerances. It will spin but not generate any pressure if the tolerances are not up to spec.

Pulling it apart and checking tolerances is the only way to go. Why not skip that step and go for a new pump? He also said this pump had 40,000 miles on it. I wonder if its used and shot?

It will be interesting to find out what the final answer is.

[PorkChopExpress]

oil doesn't need to get to the gauge to work. My first guess is it lost its prime from sitting.

[myother45isalesbaer]

Please tell me what cars, trucks, tractors or any other internal combustion engine needs to have an oil pump primed? I have never heard of such a thing except for certain types of water pumps. I had a farm tractor that did nothing for months. Fired it up and the oil pressure came right up.

[WONit]

I installed a brand new oil pump and i am still having the same problem. I checked the oil squirters in the head and they are fine. I dont know what else to check for. I have a redtop block and a black top head, but im pretty sure the redtop and black top heads are the same.

[Hijacker]

S13 blacktop or S14 blacktop?

Also, did you properly prime the pump? As in pack it with some grease or petrolium jelly?

[myother45isalesbaer]

If we go back to basics there are only 3 things that can be going on.

1. The pump is not getting oil for whatever reason.2. The pump is not pumping oil for whatever reason.3. The pump is not outputting oil for whatever reason.

I sense your frustration, but you need to somehow check each of the three above. Without me actually being there and seeing and testing what is going on I can't help much more. On the priming issue, non-car water pumps due generally need to be primed. I have never heard of car oil pump needing a prime, but maybe thats a new one on me.

If you take the pump out of the car and put it in a tube of oil and spin it with a drill does it pick up and pump? Is there anyway it can be installed backwards? I have never had this type of problem where one of the three above were not the cause. Let me know. I wish I could be there and see whats going on. Sorry.....maybe someone else has the solution.

[WONit]

Its an s13 redtop pump, no i didnt prime the pump or anything it was my first time dealing with an oil pump replacement i wasnt sure on what all had to be done.

[myother45isalesbaer]

I am going to go back to one of hijacker's posts. I really have to wonder if that oil pump is spinning at all when installed.

I'd bench test it and if it works then you know its not the pump. Sounds to me Hijacker may have been right on with the broken drive shaft. I have seen that happen often.

[WONit]

I guess i will take it back off and check things out, the pump itself should be good since its new but who knows.

[myother45isalesbaer]

I have a funny feeling Hijacker is right. I am not so sure about his priming the pump with greese or anything else. That just does not make sense to me. When you change your oil and completely drain the system there is not a problem with pickup. He could have a good point about getting it properly lubed when new and it runs dry for a few minutes before picking up the oil.

I will defer to Hijacker on that point. I think that the pump is not spinning in the car. It may be a broken drive shaft or if it is spinning another bad pump. I once had one that broke the drive shafts constantly because the pump tolerances were too tight.

A out of the motor bench test should determine if its the pump or the pump driver in the motor.

Good luck and let us all know the final outcome.