oil pressure question

[callmeweezy724]

ok i have a s13 blacktop w/ some modds but stock injectors and t25 @7 psi. I read some where the oil pressure is suppose to be around 11 psi, when i start my car it shows 11psi then ill drive it for a while and then the oil pressure gauge shows 0 psi but when i give it gas it goes up as its suppose too. Is this normal or what?? anyone???

[IanS]

Oil pressure will depend on engine temp. With a cold engine I see 80-85 PSI at idle. With the engine at operating temps your oil pressure should be 20 PSI at idle, and the pressure should rise in conjunction with engine speed.

[boro drift]

Are you using a manual or electronic gauge?

[callmeweezy724]

Oil pressure will depend on engine temp. With a cold engine I see 80-85 PSI at idle. With the engine at operating temps your oil pressure should be 20 PSI at idle, and the pressure should rise in conjunction with engine speed.

well when i start my car cold the oil pressure is high around your numbers, then it will drop to around 11psi when it warms up. Now lets say im driving to the store or somethin, i stop at a traffic light and my car is at idle sometimes the gauges will read 0 psi while idling. When i give it gas it increases as its suppose to tho. As of right now i need to hook my safc up bc i am running and atmospheric bov but i dont think that would affect my oil pressure. I am also getting a lot of blow by I THINK. I had a catch can hooked up and everytime i would go into high rpm's the oil dipstick would pop up and oil would shoot on my engine and hood. I found a thread and read about blow by. The catch can i had sucked instead of 2 nipples one for the oil supply and one for the air supply it had a nipple and a little vaccum like hose coming out of it. I had the oil going into the nipple and the air going into the little vaccum hose, so i decided to delete it until i get a new catch can and hopefully that would work. Now i jus have a hose goin to the valve cover T and from the T to a short hose with a air filter at the end of it. I kno you shouldnt do this but its only temporary until i get a new catch can. Now when i go into high rpm's oil shoots out of the little air filter

[callmeweezy724]

Are you using a manual or electronic gauge?

this is what i am using:http://www.glowshiftdirect.com....aspx

i heard they work pretty good..

[IanS]

Your oil pressure sounds too low, Im wondering if you have loose tolerances in your bearings, or some sort of internal oil leak.

As for the oil coming out the filter, it does sound like you have some pretty nasty blowby, I would do a compression test, and a leakdown test, then get back to us with those numbers.

[callmeweezy724]

i do have an oil leak that i have to take care of by an oil pump screw could that be a reason?..sometimes when i start the car it will start the rpm will drop up and down a few times like its goin to cut off then jus catches and idles fine if i give it some gas it helps too then its fine...any ideas what that could be? theres no knocking coming from the motor tho. No smoke out the exhaust some times a little when i get on it..ill do the test and get back to you..
Modified by callmeweezy724 at 1:21 PM 9/12/2008

[boro drift]

I was going to say sending unit for the gauge, but it sounds like you have bigger problems. Follow Ian's advice.

[IanS]

i do have an oil leak that i have to take care of by an oil pump screw could that be a reason?..sometimes when i start the car it will start the rpm will drop up and down a few times like its goin to cut off then jus catches and idles fine if i give it some gas it helps too then its fine...any ideas what that could be? theres no knocking coming from the motor tho. No smoke out the exhaust some times a little when i get on it..ill do the test and get back to you.

An oil leak near the oil pump, or around the main oil galleries will definitely cause a pressure drop, though it would have to be a pretty major leak to cause the kind of drop you are talking about.

[callmeweezy724]

damn i guess i should get on that then..i dont remember do i have to pull the head to take the oil pump off or can i leave it on..i kno that's a noob question i jus for got..ok so ill get that compression and leak down test and get back to you. thanks for the help so far..

[callmeweezy724]

ok i ran a compression test on my car the the results were 130,25,125,50..starting from the cylinder closest to the radiator goin towards the firewall. So there's something wrong wit cylinders 2 and 4. Does this mean the rings might be no good on those cylinders or is it worst than that? I dont have any knocking, Its jus the oil blow by thats causing the problem..information please?!?!?!?

[IanS]

ok i ran a compression test on my car the the results were 130,25,125,50..starting from the cylinder closest to the radiator goin towards the firewall. So there's something wrong wit cylinders 2 and 4. Does this mean the rings might be no good on those cylinders or is it worst than that? I dont have any knocking, Its jus the oil blow by thats causing the problem..information please?!?!?!?

Well, those results would most likely lead to a lot of blowby.

How was the compression test performed? Was the engine at running temp? Was the throttle held wide open during the test?

If not I would retest, you could be getting a false low number on 2 and 4.

That being said, the low compression would lend credence to your other problems.

[callmeweezy724]

well i started the car up and let it run for about 10 minutes then i shut it off, removed the spark plug cover, the coil packs, and spark plugs from all 4 cylinder holes. I screwed the compression tester in and had my friend turn the ignition for a few seconds. I actually forgot to open the throttle body when i did this but i did it a couple times on each cylinder to double check. I'll have to do it again with the throttle body open sry, but if my compression is really low in those cylinders, what do i have to do? get new pistion rings right? do you think my pistons would be messed up?..would i have to do a full bottom end rebuild or could i jus replace my piston rings? sry for the noob questions Im jus tryin to be aware of what i have to do??

[IanS]

well i started the car up and let it run for about 10 minutes then i shut it off, removed the spark plug cover, the coil packs, and spark plugs from all 4 cylinder holes. I screwed the compression tester in and had my friend turn the ignition for a few seconds. I actually forgot to open the throttle body when i did this but i did it a couple times on each cylinder to double check. I'll have to do it again with the throttle body open sry, but if my compression is really low in those cylinders, what do i have to do? get new pistion rings right? do you think my pistons would be messed up?..would i have to do a full bottom end rebuild or could i jus replace my piston rings? sry for the noob questions Im jus tryin to be aware of what i have to do??

If your bearings are in good shape you could, in theory, just pull the head, pop the pistons up, and replace the rings. I dont think it would be worth it though, you will need to remove the upper oil pan, and that is very difficult with the engine in the car. I think your better off yanking the whole motor, and going through most, if not everything.

[callmeweezy724]

how do i kno if my bearings are good? yea i planned on pulling the motor back out when i do this.. i was jus making sure i didnt have to do any thing to the block..i am goin to get it resufarced before i put the head back on tho and i mine as well put new headgasket on and arp studs..i was thinking of going with a greddy or tomei headgasket what would you go with? or should i wait? Eventually Im going to be building my head and going with 555c, t2871r .64, z32 maf, maybe with a power fc or im goin to send my ecu out to get tuned. Right now im jus tryin to get the car to run how it's suppose too..

[IanS]

how do i kno if my bearings are good? yea i planned on pulling the motor back out when i do this.. i was jus making sure i didnt have to do any thing to the block..i am goin to get it resufarced before i put the head back on tho and i mine as well put new headgasket on and arp studs..i was thinking of going with a greddy or tomei headgasket what would you go with? or should i wait? Eventually Im going to be building my head and going with 555c, t2871r .64, z32 maf, maybe with a power fc or im goin to send my ecu out to get tuned. Right now im jus tryin to get the car to run how it's suppose too..

Use a dial indicator to check bearing clearances, or you can use plasti gauge.

As for headgaskets, the Tomei would work well, or the Greddy, but I would suggest Cosworth. As far as HGs go, they are the best.

[callmeweezy724]

aight cool I appreciate the help so far..do you kno what number range the dial indicator should be around? sry if im gettin carried away with the questions let me kno..

[IanS]

aight cool I appreciate the help so far..do you kno what number range the dial indicator should be around? sry if im gettin carried away with the questions let me kno..

Im not entirely sure what ranges you need, mine are super old and I didn't buy them, I inherited them from my grandfather who build engines for the air force. Ill answer any question you throw my name, as long as I know the answer.

[callmeweezy724]

aight thanks i appreicate that in that case id do the same for you (but of course u probably kno way more than me. lol) he built engines for the air force? thats crazy kudos to him..but its all good if you dont kno the range this is my first time messing with a block so im goin to jus strip the motor down to the block and take it to a shop and have them install the rings and make sure the bottom end is ok..unless its a really simple task? I am kind of good at this mechanics thing tho i must say...lol would u say its easy or complicated? I am going to search in the meantime..

[IanS]

aight thanks i appreicate that in that case id do the same for you (but of course u probably kno way more than me. lol) he built engines for the air force? thats crazy kudos to him..but its all good if you dont kno the range this is my first time messing with a block so im goin to jus strip the motor down to the block and take it to a shop and have them install the rings and make sure the bottom end is ok..unless its a really simple task? I am kind of good at this mechanics thing tho i must say...lol would u say its easy or complicated? I am going to search in the meantime..

Building an engine takes a ton of patience, and it is very important to know where, to measure, what to measure, and how to adjust things when they are out of spec.

If you have never built a motor before, I would not suggest starting with a car engine. The best way to start would be a 2 stroke bike or lawnmower engine. Just take it apart, then put it back together and make it run.

In your case, I would suggest having the shop build the short block for you. Pull the motor out of the car, and pull the head. Bring them the bottom end and have it built to your specs.

If you do decided to take it apart yourself, I would suggest getting a walkthrough DvD, they are very helpful for beginners.

[callmeweezy724]

yea i kno what your saying..I have already taken my motor apart but not the internals like the block..but yea im jus going to take it to the shop and get them installed..should i take it to a performance shop or would a regular shop be ok?

[callmeweezy724]

bump..

[IanS]

yea i kno what your saying..I have already taken my motor apart but not the internals like the block..but yea im jus going to take it to the shop and get them installed..should i take it to a performance shop or would a regular shop be ok?

I would take it to someone you trust, whether it be performance or regular, just find someone reputable.

[callmeweezy724]

yea i work for an auto parts store and the owner of the store also owns a shop. they do really good work there. He builds muscle cars. he has a shelby replica he built. He's a trustworthy guy im thinking about bringin it to him. I've that i can use the se-r sr20de's piston rings that is true correct?

[IanS]

yea i work for an auto parts store and the owner of the store also owns a shop. they do really good work there. He builds muscle cars. he has a shelby replica he built. He's a trustworthy guy im thinking about bringin it to him. I've that i can use the se-r sr20de's piston rings that is true correct?

I would check the parts guide, and cross reference with Courtesy parts. I dont remember off the top of my head.

[callmeweezy724]

ok, I think im jus going to order them from enjukuracing anyway thanks for the help..