[Lee]

Originally Posted by 1qwerty

Engine sounds great and runs great
Just no oil pressure
No valvetrain noise at all

Unless you have solid lifters, you would have major valvetrain/lifter noise if a galley plug was missing.

800 miles on it... The builder probably did not clean out the oil passages, and the leftover debris has wiped out some bearings.

[grandam1979]

I would remove the oil filter housing and make sure it doesn’t have anything stuck in it as suggested already 3 bolts to remove I would look at it first. My2¢

[soupman]

Many years ago I had my 455 machined and assembled short block by a reputable builder. He claimed it was cleaned but for some nagging reason I decided to pull the galley plugs and take a look. The galley oil passage on the passenger side was almost completely plugged, you could still see daylight but it was at least 3/4 plugged up. Glad I checked before assembling, but that would have effected oil pressure.

[1qwerty]

I will be pulling the motor more than likely
Check clearances hopefully just bearings and oil pump
Get it tanked and cleaned
Will probably yank the cam out and put a roller in it and one piece main seal
A chance to do a upgrade
The motor has eagle rods,kauffman heads 11-1cr

[78w72]

Pull the engine if you feel you need to... but as other have mentioned, 10psi hot idle is not an issue or cause for alarm like was mentioned that you will throw a rod & have to be towed....

The rule of thumb is 10psi/1000rpm, sounds like you are hitting that with 10psi idle & 30psi at 3k rpm, does the psi still increase at 4000-5000? If so, its most likely ok to run it some more, 800 miles is barely fully broken in. Probably doesnt need a synthetic oil either, a conventional oil of the same weight will increase the psi some & cost a lot less while providing plenty of protection.

Also, the most common oil plug to be left out or forgotten isnt the front ones behind the timing cover, its the rear passenger side plug thats accessed through the distributor hole... I bought a high dollar E-head stroker engine with less than 100 miles on it recently, they shop/owner couldnt figure out why it had such low oil psi & didnt run right, i bought the whole car for a crazy low price as the owner was going through a divorce and just wanted to get rid of it ASAP. I got it home & pulled valve covers, pass rockers were barely moving, figured it was wiped lobes/lifters but decided to pull the dist & look at the plug.... sure enough it wasnt there, I installed the plug through the dist hole & it fired right up with good psi & ran good. With no pass side galley plug it still hit ~10psi at idle & increased ~10psi / 1000 rpm. I sold the short block after it was fixed & kept most the top end for a fresh 400 block stroker I built.

Theres a chance it could just be a missing galley plug or stuck check ball in the pump and the fresh rebuilt is good that doesnt require a total rebuild. Worth checking that plug first or maybe just pull the pan to check some basics before ripping it all apart. But with the psi it has now, its most likely not just going to blow up.

[1qwerty]

Does not increase pressure after about 2200rpm
Pulling the pan I know is doable but not sure with this pan being a aftermarket one and not sure of tunnel and firewall clearance for a 700r4.
Over 3000 I no longer have the 10psi per 1000 rpm
Cold 3k is 68 psi
Hot 3k is 28- 30 psi
Idle cold 1k 20psi
Idle hot 1k 10ish

[78w72]

Originally Posted by 1qwerty

Does not increase pressure after about 2200rpm
Pulling the pan I know is doable but not sure with this pan being a aftermarket one and not sure of tunnel and firewall clearance for a 700r4.
Over 3000 I no longer have the 10psi per 1000 rpm
Cold 3k is 68 psi
Hot 3k is 28- 30 psi
Idle cold 1k 20psi
Idle hot 1k 10ish

Thanks for the further info.

Yeah those numbers would concern me too, probably easier to just pull the engine to inspect it further. Pulling the pan with engine in the car is doable but a huge messy headache & then if you do find a problem or want to do the changes you mentioned it needs to come out anyways.

[steve25]

Can someone explain to me the logic of how a motor that has about 800 miles on it and with a oil obvious oil pressure issue is going to get any better with additional run time / mileage?

And the whole break in things these days is BS!
If you have 1/2 hour of run time on a flat tappet cam it's either broken correctly in or on its way out!

and these days other then over the road Diesel trucks or construction equipment Diesels I don't know anyone who runs chrome rings that would need a ruff wall finish and 1500 miles or more of run time to bed in.
800 miles on motor with the proper wall finish and modern non chrome rings and there good.

[78w72]

Didnt see anyone say it would get better, just a few suggestions like a stuck check ball that could work its way free, or a trying a conventional oil that might increase psi some, or some said to just run it as is... all that was before the OP addressed some other questions & confirmed the psi doesnt increase 10psi/1000rpm after 3000rpm.

Engines being "broken in" with more use is not "BS", nobody mentioned the cam being broken in more... but a new engine can break in more in other areas as surfaces wear together or rings fully seat, especially if it was driven super easy due to fear of low psi or not ran under heavy loads to fully seat rings... some say to not use synthetic oil for 1000 miles to allow things to wear or fully break in... some say their new engines run hot until after putting more than 800 miles on it & a couple oil changes.

I had a FT cam go bad back in the 90's due to my user error as a young kid & it took over 1000 miles to begin to show symptoms...

Engines are built differently by people all the time that dont always do what experts know about, there was a member on here recently that had problems seating rings & was asking about using the comet or laundry detergent trick that some do in extreme situations. We didnt know any specifics on the OPs engine until later in the thread, so some guys offered other suggestions... better than the worst case scenarios of throwing a rod out the side of the block even when OP said oil is clean & engine runs great with no noises.

[HWYSTR455]

Since it hasn't yet been asked, what brand and part number oil filter are you using?

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[1qwerty]

Wix was on it I replaced it with a k&n hp 2003
Made no difference
The filter was half or less full when I removed it.

[HWYSTR455]

Half full? That thing should start pouring out as you loosen it.

What kind of oil pan and how much oil are you putting in it?


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[HWYSTR455]

Drain the oil and look up in the oil pan with a flashlight, see if the pickup fell off the pump.



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[1qwerty]

Yes I notice no oil running down the sides
Looks factory
6quarts did the job

[HWYSTR455]

I would be checking if the pickup fell off or the bypass is missing. Or both. If the filter is only half full or less, oil is not flowing thru it. So the issue sounds like it's before the filter.


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[1qwerty]

I agree

[1qwerty]

I am going to run a flexible magnet pick up tool through the drain hole and do some fishing

[HWYSTR455]

Maybe a big chunk of RTV up there clogging the screen.

If it's an OE pan & pickup, you should be able to see the bottom of the pickup thru the drain hole.


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[1qwerty]

Thanks I have limited knowledge on the engine build
Maybe find a galley plug?

[HWYSTR455]

I think the filter would still fill with oil if a galley plug were missing, but not 100% sure.

To me it sounds like the issue is between the pickup and the filter. And it's pretty much a straight shot.

Oil in pan>pickup>pump>short passage run> filter housing>filter

That stuff is pretty easy to check, not much disassembly involved.


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