98 12v

Hey guys. I just finally got my old girl goin again. fired it up bout 4 hours ago. it popped rite off and ran nice and smooth but i noticed the oil pressure guage didnt come up. first i thought it was maybe the guage but i hooked up a mechanical guage and i could only get about 10psi at 2000 rpms. i am gettin about sick of little problems like this and could really use some insight into my problems. is there anything that would stand out in your minds that could cause low or no oil pressure? its a new oil pump with new bearings and new cam so i dont know. my machinist thinks maybe i left a plug out by the cam but i didnt even see anything that looked like it needed to be plugged. maybe i put the gaskets in the oil filter/cooler wrong???? I just need ideas.

lovinCTD59

How long did you have the truck running before you got that reading with the mechanical gauge?

silverking90

the senders do bad pretty often.

98 12v

i ran the engine for maybe a grand total of 5 min but not all at once. i saw the guage wasnt workin so i shut her down and hooked up the mech guage then started it a couple times. i had to rev it to 2k to even get the 10psi. it was probly running about 1 min the last time with the guage

lovinCTD59

That should be plenty of time to prime the oil system. Especially at 2k on the tach.


Possibly missing the gasket between the pickup tube and the pump/block?

BigIron70

Remove the front engine cover and inspect the front oil gallery expansion plug for being loose or pushed out. This plug is located above the camshaft bore (behind the cam gear). If the front plug is in place, remove the block side cover and inspect for a loose expansion plug. Verify the oil pump retaining bolts are tightened to specification. Check the oil pump pressure relief valve. Make sure it isn't stuck open. You can see oil galley plug just above cam shaft

98 12v

I talked with our local IH tractor shop today. they pointed me towards the relief valve too. he figured that would probly bypass enuough oil to not be able to build any pressure at the filter. hopefully that is it cuz im gettin kinda sick of this project. had the motor out 3 times now and the clutch 4 times. i gotta go back to work at 330am agian and wont be back home till next weekend so i will try that sat sometime. thanks for the advise so far and anymore that is yet to come. ill keep you guys updated as i go.

BigIron70

I had same problem I recently installed reman engine and oil galley plug was loose when I started engine first time the oil pressure pushed oil galley plug out. The oil plug was in the back of the block so I had to pull trans out. The plug in the front of block will allow oil to drain back into oil pan and keep your oil pressure very low if it came out. I wouldn't run the engine until you get the oil pressure loss problem figured out. Good Luck

98 12v

well i checked the pressure relief valve and it was clean and working properly so i guess im hoping it isnt too major. ill have to tear the whole front end of the truck apart again i guess. i havent ever had to mess with a cam while the motor was in so this should be intresting as i assume it has to come out to get at the plug