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Still oil problems with '59 BE

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Bruce_B

Bruce_B

Jedi Warrior
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Engine starts, runs fine, but still no oil pressure on the gauge. I do notice from the dipstick that the oil being splashed about, and it turns darker as I'm running it.

Any other ways of checking oil pressure? Other than the engine seizing, how can I tell if NO oil is getting through...noises, smells sounds....?

thanks...
 
Do you have another guage?

Check to see if the rockers have oil after running it.

Others?
 
Will be messy, but have you thought about taking the line off the oil pressure gauge to see if you're getting oil there?
 
I took off the line to the oil pressure gauge from the engine block..nothing.

The rockers do have oil on them..
 
Blockage in the line?

If you have oil on the rockers, you're "probably" OK, but I'd check that line - take it loose at both ends and shoot some compressed air through it.
 
Line and gauge can be checked with air pressure. Oil never gets very far up in the line in any case. Check it at 20 and 50 lbs.
 
The line to the oil pressure fitting is just a very narrow channel through the block--it probably can plug up pretty easily. It's just a couple inches. Blow that sucka out and it should be fine.
 
Thanks Folks...I'll give it a try and let you know how it works out.
 
Bad answer alert!

Sorry, my last posting was total nonsense. This is what I get for going by memory instead of checking. This morning I took a close look at the block I'm currently working on, and saw that things were not as I'd imagined.

Here's how it works: The oil comes out of the pump, past the relief valve (which simply returns the oil to the sump if it opens) and then through the banjo bolt and that external tube to the oil filter. From there, it goes through the filter and into an oil gallery on that side of the block--just a tube that goes lengthwise from the rear to the front. From there, it's distributed to many parts of the engine. (There is another gallery on the other side of the block, as well.)

The fitting for the oil pressure gauge's tubing connects directly to that gallery, and it's quite a large hole, maybe 3/8" diameter. If you are not getting oil spurting from that hole, when you remove the connection, it seems that there are only a couple of possibilities:

1. The pump isn't pumping;
2. The relief valve is stuck open;
3. The oil isn't getting through the filter.

I suppose that the passageway from the filter to the gallery, or the gallery itself, could be plugged, but that would have to be quite a plug--the gallery is 1/2" diameter. The tube from the oil filter to the gallery is a little narrower, so a plug there is a possibility, but not very likely.

You might want to check the filter to see if it's getting oil; at least, then, you can be sure the pump is working. I'll bet you find it empty, though. Most likely thing, to me, is that the relief valve is stuck open and you're just pumping oil back into the sump. This might also prevent you from priming the pump by adding oil through the banjo-bolt hole--a lot of the oil might just run into the sump. (I'm less certain about this last point, however, since the channels in the block from the pump to the relief valve, and from the pump to the banjo bolt, meet fairly close to the pump. So, if you add oil through the banjo, a fair amount might still get to the pump.)

Sorry again about the earlier bum steer. Hope this helps.
 
Steve, just googled "relief valve" and came across a bit from a book on 1275 engines that talks about this situation. It also says:

"On North/South Engines, the oil filter has to be removed and oil
squirted down the main oil gallery to the oil pump".

The books is mostly about minis, which are referred to at East/West engines.

I'll try this tonight. Any hints on what to check for on the oil relief valves/bad spring...ball?
 
At this point, I think your guess is as good as mine. I would take out the relief valve, make sure that bullet-shaped part is going in smoothly and all the way. In my engine, the distance from the outer lip of the bullet to the outside of the block is 1 1/8"; however, there could be some variability in the sizes of the parts. I came in in the middle of this, so I don't know if the engine was rebuilt, who did it and so on--but if someone else rebuilt it, mistakes happen and you wouldn't be aware of them. It's possible the bullet is damaged--therefore binding--or even forgotten; stranger things happen. In the engine I'm working on, for example, some simple fellow put in the top halves of the thrust bearings backward. It happens.
 
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