Loss of oil pressure

[amj441]

Hello again,

Here is my 4.0 sohc coming to plague me once again with another gremlin. Was driving to work today when I suddenly lost oil pressure. luckily I was sitting at a light so I was able to shut it off without it dying. I checked my pressure switch and made sure it wasn't leaking or disconnected, and test fired to be met with a sudden loud ratcheting clicking sound. The oil pump is new since I just rebuilt the thing 2000 miles ago. oil pump is a Melling standard output. I also replaced the cam (oil pump driver thing)? with a rebuilt one from Cardone ordered on rock auto. I know that the oil pump drive shaft was inserted the correct direction according to the service manuals, Chilton, Mitchell.

Currently its sitting in the parking lot and I am curious to know if this cam oil pump driver thing will create a similar noise when it fails. otherwise I'm guessing its the timing chain losing tensioner oil pressure.

 

[410Fortune]

Sounds like a loss of oil pressure just like your factory gauge / dummy light said
With no oil pressure a sohc will rattle like crazy

You need to investigate why you lost oil pressure on a rebuilt engine… first thing I would do is install a real oil pressure gauge on the engine for testing

The check the oil and see if it smells of fuel?
You can pull the oil pump drive and check it out
I believe the sohc engine uses a dummy camshaft (balance shaft) and the oil pump drive is driven off the gear on that. If something breaks or strips in there yeah you will lose oil pressure

 

[amj441]

Sounds like a loss of oil pressure just like your factory gauge / dummy light said
With no oil pressure a sohc will rattle like crazy

You need to investigate why you lost oil pressure on a rebuilt engine… first thing I would do is install a real oil pressure gauge on the engine for testing

The check the oil and see if it smells of fuel?
You can pull the oil pump drive and check it out
I believe the sohc engine uses a dummy camshaft (balance shaft) and the oil pump drive is driven off the gear on that. If something breaks or strips in there yeah you will lose oil pressure

-I will get my physical gauge attached when I get it towed home.
- I assume that the fuel in the oil would both thin out the oil and also kill the oil pump driver?
-That will be my first step. I have an hour for lunch and i work for a shop so I got tools, ill pull the driver and inspect it
-The Sohc uses a jack shaft in place of the camshaft in the OHV and the oil pump driver takes the place of the camshaft synchronizer on the OHV. I kinda hope its just this synchro, it would make it alot easier to repair.

 

[410Fortune]

Exactly the sohc is based on the old ohv block ford simply kept a false shaft to drive the oil pump and rear chain

Gasoline in the crankcase will wipe out crank bearings and result in oil pressure issues
, just something simple to check is all
Leaking injectors or one stuck wide open can fill the crankcase with fuel

Sorry to hear about this, rebuilt sohc engines can be fun!

 

[amj441]

Pulled the driver during lunch and found that the driver was perfectly fine, no strange wear patterns or anything. cant see well into the block back there, but upon re-installing it I could feel that the driveshaft for the oil pump was fine. I will stick a bore camera down into the hole when I get home.

If that is the case, the oil pressure issue is somewhere in the pump/pan. This will be a fun one.

 

[amj441]

Well as it turns out, it helps when your oil pump is bolted in. I have no idea how the bolts backed out or how i was making enough oil pressure to keep the gauge light off and the chains quiet.

Now to assess any damage. Found a bit of gravel at the bottom of the pan, and a piece of a torqs bit i exploded removing one of the head bolts. Lol. Checked the conrod bearings and they dont seem to have any play and arent knocking. The oil other than the bottom of the pan is perfectly clean so???? (Makes sense if most of it wasnt going anywhere)

Im not sure how this happened as it was the first piece i put on the truck after i got it back from the machine shop, and i know i had the torque specs handy. (Obviously I wasnt right). Damn shame.

The ratcheting sound i heard was the oil pump drive shaft barely engaging with the pump.

 

[410Fortune]

Dude that is great news really.. I mean it sucks you lose oil pressure on a new engine but it is fantastic that it can be fixed! Loctite on those bolts!!

 

[amj441]

Ive attached a few photos while im under here looks like i got lucky.

 

[amj441]

Looks like most of the "gravel" is from the damage i had on the head from a stripped head bolt that drained down and it looks like a piece of iron from that torqs bit made it into the pump.

I think ill take the opportunity to put a high volume oil pump and a new pick up screen. and yes LOTS of lock tite when i put it in.

 

[amj441]

m328 installed.
After a few attempts and lots of swearing, I was able to install the upper oilpan/ladder frame. Ford says you cant install that part without pulling the engine. Balogna. its just difficult, making sure that the gasket has made it into the rear seal correctly and making sure its lined up to the transmission are important. otherwise as long as that thing is on ramps theres more than enough room.

I was only able to make a few cranks as the battery died, poor thing is 5 years old and had to run my flashers for several hours and then sit for a week waiting on parts.
but so far so .

 

[410Fortune]

Fight the good fight!
I had to do the oil pump and pan in a 3.0 4wd ranger 3 times in 2 weeks once… that’s was fun. When there is a will there is a way. Had to take the pickup tube off the pump and put the whole pump in the pan, then raise the pan up, then with it twisted slightly attach the pump to engine then pickup to pump then finally seat the gasket and pan… then do it twice more. Turns out Taurus and ranger oil pumps are the same, my issue ended up being all the lithium grease the engine builder used had plugged the pickup… why? Because I never ran the brand new Longblock hot enough during test starts… with the new engine packed with lithium grease on the cam and crank turns out your are supposed to reach operating temps immediately to melt it all out… new to me!!
We live and we learn!

Not very often do I get my hands on a brand spanking new Longblock, some builder love to use that white stuff and this block has sat in storage for many years before I got it (the dude died) the white geese had hardened a little and needed lots of heat to melt out so it would drain with the oil…

Nice work! Here’s to full oil pressure and no leaks!! Cheers

So glad it worked out for you and for that 3.0 ranger
The word of the day is

Perseverance

 

[C420sailor]

Lithium grease? Why?

My favorite assembly lube is SAE30 with some moly grease mixed in.

 

[410Fortune]

Not sure, basically an older guy with a car collection had a local Machine shop rebuild a Taurus 3.0 and he was going to install it in his ranger.
He died and years later his son in law was selling off his remaining things.
I was able to snag the rebuilt 3.0 for $300… yep three hundred bones. Craigslist deal… first time I had seen a cam packed with white grease but it was very obvious it was a brand new engine. I had to remove the Taurus stuff and outfit it with Ranger timing cover oil pan intake etc
Who knows how many years it was in storage the white stuff had dried up pretty good.
At the same time I bought a 90k 2001 5 speed 4wd ranger with a blown 3.0 for $900… I had to tow the ranger and drive a bit for the engine
The ranger was soooo clean
Swapped engines all new clutch detailed the ranger and sold that sucker for $12k
Of course on the third test run of the engine it lost oil pressure…and I visited the inside of the pan a few times . At first I thought it was a Taurus/Ranger oil pump issue… nope it was plugged pickup screen
Nothing is easy,’especially finding a perfect chrome front bumper for a 99

One of the best flips I’ve done, even with all the headaches it was a stellar truck. The new owner super happy to have new engine and clean clean 4wd ranger

I try to save as many as I can

When it happened I researched the white grease and it’s pretty common for engine shops to do that. What I didn’t know is when you see it you need to reach operating temp on the first start and drain it all out. I think I did 5 oil changes total

Some are easier then others but I always have to earn my $$$$

 

[amj441]

So I started my sploder yesterday and it is sooo much quieter than it used to be. I feel so bad for my car and what I made it put up with for the past few months. I cant believe I took it to nacogdoches and back without it blowing up.

Now that everything else is quiet I can hear a bit of chain noise I really hope it just needs to bleed out a tensioner. I still have to hook up my manual gauge and get a true oil pressure measurement, but for now im just glad that its back together and the gauge is not bottomed out.

like @410Fortune said. perseverance is key. also what a beauty of a ranger that is. I want one so bad

 

[410Fortune]

Can always go to Manual tensioners

 

[Ricklife]

Hello again,

Here is my 4.0 sohc coming to plague me once again with another gremlin. Was driving to work today when I suddenly lost oil pressure. luckily I was sitting at a light so I was able to shut it off without it dying. I checked my pressure switch and made sure it wasn't leaking or disconnected, and test fired to be met with a sudden loud ratcheting clicking sound. The oil pump is new since I just rebuilt the thing 2000 miles ago. oil pump is a Melling standard output. I also replaced the cam (oil pump driver thing)? with a rebuilt one from Cardone ordered on rock auto. I know that the oil pump drive shaft was inserted the correct direction according to the service manuals, Chilton, Mitchell.

Currently its sitting in the parking lot and I am curious to know if this cam oil pump driver thing will create a similar noise when it fails. otherwise I'm guessing its the timing chain losing tensioner oil pressure.

View attachment 461893

I was going down street one day and hit it to pass someone on highway, heard a noise, and oil pressure light came on. Ended up replacing the oil pressure sensor which was a little pain to get to but cheap fix and right back to normal! Figured I'd try the cheaper fix first and that was the culprit.! Hope that helps.

 

[amj441]

Well seems like it may be ok making 60psi on cold start up and closer to 40 now that its warming up. Luckily my cheap plastic gauge didnt explode after sitting in my toolbox for the past 9 years.

After reaching operating temperature im sitting at 10-15 psi, which is not comforting considering that its a high volume pump. it meets spec as it quickly hits 40 - 50 at 2000k.

After warm, pulling the fuel pump relay and cranking it, I cant get the gauge to twitch once it is warm.

Can always go to Manual tensioners

Im going to go manual tensioners as I am having chain slaps and a cold start rattle. I cant believe its already like this. This rebuild has been a nightmare from the start. im not pulling it again. When I get a place to put a lift, Ill just cab off the sploder and put a 5.0 in it.

time to dump in a ton of seafoam and see if the tensioners push out any goo from having such low oil pressure for so long in the meantime.

P.S. Im going to try and get a recording of the sound, just in case im crazy

 

[410Fortune]

So nice to have a Bosch oil gauge in the toolbox
Nice work as usual!
Sohcs are so hit or miss with the rebuild
But shoot man these days they all are
I lost two 5.0 that I refreshed.. both broke the Cloyes cam gear and I had one new in box bad injector I mean it never ends the quality of parts ain’t what it used to be

 

[amj441]

So nice to have a Bosch oil gauge in the toolbox
Nice work as usual!
Sohcs are so hit or miss with the rebuild
But shoot man these days they all are
I lost two 5.0 that I refreshed.. both broke the Cloyes cam gear and I had one new in box bad injector I mean it never ends the quality of parts ain’t what it used to be

the timing set and tensioners were all motorcraftit cost me an arm and a leg

 

[amj441]

I cropped a video down of the noises im talking about. I didnt realize this video had saved as my phone died .

Listen and tell me what you think @410Fortune