After installing a new oil pump... still jumpy oil pressure. | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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After installing a new oil pump... still jumpy oil pressure.

jdoncouse

New Member
Joined
April 9, 2016
Messages
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City, State
Dickson, Tn
Year, Model & Trim Level
2001
I've ripped out my motor twice now. 1st time was a full timing chain guide set. The motor ran for a good week then somehow i lost oil pressure. *the oil gauge bounces really fast* and the front drivers timing guide broke again so i ripped it out again and found small pieces of plastic and metal from the guides in some of the oil passages. I changed the oil pump, opened up all the oil ports i could find, pulled out and changed the lifters too while i was at it, and completely blew out all the passages while they where all open. I also added a T connector at the sensor and installed an actual oil pressure gauge to it. Now i have it all back together when the rpms are up a little i am seeing the *dummy* gauge say that it's getting decent amount of oil pressure as it hovers to the mid section *still jumpy though* and i'm seeing a little bit of oil inside the clear tube to the pressure gauge. I've ran it a few times untill i can start seeing smoke and i'll cut it off. I feel like i should be seeing the oil pressure stay up by now without me having to give it gas and that's just not the case. Any other thoughts would be great.
 



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What was the make of the timing parts and oil pump?
When you say "smoke" where is it comming from?
Did you have the OTC6488 timing tools?
What oil pressure did you get from T connection?
The dummy gauge activates at 6 or 7 psi which you should have at tick over as a minimum.
The amount of oil pressure you have is really dictated by the condition of your engine bearings, a new oil pump while helpful will not compensate for worn bearings. If any of the metal particles you mentioned got to main bearings they are toast!!!
 






from talking to some people last night at work about it. It sounds like i need to just let it run a bit. I think there is air still in the oil galleries and i need to get it out.. also makes sense because the oil i can see in the clear tubing from the pressure gauge looks like it's getting air bubbles. i'm gonna take off the T connection where the oil pressure gauge is and watch how the oil comes out and hopefully it'll help prime it up a bit. i'm taking a canister oil sprayer and shooting a bit up along the camshaft to help it stay lubed a bit. i also gave both camshafts a good lubing before i put the valve covers back on.

The smoke I believe is all the oils and sprays that's on the exhaust which makes since because the smoke smells just a bit *plus the engines not even getting very hot by time i see smoke according to my temp gauge*. yes i have the timing tools and it fires right up and sounds great besides a little bit of tapping from the new lifters.
make of the timing parts i'm not sure of my dad got them online somewhere in a whole kit.
 






First off it is a gamble if your timing parts are not Ford or Cloyes, and you have already had a replaced cassette disintegrate after almost no milage on it.
You said your ex ran fine for a week after replacing front guide, then it broke and you then also put in a new oil pump, with new timing parts.
I've had the dummy oil pressure gauge bounce around also and like you I fitted a real oil pressure gauge and at cold startup my oil pressure was 20 psi and dropped to 10 psi when hot at 500 rpm. This dummy gauge also bounced when I was going down the steepish drive to my house (hot engine).
What I did was add engine oil till it was about 1/4 inch above the full mark this cured the dummy gauge bounce. That was over a year ago and my engine uses no oil between oil changes and has had no detrimental effect. You could try this temporarily to see if it cures your dummy gauge problems.
You should not have aerated oil unless your new pump is somehow foaming the oil, again a temporarily over full oil pan may stop that.
 






Ok tried to run it one time today and once i heard it start to want to stop i turned it off . One thing i didnt think of was i had one of the bolts out of the front timing guide *the big round bolt that's through the front of the head* when i was tearing the engine down this last time to replace the front guide i wonder if that's what messed it up in the first place.

This also would explain my jumpy oil hand because i noticed the oil hand before i realized the motor had gotten loud from the timing guide being broke again. I wonder if the main bearings is the cause of all the oil pressure then. This also goes into territory that i'm not familiar with.

Would i be able to change the main bearings from dropping the oil pan and raising the engine a bit in the cradle? Its a 2wd so i know i can drop the oil pan while its in it.
 






Watch this youtube video "Cloyes timing chain replacement 20 July 2016". Leaving that bolt out would definitely cause you the problem you had.
As for changing main bearings from under the ex is maybe doable but will give less predictable results than taking engine out. I assume you are thinking that you could drop the crankshaft very slightly take out old bearings and then slip new bearings in. I've never seen a write up doing that but I did it on a Isuzu diesel mini dump truck and it worked OK.
The 4l sohc is a completely different animal and I think the main bearing caps are tty bolts. You would be doing something that no one on this forum would recommend!!!!!!!!
Your loss of oil pressure is either a problem with the replaced oil pump or major bearing failure and it is probably best to look for a replacement engine if it's the latter.
Before going that way what is the oil pressure in psi when you start the engine?
 






Im barely seeing my psi gauge getting enough oil pushed through the clear tube to it. So 0. Im gonna drop my oil pan and check out my new pump to make sure its working right. I didnt know about priming it untill now either
 






Something else i kinda noticed looking up an exploded view of parts for the oil pump that rod that connects to my pump had a ring in the middle of it and yet the one on the exploded view on ford parts.com wasnt shown to be on it but instead was off of it would that be a problem if mine was stuck in place? It didnt feel like it cpuld move on my rod
 






That washer should be fixed centrally on the intermediate shaft and fits into the oil pump drive, the other end going to oil pump. It would be impossible to put it in wrong and then fit the oil pump.
You could try taking the spark plugs and fuel pump relay out and spinning the engine with starter motor it may produce oil pressure.
Oh yes your clear tube to pressue gauge has probably got air in it but should still give a pressure reading.
The oil pump is a gear pump and is self priming.
 






I don't want to be a prophet of doom but if your engine ran with zero oil pressure the main bearings could have spun round in the block/caps this would mean a different engine, maybe from breakers or a reman. Either way it's $$$.
 






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