major oil pressure problem.

[boosted92laser]

I have a 4g63t motor that was rebuilt 500 miles ago. It has the balance shafts removed. It has 3rd revision lifters in it. I finally got an aftermarket oil pressure guage and installed it in my car. When started for the first time of the day, the oil pressure is about 20-25 psi. Once it warms up, the oil pressure drops to about 5 psi. When I'm driving it, it goes up to 75 psi.
Just to let you know, the sending unit is in the same location as the original one was.
From everything that I've read, the oil pressure should be about 12-15 psi at idle when warm, and as high as 100 psi at startup. Mine never reaches 100 psi, it tops at about 80.

I'm confused and scared to drive me car until I figure out what is wrong. Luckily I have another car that I can drive till I figure it out. I need all the help I can get on this, please.

Thanks, Bill

 

[oldman]

Was the oil pressure relief valve passage ported after the rebuild? New front case, pump gears? Your pressure is actually good as if someone took the time to properly port the relief valve to prevent oil pressure overrun associated with BS removal, hopefully it's not due to a worn out pump.

 

[boosted92laser]

I don't think that the relief passage was ported. It had a new front cover put on it when the motor was rebuilt.

I have some more bad news, I drove the car around some more today and once it got up to full operating temperature, the oil pressure dropped to the ZERO mark, that really scared me. when cruising 80 on the interstate, with the rpms at about 3700, the pressure is about 50 psi.

I'm not worried about the cruising pressure, it is the idle pressure that I am real worried about.

I was talking to an ASE mastertech and he said that on alot of cars that have the oil pump in the front cover, there is a valve that gets stuck if they use rtv to put the front cover on. He hasn't worked on a 4g63, but he said almost every other motor he has worked on like that (with the oil pump in the front cover) there are interchangable springs that can be used to adjust the oil pressure. Is this true with our motor?

Any more help would be great!!

 

[oldman]

I was talking to an ASE mastertech and he said that on alot of cars that have the oil pump in the front cover, there is a valve that gets stuck if they use rtv to put the front cover on. He hasn't worked on a 4g63, but he said almost every other motor he has worked on like that (with the oil pump in the front cover) there are interchangable springs that can be used to adjust the oil pressure. Is this true with our motor?

That is what the oil pressure relief valve is and it's part of the oil filter housing which is mounted on the front case, perhaps the spring was not put back in causing constant pressure bleed OR they removed the BS without properly blocking off the oil passages on BS bearings because they were hard to get to. http://www.vfaq.com/mods/balance-shafts.html Read through the article so you understand what I'm talking about.

Another thing to check is to make sure you're tapping the right spot for the gauge.

 

[boosted92laser]

I put the oil sending unit in the exact spot that the original came out of. It is the whole that is at an angle pointing towards the back of the car. Is that the right place to put it?

I will have to pull the oil filter housing off to see if it has been ported. I will try to get to that tomorrow.

As for the balance shaft elimination, I do believe it was done right. I don't remember what the parts looked like that were put in. The engine was pulled (for the rebuild) when they were removed.

I'm not real sure where to go from here, except maybe pull the oil filter housing to see if it was ported. And maybe pull the lower timing cover off to see if the front of the engine (to check the balance shaft elim.)

 

[oldman]

I'm not real sure where to go from here, except maybe pull the oil filter housing to see if it was ported. And maybe pull the lower timing cover off to see if the front of the engine (to check the balance shaft elim.)

It would be easier to pull the oil pan and check the position of the hole in the BS bearings against pictures in the article. When you pull the filter housing make sure to check the spring behind the plunger of the relief valve. Good luck.

I put the oil sending unit in the exact spot that the original came out of. It is the whole that is at an angle pointing towards the back of the car. Is that the right place to put it?

I have never installed an oil pressure gauge so I don't know for sure but serach should yield some anwsers.

 

[boosted92laser]

I did plenty of searching before installing the oil pressure guage. That is where almost everybody recommended putting the sending unit.

I don't have a day off from work till next Friday, but I do get off early a couple of days next week, so I will try to make time to pull the pan and check that.
Thanks for the recommendation of pulling the pan and looking that way. It sounds easier, but for some reason, I didn't think about it. I was actually thinking that since I was already at the front of the motor removing the oil filter housing, I should just continue there. But, your advice is better.
Thanks.
I will take a look at it as soon as i can and post some pictures.

 

[oldman]

No problem.

 

[boosted92laser]

Well, I got the oil pan off and took a look. The little nub shaft is in the frontbearing whole, and the other one is blocked. the bearing hole in the front bearing is pointing straight up, so I dont think it that would be my oil pressure problem. I will take my timing cover off tomorrow so that I can get to the oil filter housing and take that off and see if the relief valve spring is still in there and to check to see if it was ported too much.

I will take pictures if someone think it will help me out.
Thanks

 

[boosted92laser]

I was talking to a guy at work today and he said that it could be a spun bearing. Should I take the main caps off to see a there is a spun bearing? Would it make sense to check that?
Thanks

 

[oldman]

I was talking to a guy at work today and he said that it could be a spun bearing. Should I take the main caps off to see a there is a spun bearing? Would it make sense to check that?
Thanks

Yes, clearance issues can definitely cause pressure drop, I would definitely check that while the oil pan is still off.

 

[boosted92laser]

What is the easiest way to check the clearance on the bearings? Is it with plastigage?

 

[oldman]

What is the easiest way to check the clearance on the bearings? Is it with plastigage?

I'm no engine builder so I won't pretend to be one, I was thinking more in line of removing bearing caps while the pan is still out and look for unusual signs. Have you check the filter housing yet? Maybe they were smart enough to port the relief valve, you never know.

 

[boosted92laser]

I haven't checked the oil filter housing yet. But even with the relief valve ported, I should still have oil pressure at idle shouldn't I? Because I have none (it actually does read 0 on the guage).

 

[oldman]

I haven't checked the oil filter housing yet. But even with the relief valve ported, I should still have oil pressure at idle shouldn't I? Because I have none (it actually does read 0 on the guage).

0!!!! I would not start the car anymore until you find out what's going on. Did you use OEM front case and pump gears on the re-build?

 

[boosted92laser]

They put a brand new melling front cover and mitsu gears when the rebuild was done. If the relief valve looks good, I will take the front cover off and take it back for an exchange.

 

[oldman]

They put a brand new melling front cover and mitsu gears when the rebuild was done. If the relief valve looks good, I will take the front cover off and take it back for an exchange.

That would be a big suspect, when it comes to engine parts, always use OEM.

 

[boosted92laser]

I got the oil filter housing off and it is not ported. I took the releif valve out and there is still a spring in there. What do I try next ( I don't want to have to pull the timing belt to try the front cover if it isn't going to fix my problem).

 

[oldman]

I got the oil filter housing off and it is not ported. I took the releif valve out and there is still a spring in there. What do I try next ( I don't want to have to pull the timing belt to try the front cover if it isn't going to fix my problem).

Have you spoken to the shop who did the rebuilt? Did they do the installation as well? If so, tell them to fix it.

 

[boosted92laser]

When I called the shop, they said there was nothing they could do since it has been a year since they gave me the motor back.

BUT, I took the oil pan off again tonight, to check the main bearings, and I noticed something that could be the problem. The oil squirters are not installed, nor are the holes plugged. I got a set of oil squirters from a friend and will install this week. This could be my problem, right? I hope so.
I will pickup an oil pan gasket, an oil filter housing gasket, and some crush washers and through it back together this week and see what happens. Should I use copper or aluminum crush washers for the oil squirters?

Thanks

 

[boosted92laser]

Well, I got the oil squirters back in and my oil pressure is high. The bad thing is that i didn't think about porting the relief valve when I had the oil filter housing off. So, now that will be my next project after I figure out why it wants to die on me.

I started it up and it ran great. I drove it around for a while and shut it off. I went to drive it about an hour later and when I started it, it just died. It did this about ten times. If I play with the gas, it will stay running but when I let off the gas, it wants to die again. I got a ISC from a friend and am going to put it on and see if it helps.

 

[oldman]

Good job on figuring out your oil pressure issues which is most crucial, however, I should kick your ass for not porting the relief valve before you re-installed it.

As for the new issue, were you having this problem prior to re-installing the squirters?

Don't forget to call the shop and tell them they suck , you're better off with them squirters anyway.

 

[boosted92laser]

Good job on figuring out your oil pressure issues which is most crucial, however, I should kick your ass for not porting the relief valve before you re-installed it.

As for the new issue, were you having this problem prior to re-installing the squirters?

Don't forget to call the shop and tell them they suck , you're better off with them squirters anyway.

I can't even believe that I forgot to port the relief valve when I had it off. It must have been because I was mad because according to the dealer, they don't make the oil filter housing gasket anymore . I had to spend $40 at work to get a lower conversion gasket set so that I had that one gasket ( I didn't feel like making a gasket )

I was having this problem before i started tearing it apart. It started a couple of days before I parked the car to tear it apart. I was hoping that fixing the oil pressure problem would fix it.

I did call the shop today. I talked to the guy that did the work (he actually remembered doing it), and he said that he misplaced the squirters and the shop was supposed to reimburse me for them, which never happened. I then talked to the owner and he is will send me a check for $100 to reimburse me for the squirters. So, I am coming out $100 ahead.

 

[oldman]

I can't even believe that I forgot to port the relief valve when I had it off. It must have been because I was mad because according to the dealer, they don't make the oil filter housing gasket anymore . I had to spend $40 at work to get a lower conversion gasket set so that I had that one gasket ( I didn't feel like making a gasket )

Even more reason to have it ported, it's not like it would have lowered your pressure even more because the spring pressure will not give until a certain oil pressure is obtained.

I was having this problem before i started tearing it apart. It started a couple of days before I parked the car to tear it apart. I was hoping that fixing the oil pressure problem would fix it.

Then go back to the basics, check timing mark, ignition timing, boost/vacuum leaks, TPS, ISC...etc.

I did call the shop today. I talked to the guy that did the work (he actually remembered doing it), and he said that he misplaced the squirters and the shop was supposed to reimburse me for them, which never happened. I then talked to the owner and he is will send me a check for $100 to reimburse me for the squirters. So, I am coming out $100 ahead.

Minus all the time and efforts you put in though you did learn alot from this venture.

 

[boosted92laser]

I have learned a lot, and there is much more to learn. After all, this car is alot of firsts for me, first DSM, first turbo, first AWD. But hey, there is no better way to learn than hands on. It just sucks that I learned because something went wrong.