Zero oil pressure

Topic: Zero oil pressure (Read 3586 times) previous topic - next topic

Zero oil pressure

June 05, 2009, 07:49:08 PM

Any reasons for zero oil pressure in a 2.3 other than bad oil pump?

I just got my TC back together after a year of it sitting torn apart. Starts and runs but no oil pressure :(

Really dont wanna pull the motor back out.

Zero oil pressure

Reply #1 – June 05, 2009, 08:18:06 PM

Didja check it with a real oil pressure gauge or are you relying on the one in the dash? If you're going by the dash one, get a real one and test for oil pressure (do this before driving the car, of course). Also test the gauge operation by pulling the wire off the sender and grounding it. The gauge should go to high when grounded.

If you check with a real gauge and really do have no oil pressure it could be a cracked, blocked or leaking pickup tube (causing the pump to suck air instead of oil). If the engine has been apart, it could even be a missing pickup tube (don't laugh, a guy I worked with did that to a Chevy 3.1 V6) or missing or defective O-ring.

Is the oil pump driven by the distributor in the 2.3? If so, it could be a missing or broken oil pump ddrive shaft as well.

Zero oil pressure

Reply #2 – June 05, 2009, 08:30:24 PM

Does it also make a weird metallic sound after running for about 10 -15 min? and idle weird?

Zero oil pressure

Reply #3 – June 05, 2009, 10:09:15 PM

The valve train will "raise Hell" on a 2.3 with no oil pressure, at least with a slider cam, only takes a minute or so to wipe one...

Did you install the pump drive and prime the pump beforehand???

Zero oil pressure

Reply #4 – June 06, 2009, 12:03:23 AM

without having to repeat what thunderchicken said, what i remember about the 2.3 is the pan gasket material(and other sludge) clogs up the the oil pickup but you never mentioned how long it was sitting around. just a thought...
are you sure the wire on the pressure sender just didnt get knocked off, or the sender broke from you putting the motor in(assuming you just dropped the motor in) ?
its in the back under the intake manifold on the drivers side of the block if i remember correctly.
you left something out when you reassembled it, again just a thought.
you cant trust the factory guage since its basically an buttstuffog idiot light, go to walmart and get the three guage thingy for about 12 bucks(comes with a bunch of fittings)

also, since i have to ask, would you happen to have a fram oil filter on it?

Zero oil pressure

Reply #5 – June 06, 2009, 12:25:55 AM

now i dont use fram but what are you guys so anti-fram?!?! lol

Zero oil pressure

Reply #6 – June 06, 2009, 03:07:11 AM

fram oil filters are alot like wet toilet paper. The innards can cloge the inside of your engine. There isn't really a whole lot of filtering going on there.

Zero oil pressure

Reply #7 – June 06, 2009, 07:38:43 AM

Theres definately no pressure as there was a lot of top end racket. I confirmed by pulling the feed line, it was dry. I actually ran the engine like this for a while. Got way ahead of myself in excitement. It has a roller cam swap so hopefully its okay. If worse comes to worse I have a good stock slider setup. Just hope the bottom end and turbo are okay. Dont ask why I didnt confirm oil pressure before dropping the motor in.

Zero oil pressure

Reply #8 – June 06, 2009, 02:53:25 PM

Quote from: Live Fast;276123

now i dont use fram but what are you guys so anti-fram?!?! lol

The anti-drainback valve also seals against cardboard so it leaks all the dirty oil back into the engine. It's also a big cause of start up knock.

Here's the oil filter study.

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilters/index.html

Zero oil pressure

Reply #9 – June 06, 2009, 04:54:25 PM

The oil pump drive is 8mm(5/16") on the 2.3s... You can pull the dist and confirm the drive shaft is in place... Also you can make you up a drive and try spinning the pump with a drill to see if you can build pressure... Don't know if a common allen hex key will be long enough when cut down... Should be able to drive the hex with a 5/16" socket...

Zero oil pressure

Reply #10 – June 07, 2009, 12:17:25 AM

or he could find a 91-93 mustang in the junkyard and c00ch the distributor shaft thingy that protrudes from it to prime your oil pump with a drill(dont recall the exact name, when you see it you will know what i mean)
it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Zero oil pressure

Reply #11 – June 07, 2009, 08:36:22 AM

Impact on the aux pulley bolt should turn the pump too, right? Either way, the pan has to come off, so I might as well save the time looking around the dizzy hole for a missing gear and just get that pan off.

Zero oil pressure

Reply #12 – June 07, 2009, 11:35:09 AM

A impact would probably just hammer the bolt till it wrings off... Takes a surprising amount of power to turn a oil pump at more than a few RPMs...

Zero oil pressure

Reply #13 – June 07, 2009, 12:22:15 PM

You're right about that - I remember rebuilding the 3.8 in my '91 and priming the pump with a power drill. Almost took it out of my hands when it suddenly built pressure...
bhazard: If you're going to use any power tool to turn the aux shaft, use a drill. Like Tom said, an impact will likely just break the bolt off.

Zero oil pressure

Reply #14 – June 08, 2009, 12:15:36 PM

I do remember the shaft being really easy to turn with the impact when I put the bolt in the pulley. Could that indicate a problem with the pump?