I just bought an 85 5spd, cosemtically its in good shape and everything is alright mechanically besides the engine, but i only paid a grand. The car sat for 4 years with no care. Has an old qjet and performer on it and hacked up ecm wiring, quite the project.

Problem is the car has no oil pressure. When i looked at it the first time the gauge moved a little, but now its zero'd out always. The car starts and idles alright and is drivable. But after a minute or so the lifters start clacking like crazy. No unusal sounds. I had a 79 with no oil pressure and it knocked bad, almost all the bearings were spun. Theres nothing like that.

I changed the filter and oil and put in a litre of atf, hoping something was clogged with no change. The old oil flowed well, no unsual colors no metal flakes. It was dirty though. This did nothing to fix the problem. I the pulled the valve covers and there is no lubrication to the top end when its running. I pulled the distrib and the oil pump shaft is present.

So my next decision is do i pull the pan and check the pump and if so what else should i be checking.

Im trying to run it as little as possible, obviously. Im not trying to make a hot rod out of it, i'd just like to drive it, so i'd like to avoid pulling the engine, i've had enough fun doing that in the past.

Thanks

 

It might be a case of the oil pressure sending unit taking a vaation on you. Thats not uncommon. Replace that and see if that fixes anything.

 

how would that fix the clacking lifters?

 

I must have missed that part. My eyes are getting too old for this.

I think you have things backwards. You say something along the lines of "there is no oil pressure, so the lifters start clacking." Perhaps it should read something like this: "The lifters are clacking and there is no oil pressure." Perhaps you have your cause and effect mixed up.

If the lifters are making excessive noise, that should clue you in on where to begin your search. Inspect the valve train and make sure everything is there. Make sure the push rods are in one piece and none are bent. If they are, you may have a collapsed lifter.

 

the problem is they all clack, theres no oiling at all, so im trying to decide whether to pull the pan or the intake.

maybe i should clarify something. Im not completley sure how the oiling system works. If the lifters are all bad could that effect the gauge, or is operation of the gauge directly dependent on the pump iself.

 

If all the lifters are making noise, it sounds as if there is something clogging the oiling system. make sure all the oil passages are clear and the pump pickup has not been clogged.

Then again if the car has been sitting for a very long time, oil could have sludged and by you using ATF on it, you may have freed something up that got loose and got stuck...and...clogged...the oil system...Crap im repeating myself. I need sleep.

 

ok, guess its the pan today, thanks..

 

so the mystery is solved, i dropped the pan and the oil pump was in pieces on the bottom..i put it back together and it works great, but the engine is 90% apart anyway on my garage floor, and i pulled 2 of the main bearings out and they show a good deal of wear from no oil..no pitting or gouging, but one is wearing through to the copper base..so the question is now do i pull it and rebuild it entirely or put it back together with a new oil pump

maybe i'll just yank it and get a 350 core and a rebuild kit

 

If one shows signs of wearing to the copper, that doesnt mean that the others arent worn to the copper.

 

well it turns out i have a 350 from 78, so im going to yank the thing and rebuild it, who knows whats been done to it