i just got done replacing a distributor gear, put it back in and started it, timed it, drove it for a couple of minutes before i noticed i had no oil pressure. i changed my oil and filter, and did a lot of screwing around up by the distributor. in my service manual, at 6e3-c2-24, it shows a diagram with the fuel pump oil pressure switch and oil pressure sender, but in my car i only see the pressure sender. also, what the hell is that little wire in between the 1 and 3 spark plugs? i bumped that off and didnt notice it until i started poking around looking for the oil pressure problem, after i drove it. doesnt screw down or anything just slides on a little round tab.

i replaced my cap and rotor, and on my old cap one of the plug terminals was sort of corroded, not white, just like a really old penny. the rest of them look fine, far as i can tell the wire and plug are alright. was all sorts of crap built up on the underside pickups, but the one under the burnt up terminal is a lot cleaner than the rest. what gives?

 

The wire between 1 and 3 is to the temp. sender.

Seems like you did not get your distributor in all the way to engage the oil pump.

Notice the in the bottom of the dis.? It's what spins the pump and must fully engage the oilpump drive slot to make oil pressure.

One other thought, you did put in the rollpin is the gear?

 

Does the car actually seem like it's in a low oil pressure distress condition? You know, lots of mechanical noise, lifters ticking, low power, smoke out the oil fill cap, etc.? Or is it pretty much normal, except the gauge reads wrong?

Fork in the road: low oil pressure, or defective gauge circuit. Which fork?

Sound to me more like you left the gauge wire off the sending unit, than a low oil pressure problem.

 

u better hope its the guage

 

well i can't really hear the thing, i blew my muffler up and my neighbor is welding it up so im running open headers right now. seemed to be running alright, although i did see a LITTLE smoke for a couple seconds. guess i'll pull the dist back out and make sure its seated all the way but im pretty sure its in all the way. the sending gauge wire would be the other wire i didnt see over towards the driver side of the distributor right? no thoughts on the burnt terminal?

u better hope its the guage

is a couple minutes of driving enough to do some damage? if it wasnt getting any oil pressure?

 

forgot to mention, when i timed it (first time for me) the mark mostly stayed where it was supposed to be, but would flash over to the left every now and then. is that normal?

 

I'd suggest leaving the dist alone if you have it actually running, and figure out whether you have oil pressure or not.

It's virtually impossible for the dist to go in, but not engage the oil pump drive shaft. For all practical purposes it can't happen. They made it the way they did for that reason.

Avoid distractions on the path. Proceed direwctly to the needed information without detours. Do you have oil pressure, or not?

I'd bet, if I was the betting kind, that you left the gauge wire unplugged. Dinking with the dist won't fix that.

 

If the distributor shaft doesn't engage the oil shaft, the distributor won't sit flush with the intake, and it would advance the timing a little every time the engine is rev'd. May even have an oil leak at the separation.

I'd side with RB83L69 on this one, better to check for oil pressure, than pullin the Dizzy out. This is why I keep a manual pressure guage connected to my system permanantly.

 

ok now its really starting to get interesting. i took a closer look at the distributor, and noticed it wasnt seated all the way against the intake, so it just wasnt turning the oil pump. so, i put it in all the way, lined the rotor up with the right cylinder again, started it up, still have no oil pressure. thing started smoking real bad after a few seconds, which it only did a very small amount of after a few minutes of driving yesterday. i turn it off, and notice there is an oil puddle about 5 feet around under my car, and was still dripping from the oil filter. im pretty positive it dropped all that oil as it was running. if it was a bad filter gasket or something, it would still have some pressure right? i would go clean up this huge mess, move my car, jack it up, get under it, drain the oil, check out the filter and all that but im really pissed off right now and need a break. so anyone have any ideas wth is wrong with this pos? thanks,
Shaun

 

My block has a hole for a pressure guage or something (besides the one on top by the dizzy) directly above the oil filter boss. I have it plugged, but it was too loose and caused the same probs (no pressure). I thought my oil filter burst. I was lucky though, I still had the engine on the test stand.

 

i just put my intake manifold (and had to buy new distbutor cap, rotor, and wires) back on and the oil pressure is fine until the car warms up then drops to zero....Could it be a bad gauge or should try see if the distibutor is in all the way?

 

Yes and no. It depends where in the gallery the pressure gauge is and where the leak is. If you lost a bunch of oil to make a puddle, then you probably have pressure.

Loose gallery plug above the filter?
Loose filter?
Loose or damaged sending unit?

Put the car up on jack stands, make sure there's oil in the engine, start it up and look for the leak.

 

jesus im almost too embarassed to say what happened. finally calmed down, cleaned up the mess (yeah it was all 5 quarts) jacked it up and checked it out. there was still the o-ring from my old filter in, so there was 2 of them, and after i tightened it, it popped out the side. so im hoping (car is too damned loud to fire it up this late at night) thats all it was. when i checked my gauge it was saying almost zero or zero, it would still be reading alright if it was just that right? by the way, i really appreciate you all bearing with an FNG and tryin to help me out even though i have no common sense sometimes.

a side note, i thought starting the engine on jack stands was a big no-no?

 

Car running while on jack-stands is a no-no, only if you're under it, use good lighting and mirrors to check for leaks instead of getting up close and personal. I've used my outdoor camera to get a look at thing while the car is running, works great with good lighting.

 

alright, started right up this morning, gets normal oil pressure, i time it, and the damn thing starts smoking again. no oil leaking. if i screwed something up driving it without oil pressure, would it still smoke now?

 

this was my first time timing it, i dont suppose me screwing that up could make it smoke?

 

sorry you all, the smoke was just the oil burning off the header lol. seems ok now. thanks a lot though

 

Is this smoke burning off the headers because of greasy fingers and your oil leak or is it coming out of the exhaust? If you're not sure I would hook up your exhaust and so you can hear the engine and listen for any noise and verify if the smoke is actually coming out the exhaust.