Lost oil pressure on my 440... HELP !

[johannes]

Sooo, I just might have reved the engine in 1'st....engine only partly warmed up.....
Lost oil pressure....
This was just outside my garage,..so NOT running the engine for long afterwards....
Engine runs smothly,... ticking sounds from lifters only...

I pulled the distributor to confirm that the oil pump driveshaft was ok (it was)
I pulled both valve covers to confirm pushrods OK,...and no lifter out of bore.
What do I do next ?

I can pull the oil pan to confirm the oil pickup being OK (can this be inspected using camera in oil drain plug ?
Is there a valve inside the oil pump that can cause loss of oil pressure ? If so how to check/fix ?

Any other suggestions ??

PLEASE HELP !!!

[tman]

Oil pressure gauge or sending unit broke?  Maybe get a priming tool and see if you get oil circulating into rockers.  Definitely try to eliminate the gauge as the problem.  Video shows a homemade tool. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki9-OxgT1Z4

[Chryco Psycho]

the pump is outside the engine so pull it , the bypass spring might be stuck or just install a new Melling pump

[brads70]

Fram oil filter?

[johannes]

I primed the pump the following morning, using drill and tool.. oil flowed immidiately, stalling the drill.
I calibrated my pressure gauge towards a proper one...ref picture
Normal running 6 bars
Idling 2 bars.....I even blended radiator air intake for a long time to get engine real hot....marginal reduction.
I'm pretty sure I have same oil pressure as before..... so I expect no harm done.
I will persue oil dipstick length versus oil level in pan next,...as I believe hard turns + acceleration made my pan low on oil.
Standard depth pan + vintage tray....
Any "rules of thumb" for oil level ?....say using pan gasket as reference

[larry4406]

Years ago my 440's oil pump ingested a broken hydraulic lifter circlip and sheared the hex tip off the drive.  Ran fine for a brief period, but no oil...

[Chryco Psycho]

basically you want the oil just below the windage tray , the drop from the pan rail should be approx 1" down but I don't have a tray handy to measure

[jimynick]

The quick and dirty way is to drain the oil, change the filter and then install the rated amount of oil the pan was made for. fire it up for a minute and then shut it off, wait 10 minutes for full draindown and then pull the stick, wipe it clean, reinstall, pull it out and see where the fill line is on the stick. If it's not on the mark, take a file or punch and made a wee mark where the level is. You're done. Good luck!

[67vertman]

The quick and dirty way is to drain the oil, change the filter and then install the rated amount of oil the pan was made for. fire it up for a minute and then shut it off, wait 10 minutes for full draindown and then pull the stick, wipe it clean, reinstall, pull it out and see where the fill line is on the stick. If it's not on the mark, take a file or punch and made a wee mark where the level is. You're done. Good luck!

 

On mine I had a six quart Hemi pan. When my engine builder checked the pan to windage tray it only needed five quarts, so I did as jimynick suggested and marked the dip stick at that level.