Important thing to check...


[Follow Ups] [Post Followup] [Dodge Power Wagon Forum]


Posted by Tom in Indiana [108.162.219.145] on Sunday, December 25, 2016 at 19:56:41 :

In Reply to: Oil Pressure posted by John Malone [108.162.216.187] on Saturday, December 24, 2016 at 09:23:19 :

As odd as it may sound, I too have seen a couple of 360s that had their cam lobes wiped (flat-tappet, non-roller) from not breaking them in at the 2500rpm/30min recommendation that's always been the "standard". It isn't an issue with just small block Mopars, though. Seat pressure is a critical part of that, and the higher the lift of the cam, the more important it is to break it in correctly. I HV/HP pump will do 50-70psi cold, at the tighter end of the tolerance chart. Warm, 30-60 is typical. I had a 440 once that held 80 cold, and 65-70 hot, on a stock oil pump. Anyway...

I agree with Bruce in one MAJOR way- if it has a Fram oil filter, remove it, smash it with a hammer, burn it with a torch, and place a curse on it. I can't count on both hands where I've seen both huge oil pressure drops and/or failures of Fram filters. Use a WIX with a anti-drainback valve, ALWAYS. On a small block, due to the filter hanging at approximately a 40 degree angle, it isn't as critical as on a B/RB engine, but it is cheap insurance from dry starts. Don't run anything thinner than 10w-30 in it, of course. Rotella T 15w-40 has an extremely high Zinc content, and at the machine shop I used to work at, we ran it in everything from stock 230 flatheads to 1200 horsepower, 600 cubic-inch big blocks. I run nothing else in anything I own, save for newer econoboxes or 200,000 farm beaters... then, it just depends.

When the engine was rebuilt, did they remove and replace (or NOT replace) the oil galley plug above the rear main cap? There is one WAY up in there that I've seen people forget to replace, and they would experience what you're seeing. We always had a notebook for each engine, and had to document every step of disassembly, machining, and reassembly. The first few times I was forced to do it, I hated it. Afterward, I've never built one without it. Another thing LA Mopar engines have had happen to cause your issue is a cracked rear main cap. It's not REALLY common, but I've seen it before. On a fresh build once, a cocked cap broke on startup. I hope you find the problem and let us know.



Follow Ups:



Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:
Subject:
Message:
Optional Link
URL:
Title:
Optional Image Link
URL:


This board is powered by the Mr. Fong Device from Cyberarmy.com