on a cool little right-left 45mph/3rd gear maybe 2500rpm ess in the 'hood my oil light came on and stayed. the pressure gauge was at zero & i got off the gas. it stayed at zero 'till i revved it back up to 2k. it never did that with my 1.8 last year!
clearly i starved the pump with the hard right. i see a oil spot from the right side now.
i'm bored and stroked to 2056, almost 1000 miles on the motor.
i'm running 40wt oil (changing to 50 soon)
i checked the level and it's just over the full line.

what should i do?

I see a "Tunacan" in your future!

with Geoff.



Even with very high oil pressure from my heavy duty pump, the light will momentarily come on in a fast sweeper (oil pressure stays strong and does not drop). I've been told the light is not a problem.

However I run a Tunacan anyway and the light NEVER comes on.


But losing oil pressure ALSO does not sound right - there could be a problem here.

Maybe one of the gurus will offer some oil pressure advice here.

..

In sweepers the oil tends to stay in the valve cover of the outside of the turn. In most cases the pressure in the main part of the case is higher than the valve cover area so this also contributes to the oil not wanting to drain back through the push rod tubes. Years ago on the air cooled.net area there were a series of pictures with the valve cover having a clear insert and you could see the oil fill up at higher and higher RPMs. That is why the tuna can will help a lot, more oil. What helps evern more is proper venting of the main case or better still getting a vacuum in the main case from a dry sump pump or auxillary vacuun source. Since the engine is hot rodded I would suggest making sure there are multiple vents on the case so there is no pressure build up.

i can't swear the pressure was zero. at idle, the gauge shows it really low (5psi?) but i figured this was ok. but the light did stay on as if the pressure was too low.
it's suggested that i upgrade the relief valve piston and the pressure piston.
EDIT
regarding the venting, i just finished adding vents to the valve covers and connecting my breather box. i think i'm pretty well vented now, but does this allow the oil to collect in the heads on turns? (should there be higher pressure in the heads to force the extra oil back into the case)

thanks

Switch to a 20-50wt oil and follow Johns advice about the venting hoses etc.

5lbs at idle is ok. 1000miles on a rebuild but how is it rebuilt? What were the tolerances for the mains, rods, bearings etc... loose fit or tight?

check to make sure the small oil gallery piston is working properly and isn't sticking.

tight fit on the rebuild, see edit on venting

thanks. and nice avatar, too bad the u.s. are going down!

Hey Lotus,
I had the same problem with my oil light coming on in multiple corners. So I installed the famous "tuna can" and haven't had the light come on sense. It seems to be that the oil pick up gets starved for oil in sharp or multiple corners, lowering the pick up with a tuna can or a deep sump completely cures the problem.
Greg

5psi seems awfully low on a fresh motor... even hot.. even at idle.
...


but anyways in response to your question.
definitely a tuna can.

we used to have 2 oil sensor lights set up in our system.
the first was the stock 3psi light.

the tuna can will help enough to eliminate that oil light.

however we used to have a second sensor set up for 15psi

even with the tuna can you will be able to light up the 15psi warning in corners... (race track corners at least)

we finally installed an accumulator (accusump) type system and that is the only thing that curred our 15psi in corners problem.

my engine builder was very concerned about the 15psi in corners scenario..

stock was only 3psi???? wtf?!!!

i thought they were 8 or 9!

I could be wrong...
but I really think that stock light is 3psi...

hey here is something cool Aaron.
my car is a 74, so it has the fasten seat belt light.
I wired my 2nd warning light (15psi) into that seat belt light.

brant

i like the sound of the accusump, but i think i'll try the tuna can first. if i need more, i'll take the plunge.

thanks all...