The pressure has nothing to do with open loop mode (I think that's what you are talking about). Open loop mode makes the engines idle higher until it reaches operating temp which is like 132*F then goes into closed loop mode and starts using the the sensors or whatever. Like I said before, the oil pump is connect by a mesh gear to your cam which is connected to your crack which tells you what your RPMs are. So, in turn, the only way to get your oil pressure to go up more is either rev it or get a larger, better flowing pump which can be a big plus to engine life I might add. I hope I didn't get here too late. I just got off work :/

 

nop, not to late. But if the pump is weak at that point, would it also be possble that it's not pumping like it should be (even though it's hooked up dirrectly to the crank)? Bc, even at rpm it does no go where it should.

 

For $4000.00 you can get a decent stroker shortblock from a reliable engine builder... Hmmmmmm.

 

lol you can build a faster one than that for less than $2000 if you know how to do it.

As long as you are pulling about 10psi for every 1000 rpms, you should be good. That's the bare minimun though. It could be loose. If it is I would hurry up and get it fixed before it really does some damage because if it is just loose there is a chance that someone can just rebolt it in place and you would be fine.

 

Are you talking about the pickup? For the meantime I ordered an oil pump that I'll probably receive tomorow. I'm going to start taking the oil pan appart tonight

 

I am talking about the driveshaft for it. The pickup was only mentioned because if it comes out of the oil and sucks air, your oil pressure meter will read 0.

I just got my book on LT1/LT4 rebuilding and I will scan a picture tomorrow (I have to leave for work in like 2 mins) if I can find one of what I am talking about.

 

I am thinking Cam bearings or the main bearings. My friends 87 350TPI is having the same problem.

If the pickup fell off, then 0 oil pressure will register when the starts up, right? Or if it did, it would drop almost immediately, right?

 

For those of you who migh be able to tell a little bit more with the sound here's a clip from tonight of it running while cold.

http://www.techvien.com/MOV00001.MPG

 

Sounds like the bearings.
It's pumping oil but it's losing pressure.
My friends car sounds just like that.

 

that dosen;t sound lije something easy to change. Would it require a rebuild if it where this?

 

stick a fork in that motor, its done.

Christ, I couldn't stand to listen to the whole clip. I thought u said it was fine on start up. Dude... that thing is done

 

Thats what you call a rod knock if not somthing is banging bad. Rebuild time sorry for the loss. Time to bring it back from the dead and make it deadly.

 

No, that does not mean your engine is dead. Don't listen to them. The quality of the sound can make it seem like something entirly different. My sound card is stuck in a reverb mode so I couldn't really hear it as well as I wanted to, but one thing I think I might of heard was a hiss. That means a vacuum line might have came loose, but that won't do anything with the oil pump. You could have the oil pressure professionally tested (well at like pep boys or someone like that) with a different, plugin gauge. Get a screwdriver and place the metal tip on the top of the engine where the heads are by a bolt , put your ear on the big plastic end and and rev it alittle. hear any knocking or pinging? Is it loud? spun cam bearings wound not make the oil pressure drop to 0 though. You cant check it unless you take it completly apart for spun cam bearings

 

trust me-
its not a vac leak

 

I didn't say a vacuum leak was causing this problem. I said I heard something that could be a vacuum leak. Sometime a vacuum leak though can cause an engine to heat up a lot. At least on Gen 1's they could.