Hey guys i have a fantastic running 352. the motor had a rebuild by previous owner in the last 20k. cold start up it has 40 lbs of oil pressure with a cheap sunpro guage and when it was hot at idle it would drop to 15lbs touch the gas above idle it would go to 35 lbs i decided to change the oil installed a fram hp1 filter and put 15-40 pennsoil in it a colds start oil pressure is 45 but when it is hot 95 deg day 45min of running in drive at aprox 500rpm went to 5 lbs touch the gas goes to 35 lbs this thing really runs great no noise no bearing noise at cold start. any suggestions on a filter oil change. i plan on pullin the motor to deatail it over the winter and will pull the pan then and check the mains and oil pump. I have seen so many complaints about oil and filters in recent years.
you think sae 30 over lets say a 20-50 would be the way to go what filters do you guys like . wix , baldwin , or where do you buy a motorcraft. Is the napa gold is a very good quality wix unit .
You could give it a shot with the 20w50 motor oil and a Wix or Motorcraft filter... Let us know how it turn's out for ya!!
Get rid of the fram filter.Try a Wix,they are very well made.I would also try a good oil.Brad Penn 20w50.
wix,napa gold,carquest...all wix filters. 20 / 50 or straight 30 wt oil.. My 352 in my 65 f100 idles hot @ 15 psi, freeway speeds it sits @ 45 to 50 psi....cold its 30+ idle and 60+ at speed...... Same as the all of them that I have worked on or owned since high school (and that was a long time ago ! ) Dave
First and foremost, ditch the Fram and get a Motorcraft, Wix, etc. filter (WallyWorld carries the good Motorcraft for cheap) and try some 20-50 VR-1 or similar, should bump up the low-rpm pressure. Also, sweet that your engine will idle that low, but bump it up to about 650 and you will see more pressure. If it comes up with the slightly heavier oil, the bearing clearances are just a little loose, or the rockers & shafts might be worn enough to be bleeding off pressure- but since you haven't mentioned any smoking which usually comes with loose rockers, probably not. If you gain pressure, a HV pump with a HD pump driveshaft will make you more comfortable and is fairly cheap, but if you do it, check the bearings and rockers/shafts while you're in there
Cam bearings will cause that type of pressure also. I will never run a high volume pump again. And I believe running heavy oil is just masking a problem elsewhere. JMO Lippy
Thanks guys the motor really runs fantastic no smoke at start zero valvetrain noise no cold start bearing noise. i will give the oil filter / oil upgrade a try 20/50 or straight 30.
like some of the guys said. ditch the oil filter and put a motorcraft or wix, or whatever other than what you have now. straight 30 oil is what they required,but be careful and make sure you add a zinc additive to any oil in these old engines. they have to have it. some oils such as shell rotella muti-viscosity , particularly their diesel oil have some zinc in them. it is not an engine issue. just my 2cents worth derived out of 30 years experience the y/block and fe engines
I've had a lot of FE's that didn't carry a whole lot of oil pressure at idle, and they ran forever. Like mentioned, get rid of the Fram and try different oil.
as mentioned above oil change then see , My early impression would be to roll a set of bearings in the bottom end
Dumped the fram filter installed a wix straight 30 and a bottle of lucas and zink addative. start 55 lbs ,hot idle 30 at speed hot 45. Seems to be fine. thanks every one
I was told by an old Ford mechanic that FE motors will do that if the cam bearings are worn. My 390 T-bird did the same thing after I rebuilt it back in the '70s. (didn't replace the cam or cam bearings). I drove it for 5 years then the motor went into a truck and last I heard (mid '90s), it was still going.
Worn rocker shafts will lower the OP too. Easy to check. Pull vale cover,and the rocker shafts.Slide the rockers on the shaft and take a peek at the area the rocker rides on.
I am having a little trouble with your statement about running it 45 minutes in drive at 500 rpm, now in my mind about the only way that is achievable is put it in gear with the parking brake on and let it run, basic idle in park should be set higher than that, and if you are going somewhere you are definitely going to need some more rpm. Also if you are going to run straight 30w, I don't see why you added the Lucas (viscosity builder).
The main problem with FE's is that they oil the cam, and lifters first, and then mains, and rods last (same as the 351 cleveland). Since your going to pull the engine to detail it replace the cam bearings, and check the rocker shafts, and rocker arms for wear, or maybe just replace them (FE's loose 40% of their oil pressure on the rocker shafts/arms). That's why the FE 427 side oiler blocks is so desireable, they added oil p***ages on one side of the block that feeds the mains directly from the oil pump.
The Jalopy Journal
