Oil pressure??? Yeah...75 lbs!! WHAT THE HELL?

At speed, the gauge is reading 75 pounds. Is this possible?

 

Sure, if your clearances are tight and you have a fresh oil pump with a mega relief valve spring.....

 

Once in a while I get an oil filter that acts like it is restricted? Jacks my oil press up. On my F E the oil line comes off the filter boss.........OLDBEET

 

So, don't worry?

 

Did this just happen? New motor? Change anything? Details?........OLDBEET

 

That thing you are looking at is called a speedometer

 

The old Chrysler performance books say 10 lbs per 1,000 rpm is required for good motor life! What speed are you at?

Had one once that carried 80 psi at idel when cold. Scared the hell of of you to run it down the highway until the motor warmed up a little. Seen a guy blow an oil filter apart once reving up a cold motor with high oil pressure, what a mess that was. BTW, Fram and Ford (and probably everyone else) make oil filters that are built for high (+ 100 psi) oil pressure. Gene

 

depends on what's going on.

what type engine?

built for racing or a stocker or what?

how many miles on it?

hows the pressure at hot idle?

did something change?

Obviously you're shocked at the pressure, so some hints as to why you're shocked might help us figure out what's going on?

 

I wouldn't say don't worry,Too much oil pressure can be as damaging as too little. If it is too high it will wash the white metal off the bearing backing. It can also blow the oil filter seal or in some cases balloon the filter and dump all the oil . Check the engine manufacturers specs for the recommended upper limit .

What motor? Is it new ? Have you changed something?
If it just started running that high without any changes from you, my pick would be a stuck relief valve,but it could also be an incorrect filter, or bad sender or guage, or even to heavy a grade of oil.
Does it run at 75 cold ? Hot ? Does it change pressure when the oil temp changes?

 

Kirk, is that your 47 Ford ? if so, do you have pics of the engine ?

I remember it looking really nice, was it a 302 ?

L

 

It's a 302. I asked the machine shop for a mild build with an RV grind cam. Everyone who helped me with the install thinks it WAY more built than that. I don't have a tach intalled yet so I don't know the RPMs. The motor is brand new...maybe 100 miles.

The 70-75 lbs is when it's hot.

 

Yep, the '47. It's running at 170 degrees on the freeway and getting up to 210 in traffic.

 

does it have a high volume pump?

they aren't needed unless you have a low pressure condition.
they should NEVER be installed in a fresh engine.
BTW,are you running a good filter?
WIX is where it's at.

 

Put a piece of tape over the gauge if you are worried about it.

 

Yeah, RACEFAB has no idea what he's talking about.

 

Yeah, well you should have a rev counter, it's probably too late now but you should have run in the cam at 2000 rpm for 20 mins immediately after first start up.
Also 210 degrees ( engine temp) is way too hot , but it is oil not water temperature that is important in regards the oil pressure. The water/block temperature can be at 210 way before the oil reaches proper operating temp.

I still think there is something wrong with the pressure relief /bypass valve . Hi volume pump,close tolerances, or even blocked oil filter should cause the pressure to relieve, before you see pressures this high on the guage.

Did you get a mechanical ( not electric) test guage and check the pressure directly at the block/fitting. Electric guages ( both oil pressure and temp) are notoriously unreliable.
Mellings oil pump website says,

" The bypass system on the stock Ford oil pump leaves a lot to be desired. Stock oil pumps may be inadequate when there is a large oil requirement or in a rear sump application where a long pickup tube is used. We recommend the Melling race pumps which have a reworked bypass."

Call the machine shop and ask what they did to it.....lots of places stretch the spring and or put spacers in the stack with unpredictable results.....unless they have an oil pump dyno....and I have only ever seen one of those , ( It was not for Ford pumps) .

 

Are you running a remote oil filter?
If so, you may have the lines to the filter adapter backwards.
Not that I've ever done that....


Far as the high volume pump goes, a little common sense goes a long way.
Especially if the pump is coupled with a stronger than stock relief spring.
Just hold the engine rpms to reasonable when it's cold - and be real reasonable if it's real cold out - and you should be able to keep the oil pressure down to a reasonable pressure.

Fwiw, my 462" Buick with slightly heavier relief spring and high volume pump will run up to 80# when the engine is cold.
Takes a while for it to warm up* in cold weather, but it's what I have to do to carry 48# or so on the highway on hot summer days.
The high volume pump is required due to the roller rockers pull more pressure off the oiling system than does the stock rockers.


*I did the drill the thermostat trick so as to relieve an air lock a while back.
Drilled a couple of 3/16" holes and one would have been better.
Takes a lot longer to warm up in cold weather.
And now that cold weather is coming on, I'm gonna replace the stat with an undrilled one and see how things work out.

 

Had a v-8 vega once that blew the oil filter right off the motor. luckily it was in the driveway. the bypass spring in the oil pump was at fault. have also heard of cam bearings incorrectly installed causing this problem, which being a fresh rebuild might be the problem. good luck.

 

Kirk, It's been so long since I've seen you post the whole car........and hey, is that BILLET I see?

if you're in the hood..swing by and look at my "61 chevy wagon
it's my Ebay turd.....Maybe you need a BP company wagon?

 

HEY BILL!

No billet...except the housing of the distributor. The rest is all OG Cal Custom goodies.

 

Kirk, granted I"m running a Yblock but mine runs at 60lbs. I know it ain't the same as 75, but I wouldn't worry. Especially since it's fresh oil and a fresh build. As far as the car runnin' 210, if there's room, run a shroud, or change the radiator. Just some thoughts.

RRR

 

Yeah, I'm definitely going to go with a shroud.

I'm also going to pick up a mechanical gauge and compare the reading.

 

Until my engine warms up real good I show in the neighborhood of 80 psi at speed, but it drops off to 55 or 60 once the mill gets good and warm.

I have to switch to 30 weight in the winter.
IUf my car didn't normally hold that much i'm suspect that my oil filter was clogged.

 

My first 302 in my 48 ran about the same as yours. Put a lot of miles on it and never had a proble. The second motor (also a 302) was the same. I have put a lot of miles on this one also and no problems. Both engines were professionally built.

 

Yea, well, I had an old 318 once that had the "oil" light on the dash that would flash at stop lights. Put a good mechanical guage and found it had 5psi at a hot idle! Put in 20w50 and drove the damned thing another 50,000 before the timing chain went out. The next motor I put in the car had 60 psi when hot, thought something was wrong. Guess its what your used to? I'd just drive it. Gene