Low Oil Pressure???

[rritchey]

I HAVE ALSO SEEN THIS OIL PRESSURE QUESTION COME UP TIME AND AGAIN. I, TOO HAVE RESERVATIONS ABOUT SYNTHETIC OILS AND DO NOT PREFER MULTI-VIS OIL. I HAVE HAD VERY GOOD RESULTS WITH CASTROL 30WT. IT HOLDS UP VERY GOOD IN PERFORMANCE ENGINES AND HAS HIGH RESISTANCE TO THERMAL BREAKDOWN. MY 2 CENTS ON OIL...

AS FOR THE PRESSURE.. I THINK YOU ARE FINE ON THE CLEARANCES... (A WHOLE OTHER DISCUSSION) BUT SOME PEOPLE ARE VERY PICKY AND WOULD NOT ACCEPT AN ENGINE WITH A .003" CLEARANCE. AGAIN, JUST MY OPINION, BUT I PREFER A "LOOSE" MOTOR WITH QUALITY OIL AND A HV PUMP. EVEN WITH THE .003" CLEAR, IF YOU RUN A HV PUMP AND DECENT OIL, YOU SHOULD HAVE AROUND 20 PSI HOT IDLE AND UPWARDS OF 60 AT SPEED HOT. I'VE BUILT LOTS OF FE'S THIS WAY AND NO PROBLEMS YET. MY PERSONAL FE IS A 390 WITH .003" ROD, .028 MAIN CLEARANCES, MELLING M57HV PUMP, RUNS LOW 20'S AT HOT IDLE, HIGH 60'S TO LOW 70'S AT CRUISING SPEED. IT'S BEEN RUNNING FOR 6 YEARS THAT WAY.

AS FOR A MINIMUM PRESSURE, I THINK THAT YOUR 15 POUNDS AT IDLE IS PROBABLY NOT GOING TO KILL YOUR MOTOR - SO LONG AS IT DOES, IN FACT, RISE AS SOON AS YOU PICK IT UP OFF IDLE. I WOULD BE MORE WORRIED ABOUT THE CAM THAN THE BEARINGS AT 15 PSI THOUGH. I BET IF YOU REPLACE THE PUMP WITH A HV ONE THE PROBLEM WILL BE SOLVED.