292 y block oil pressure

I have a 292 y block that runs 80 psi oil pressure hot or cold. I have replaced the oil pump with no effect. The motor sat for years after rebuilding. What would be the cause of the high oil pressure.

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Two oil pumps in a row with stuck oil relief valves is really high on the 'what are the odds' list. But this still sounds like a stuck oil relief valve. I'm assuming you have double checked the oil pressure gauge and/or replaced it? Regardless of the bearing clearances, the oil relief valve is expected to keep that oil pressure under control. You don't mention what weight oil you are running but anything with 10W-40 or less should not be seeing more than 65 psi at the gauge when cold. Ted Eaton.

 

One thing you might want to check first is to see if the head gasket is the right part, defective as in not made with correct oiling holes, or installed upside down. I would remove the valve covers and run the engine to see if it’s oiling the rockers

 

Does it show 80 psi hot at idle?








Bones

 

Mechanical gauge? If it was exposed to excess pressure, the gauge is probably screwed up and not reading right. Have you checked it against another gauge?

 

My 312 Y Block is freshly rebuilt and is also running at 80 psi cold. It does drop to 50-60 psi when hot though. I blame the high pressure on the new and tight main and rod bearing clearences and the rocker shaft plugs for better valve train oiling.Maybe your engine is just fresh and has plugged rockershaft ends aswell?

 

Hmmmmmm, I don't think a stuck oil pressure relief valve is going to cause high pressure with hot oil. The pressure relief valve limits pressure to a set point, but won't cause an increase in pressure beyond what the flow/viscosity of the oil provide, which is usually far lower than 80 psi at idle.

With that said, the OP really didn't provide enough info, leaving it up to us to guess what oil viscosity he is running, and at what rpm he's reading 80 psi pressure. It's hard enough to help troubleshoot a problem, harder without good info.

 

Hi volume pump? I have 100 psi cold 75 at temp, learned to live with it. Before the block went to the machinists all galley plugs were removed and wire brush run through all orrifaces. All were again revisited upon receipt from machining, cam bearing holes verified and adjusted. Lube hole in heads cleaned and relieved, stands all cleaned and new rocker shafts, relevant holes aligned at assembly, I initially went with pinched drain tubes but after blowing out the seal on the spin on oil filter adapter twice I went to an open drain on the rocker shafts, also checked the pump for blocked relief ( new hi vol. pump) as I had 3 engines available for parts I checked them as well, 2 had the same style pump as was supplied by rebuilder, the other was a ford pump, spur gear driving a geared disc, but far too worn to consider using in a new engine, I did check all the relief pressures on the springs and swapped the lowest into the new supplied pump, did not gain anything. I do have good oiling at the rockers! Gauge reads zero and it’s not pinned at the zero so it’s not over ranged . I have no answer apart to say if you have no leak then just live with it till the bearrings wear.

 

Hell of a lot better than no oil pressure. Run it. Lippy

 

Thanks for all the responses. Sorry I've not responded. There is oil at the rockers. I am running 5w 30 oil and pressure does not drop when warmed up. Gauge was verified with a mechanical gauge. Rear main does leak and thats not surprising as motor sat for 8 years after being rebuilt and pressure is so high. If i pulled the heads and the pan what should i expect and where woul i look. Car has only about 2000 miles on the motor and it runs well.

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1 piece neoprene or rope rear main?

 

If I truly has 80 pounds of pressure and no more, hot or cold, even thought it sounds odd, just drive it.








Bones

 

I’m having what appears to be the same problem. I’m chasing oil leaks that do not seem to make sense to me. The rear main and spacer sides do not show oil but around the oil pump and filter does. I recently had the pan off for a piston problem that has been repaired and after a weekend of use their was too much oil dripping off the left side of the engine.
I have the car 8” up off the garage floor and level. I run a light so I installed a gauge under the car and now warm at idle is 55 and 1800 rpm 75-80. I have tried twice to get the plunger out of the pump to no avail. I run Lucas Hot Rod oil 10-30 and the engine has 10k miles.
Yesterday I lapped both sides of the screw on filter plate and installed a new gasket and there did not appear to have any leaks.
Today I’m going to remove the pump piece by piece hoping to at least save the new donut seal on the pan oil line feed. I do not want to remove the distributor and will do everything from under the car. The PS hoses are a pain but I’m sure I’ll get what I need. I’ve never changed the gaskets on the oil pump since I started looking for the leaks and there is always oil drips on the pump. This is all to make sure the bypass plunger is smooth. I even do this to a new pump on other brand engines.

 

I would look at the valley pan as the source of the leak you believe is the pump, been down that road too.

 

All new since the head was off. No evidence of oil coming down the rear of the block. Hole to last push rod had a cap screw holding the body ground strap, but I will check. Thanks.

 

Back in the sixties, we had a 1959 Ford 1/2 ton pick up with the 292. We bought it new. My Dad installed a quality American made 270 degree sweep oil pressure gauge in the dash of that truck. I can still remember seeing that gauge on 80 psi a lot! But our would come down somewhat at idle and when hot! How much? Too many years to remember. We ran 10w40 oil in it! You can see the old ‘59 in this picture.






Bones

 

Oil pressure will not exceed oil pump relief valve. The relief valve is accessible from the outside back off the nut that holds the spring and the pressure should drop. There will be a little oil leak past the threads of the plug and gasket when it is not tight. If no loss of pressure the relief is stuck. https://www.bing.com/images/search?...dex=0&FORM=IRPRST&idpp=overlayview&ajaxhist=0

 

I'm not aware of a high pressure/high volume oil pump being available for y-block engines. However, Ted Eaton did modify a high-pressure SBF oil pump to work on a Y-block engine, primarily due to low oil pressure being caused by excessive bearing clearance on a customer's engine. The pump was only to be used until the engine was rebuilt. Neither high-volume/pressure pump should be necessary on a properly rebuilt engine. There are two types of standard-pressure/Y-block oil pumps-gear and rotor (gerotor). The Ford gerotor pumps have an aluminum body. Ted sells an aftermarket gerotor pump/w cast iron body. The Melling, etc. gear-type pumps have cast iron bodies. Ted prefers gerotor pumps, less chance of cavitation at high rpm. Occasionally you can find the Ford aluminum gerotor pumps on ebay. Melling makes the K-56 rebuild kit for the Ford gerotor pump.

 

Bit the bullet and removed the oil pump. Stuck on the block with a lot of Permatex #2. Block will be tough to scrape.
Could barely move the plunger using a screwdriver at the small end against the housing. Obviously a stuck bypass was part of my problem along with the gasket to the block. A slight bit of wiping with a scotch bright pad has the plunger moving fine. I will use a nylon bristle tube brush on the inside.
Maybe good luck but my pump is a gerotor in a cast iron case. Rotor and gear are perfect from what I see. Will get a repaint too.
Hoping this will a fix for the leaks. I can live with small ones but not like what I had.

 

Can you post a couple of pictures of the oil pressure relief plunger and the spring showing the proper orientation for installation?
Thanks

 

When working for Ford in the dark ages, I saw a Y block blow the filter off with a rebuilt oil pump with a stuck relief valve.

 

It only can fit one way, it doesn’t look like Chevrolet. The spring fits into the plunger pocket and the small solid end goes into the pump first. With the cover off you see how it works. This is a gerotor and I’m sure the gear style is the same.
I have 3 different books and all 3 are the same. The 56 Ford manual is the best because it tells you how to get things apart.

 

Okay I’ll take a look at it and see.
The diagrams I’ve found aren’t very good

 

Page 65 in the manual above.

 

Thanks but that’s not the type of oil pump on my 292 based engine.

This is a kit for rebuilding the pump in your diagram.

This is the kit for my oil pump as you can see the rotor assembly is different.


I’m not sure if the pressure relief is the same.
I’ll find out when I open it up.

 

Pressure relief is the same on both styles

 

The bottom pic is of a "Gerotor" type pump, the top pic is a standard gear type pump.

 

Are you concerned about the high oil pressure or the leak? Lippy

 

look at post 17

 

I’m not so sure about that when you look at the diagrams and blow them up they’re different.

But then again they’re only diagrams not accurate pictures