Did you ever find out what the problem was with the oil pressure? Interested.

Oil Pressure
 

After checking everything external to the engine, I have decided that one or more of the internal oil seals is either not installed correctly or was manufactured incorrectly. Some others have experienced the same issues and have shared their resolutions with me. I am going to pull the engine back out, tear it down again and replace the questionable seals. I have acquired a set of internal seals from a different source to use on the second rebuild. At least this time everything is clean and none of the nuts, bolts and screws will be rusted or otherwise difficult to remove! Thanks for your interest!

It's always quicker the second time...

I really hope you get this solved.

Have you by any chance talked to Chris from TurboKraft? He has mentioned this on a recent customer build. He is very knowledgable and willing to help.

Good luck Fred, I am watching to see this through.

Let us know what you find when you tear it down. I used the gasket kit from pelican when I did mine about 6 years ago and so far it has been good.

Not sure if you've dropped / disassembled the engine yet but it maybe interesting to see if a bore scope reveals anything. The usb versions being sold on ebay are not too expensive, although I'm not sure of the quality and I think the line of sight from one of the oil return tubes should at least give you a good view of the oil pump seals. Who knows what you'll find. You may not even need a scope to see the seals.

Is the oil pressure gauge flickering at all? Did you reseal the oil pickup tube?

Latest update.........
 

I have just pulled the engine and have it back on the engine stand. Will start tearing it back down today. With a bit of luck, I will know what the problem is in a day or two! Wish me luck!

Good luck- keep us posted!

Engine tear down.........
 

Engine is at the long block stage now. Will probably do some more disassembly after supper. Hope to have it all apart by end of day tomorrow. It's a lot nicer getting to work with clean/new parts!

Subscribed, this thread is a tribute to your patient troubleshooting and this forum's group think and support.

Almost there!
 

I have everything removed and am ready to split the block (again!). I should get that done either tonight or in the morning. A few chores got in the way of doing the split this afternoon (as usual !). Will soon know if one or more of the block seals did not seat properly!

Good luck - this far back in I hope you find one pinched so the mystery is solved.

Excellent progress.

Looking forward to hearing what you find.

good luck! Hope you find the malfunction!

Found the source of the oil pressure problem
 

Finally got the block split and right away saw what was causing the oil pressure problem. One of the oil pump seals (on the pressure side) did not seat properly when I put the block halves together and a large piece got bitten out of the seal. Actually, I am pretty amazed that the engine had as much oil pressure as it did! When I separated the block halves, I used my engine hoist to carefully lift the left side of the block so that I could see if any of the seals were not seated properly. Much easier to lift with the hoist than by arm and back muscles! The other good news is that everything inside appears to have been getting oiled! Now all I have to do is "Reassemble in reverse order".

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1376668899.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1376668923.jpg

Sorry you had to go through all that, but glad you found a cause.

Good to hear. At least you found it before any damage was done.

Nice find, good catch with a proper trouble shooting approach.

I am very happy to hear, you found the culprit.

Thanks for closing the loop!

Will you do anything different during assembly this time to avoid a repeat?