1986 944 lost oil pressure after front reseal

EdRogers · 05-01-2021, 02:49 PM

Hi everyone, I am onto my spring project of resealing the front of the engine. I've gotten everything put back together. I upgraded the oil cooler to the 6r/oprv, belts, water pump, pulleys, seals, oil pump drive sleeve, the usual while I'm here stuff. After finishing, it started up , purred like a kitten, as well as these can. The oil pressure looked great, then slowly went down to nothing. I turned it off, started checking everything. Changed back to the old pressure sensor. Started right up, then did the same thing. Good oil pressure, then quickly dropped. I've stripped it all back, re-installed everything, still no oil pressure. I've pulled the fuel pump fuse and ignition until I see something. The guage isn't even fluttering any more.

Hopefully somebody can help, I'm regretting redoing everything at once. Would have been better to do one at a time, then it would be easier to track down. Any ideas would be great. Thanks, Ed

Stoneguy · Stoneguy's Garage

Hard to diagnose on a forum but my idea is Maybe wrong order of assembly ,O-ring and washer or not enough torque to crank bolt allowing gear sleeve to slip rotation when warm.

Just my thoughts so far

EdRogers · 05-01-2021, 04:30 PM

I thought that too. I pulled all the drive pulleys to check that because the bolt fell out from not torquing enough. But, everything was in the right order,. My new drive gear looks different than that one, but is locking in nicely. I'm rethinking the oprv? Might be sticking open? I've redone that a couple of times already, thought I got it right? I'm not sure on anything right now. Thanks, Ed

Stoneguy · Stoneguy's Garage

That was my next thought. Try going back to the old oprv. My 86 still has the old 3 piece style. Never had an issue with it.

walfreyydo · walfreyydo's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdRogers

I pulled all the drive pulleys to check that because the bolt fell out from not torquing enough.

Crank pulley bolt not tight can cause oil pressure issues. Agree on the OPRV - you used the proper alignment tool and proper version OPRV for your car yes? Proper alignment is critical or it will bind open/closed causing high/low pressure.

TibetanT · TibetanT's Garage

Hello There:

Is the car leaking oil from anywhere you can see?

As mentioned above, it could be the OPRV is stuck but if you can see oil dripping near the bottom Balance Shaft area it could be the oil cooler was not properly torqued, or one of the seals is failing which was replaced on the B/S or even the crank; however, if the crankshaft seal is leaking it usually makes a mess of things.

Any pictures?

Pauld_94S2 · 05-07-2021, 07:21 PM

"because the bolt fell out from not torquing enough"

The crank bolt has to be somewhere in the order of 155 lb ft, if my memory is correct.

Check the hardware order and tighten the crank bolt to that torque spec before you go chasing problems.

djnolan · djnolan's Garage

Also make sure the pulley is centered and fully seated on the crankshaft. The pulley could be off center and not allowing the DAMPER, washer and seals behind it to seat fully.

Here is a picture of what I experienced, the pulley caught on the end of the crankshaft, and none of the things behind it (damper, washer, oring) was able to seat and build oil pressure.

Rasta Monsta · Rasta Monsta's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by djnolan

Also make sure the pulley is centered and fully seated on the crankshaft. The pulley could be off center and not allowing the washer and seals behind it to seat fully.

This is a very good point. Might be worth a test fitting of the crank pulley with nothing behind it to make sure that it slides fully and easily onto the keyway.

djnolan · djnolan's Garage

See my post above, I added a picture...

EdRogers · 05-22-2021, 03:19 PM

Back again, no progress yet. Oil pressure still not building. I’ve taken it apart a couple more times and I am still not getting pressure. I took out the oil cooler completely, retorqued pulley bolt after changing oil drive seal/pinch seal. I’m getting really good at the timing belt tension at least..... anyway. No oil cooler at all, poured a little oil in cylinders, left plugs out. Ran starter three or four times for about 5-10 seconds. Should have a big mess on my hands! Nothing. Put oil cooler on again, realigned, left oil filter off, tried starting. No mess. I know it’s something I did, just can’t figure it out. The power steering pulley is a little rounded out, but slides over the shaft nicely. I don’t have a flywheel lock, so I torqued it in fourth. Parking brake, 2-foot cheater bar pretty hard, should be 155 or more. I lent my big torque wrench out, I’ll get it back and make sure I’m where I need to be. But, I think I should be pinching the washer to the drive gear now. I am just missing something, everything looks right from every picture and diagram I’ve seen.. any ideas? Thanks, Ed

djnolan · djnolan's Garage

Oil Pressure General Information and Troubleshooting Tips

Oil Pressure Relief Valve General Information

Oil Pump Removal and Installation

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/repair-procedure-index4.htm

EdRogers · 05-23-2021, 02:42 PM

Back again. Took it apart again, put it back together. Put another crush seal for the oil pump(good thing I buy extras). Got my torque wrench back, it only goes to 150, so I gave it a little more after that. Really primed the pump this time, will need to get the extra out of there. Ran the starter about five times and oil started coming out. I expected a lot more, but it was probably because the starter doesn’t turn it too quickly. I quickly put filter, intake, spark together. It started right up and went to five bar. Quickly came down to four bar? But held steady at four for the five or ten seconds I ran it without coolant. Things are looking promising for a change, started putting it back together, it’s been apart since last year. I don’t work on cars in a cold garage, getting too old for that, I work outside already, that’s enough for me...

Thanks for the suggestions! I am still not sure about its oiling issues, or what was the problem. I’m leaning towards not enough torque on the flywheel bolt combined with the pump needing to be primed? Hopefully I didn’t cause any internal wear, it only ran a little with really low pressure in my garage. It really is a cream puff even underneath.