Jimmmy0_0 Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Ok so last week Matt Helm and I were using my car at the Csma Auto solo. At the end of the day the oil pressure had dropped to 30 psi at 3000 rpm and dropped to between 5 and 10 psi at idle. I thought that this was just due to the abuse that Matt and I had been giving the car all day. When I arrived home I left the car to cool down till the next evening. When I started the car the next day the oil pressure was back to normal at about 65-70psi. I took the car for a drive about 8 mile and when the engine got back up to normal temp the oil pressure dropped off again.Anyone have any ideas what could be causing this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nang Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Bearings I'm afraid. (eek)Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 ^^^ indeed. I have a T shirt for the very same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmmy0_0 Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 Great guess I need to get the spare crank reground then.James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Might get away with shells if you don't leave it too long - suspect you may have surge/starvation problems during the autosolo?Mind you, I'm a bit surprised you get as much as 5 - 10psi at idle if it can only manage 30psi at 3000rpm - might be worth a look at the relief valve before doing anything drastic?Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferny Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 That's about what happens to my engines before the pressure drops off completely. I can now get the oil light to stay on after four miles, so you may want to drop the sump and check it out if you like the engine. ;) You'll probably get away with new shells without a regrind, I'd imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 You didn't happen to ask Matt what was wrong with the engine in the car he normally uses did you??? :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hunt Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 I totally agree with Nick. If the car is not making sinister death rattle noises I would first suspect the pressure relief valve. I have had exactly the same problem you describe twice over 40 years on my 4A and on both occasions it was caused by debris holding the ball of the relief valve off its seating. When you start from cold the high initial pressure from the thick oil can blow the crap out allowing the ball to seat correctly. I assume the set up is similar to that on the TR engine. Note the position of the lock nut on the threaded portion of the valve, this gives the correct setting which should be retained when you replace the valve. Just remove the relief valve assembly complete from the head of the oil filter, strip it and clean out thoroughly with a lint free cloth. Replace the sealing O ring, preferably with one in Viton, which is highly oil resistant. On my car the debris that caused the loss of pressure came both times from a degraded O ring seal. Hope this solves the problem--let us know how you get on.Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyb Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Jimmmy0_0 wrote:last week Matt Helm and I were using my car at the Csma Auto solo. You let Matt drive your car on an autosolo? Whew, brave man, lol :)As it's easy, give the relief valve a try but I wouldn't hold my breath. Sounds like worn bearings allowing too much oil to escape. You may want to try a different oil pressure gauge and or switch to see if your results change as they do vary, however as you noticed a significant deterioiation from "before" to "after" with the instrumentation you have got, it seems pretty conclusive to me that the autosolo has buggered things up :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky_spit Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Jimmmy0_0 wrote:Anyone have any ideas what could be causing thisI think the words "Matt Helm" is the answer to the the question. He has previous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 The original problem is most likely a combination of G-forces sending all the oil to a place where the oil pick-up is not at the same time as the engine is under load....... Mr Helm jr. seems to be very good at generating G-force!Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmmy0_0 Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 I do have to say that I am going to blame Matt even if it wasn't him as he did beat me. I guess I could blame him for the alternator bolt snapping on the way home to, ;DI will check the prv valve first. I have spare sets of shells, and a spare oil pump. So its going to be a couple of late evenings as the car is entered this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Jimmmy0_0 wrote:I do have to say that I am going to blame Matt even if it wasn't him as he did beat me. I guess I could blame him for the alternator bolt snapping on the way home to, ;DI will check the prv valve first. I have spare sets of shells, and a spare oil pump. So its going to be a couple of late evenings as the car is entered this weekend.matt sharing again?use thicker oil and slightly over fill(oil surge) regards michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Jimmmy0_0 wrote:Ok so last week Matt Helm and I were using my car at the Csma Auto solo. At the end of the day the oil pressure had dropped to 30 psi at 3000 rpm and dropped to between 5 and 10 psi at idle. I thought that this was just due to the abuse that Matt and I had been giving the car all day. When I arrived home I left the car to cool down till the next evening. When I started the car the next day the oil pressure was back to normal at about 65-70psi. I took the car for a drive about 8 mile and when the engine got back up to normal temp the oil pressure dropped off again.Anyone have any ideas what could be causing thismatt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmmy0_0 Posted April 30, 2013 Author Share Posted April 30, 2013 Thanks MikeOk so I removed the sump tonight the oil pump was shot the all the bearings have failed, I will post some picture tomorrow.James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard B Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 You should be baffled.Well the sump should be anyway.... :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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