MC -Low oil pressure - Update 4 (oil pump)

[E Bavely]

Hello all...

So...in efforts to solve the oil pressure problem in my newly rebuilt MC
turbo engine in the 4ktq, I resigned myself to changing the oil pump with a
known good unit.

As I said before, the oil pump I took off the engine looked fine when I took
off the endplate, so I was skeptical about replacing it as the solution to
the problem.

I worked on the car yesterday, got the oil pump changed and everything else
in place.  Replaced the front crank seal, used the pressure relief valve
from the known good engine, even used the gasket from the pickup tube to the
oil pump (seemed thicker than the new one I had from the gasket kit).

I started the car with the best of hopes...oil pressure was fine when cold
and warming up (as normal) and then... same behavior all over again.  As
soon as the fan cycles, the engine produces around 10 or so psi at idle and
really won't make much more than 20-25 psi when revving. Oh hell...

Obviously, the oil pump was NOT the problem.  Others had told me that the
pumps never go bad and it would seem they're correct.  Oh well, I had to
eliminate this from the equation.

The problem is that I've just about run out of things to check with this
engine.  I'm going to pull the pan again today (yeehaw - 3rd time!) and have
a look at the piston squirters just to try and eliminate them as being the
problem.  Shouldn't be a problem to get to them with the crank out of the
way and the long extension on the ratchet...Maybe I'll do as one lister said
and rig up some kind of test setup to see if they're opening when they
should...

The saga continues.  This one is really starting to get to me.  I was so
stoked to get the project done and the engine started after about a year's
planning... On the upside though, I feel pretty good about getting good
experience by checking everything that I can think of.

Any ideas / suggestions / comments are of course welcome...

Elliott Bavely

86 4ktq
88 80 fwd
83 CGT
81 Coupe ITB
83 Rabbit GTI (2x)
etc.




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