Hi All,

I have had an oil pressure problem for a while but i havent really worried about it till yesterday. ( sump gasket was leaking quite a bit, but fixed now)

this problem has happened only twice before when my sump was leaking and i was pushing the car a little too hard and after a gear change it happened when the oil pressure dropped.

anyway what happened was, i was sitting traffic yesterday and the engine was starting to warm up a bit, about halfway on the temp guage, and my oil pressure gauge droped as per usual, but when i went to take off the timing chain tensioner had lost oil pressure and the chain was slaping really loud and the engine ran rough till the oil pressure built up again.( and no it is not the lifters this noise is different)

this kept happening till i could get out of the traffic.

also when the engine is cold is runs fine, the oil pressure always sits halfway on the guage on the dash but when hot can drop almost to 0. thats when the above happened.

the car is an EF, engine has done about 280k about 80k with the mods in my sig, and i use 20w50 oil.

is there any way i can increase oil pressure when the engine is hot?

sry for the huge post but i dont want my engine to go bang.

any help would be great.

Cheers
Bucko

Firstly the oil pressure gauge is not known for its accuracy. Better to get a separate gauge attached to check pressure at idle when hot.

The problem with the chain may be the tensioner itself. It might not be getting enough oil into it at low revs. Maybe pull it out and give it a clean.

Yeah what he said ^, but if that don't help, you may need a heavier oil to keep it going, like Penrite HPR 20 or 30.

i have a very similer issue at the moment by the sounds of it.

low RPM chain rattle, pick up the revs ~1200+ and it stops.

ill be watching this thread

possibly broken guide so while the tenioner is a little low on oil pressur i.e idle its slapin up top and when under load more oil pressure is present a tightening the chain just that little bit more to stop the rattle

i know the gauge is not very accurate, that why i dont pay much attenetion to it as it has always gone up and down, i only paid atention to where the gauge was when the chain started slapping.




i am already using 20W-50 oil, i dont really want to use anything heavier unless it will work.




all the guides and tensioner are only about 3-4 months old and done around 8000km




ill pull the tensioner out on the weekend and give it a clean and see what happens.

as the head has been shaved a bit hence the main cause for the chain slap as there is a little more slack in the chain.

i read somewhere that the spring in the tensioner is what is supposed to do the work at low rpm. would there be any problems if the tensioner was shimmed to make it sit closer to the chain?

cheers
Bucko

how did you go with this? im having this exact problem atm. guides OK, but low tension @ low RPM = rattle that goes away once warm or revs rise.

Moreys Oil Additive is the champ for getting rid of piston slap, timing chain noise and lifter noise and many other mechanical oil or wear related noises, as well as raising oil pressure. I would use half a bottle and see if that gets rid of your noises guys. I have used it in several cars and bikes and find it is well worth the money. And no, I dont work for them or sell the stuff.

just wondering what this noise sounds like. is it a high pitch rattle or something like that, i may have the same thing but only at really low idle

next time dont buy an ex cab?