A few months ago I replaced the head gaskets and since then I have had really low oil pressure and made sure that I have had oil in it. Last night after adding a quart I noticed that it was still knocking and showing low oil pressure on the gauge at idle. When I put everything together on the top end is there something that I could have done incorrectly causing a problem, like not installing the distributor correctly? How would I know for sure if the pump is going bad? Could I have some thing that is clogged?

Any info or help in general would help. Thanks!

 

Well I know if you have low oil pressure and its knocking its the bad bearing/bearings causing it.The only way that I know of that changing head gaskets would be antifreeze got into the oil.I hate to say it but you have to make decision either rebuild or replace the engine ot worst case scenario if you follow me.As for something being clogged in your oil filter it could happen,there a screen in the bottom of it and if its clogged your pump is going to pump the oil through the engine.

 

X2 to 1sttime. These 4.3s are plentiful at salvage yards and can be had cheap,but why spend $500 and a weekend swapping it out to find other issues:high mileage,intake gaskets and head gaskets could be bad on the salvage motor... If you really like the car and feel like keeping it,a rebuild is the way to go.If you are at all mechanical you can pull and reinstall it yourself and let the machine shop do the rest,still may cost $2,000+
Look into those shipped rebuilds from Indiana:Jasper. Best of luck!

 

Aside from the obvious of pulling the engine and rebuilding, is there anything I can do to prolong it? Trying to hold out until I can buy a new car in a month or so. Or is it something that needs to be addressed sooner than later?


Would changing the oil filter tell me any at all? Are there any additives I can add to the engine to buy me some time?

 

If your bearings became starved for oil due to the oil pump failure, there isn't much that can be done to prolong the engine life. The bearings went dry and its only a matter of time before the engine seizes up. If you pull the dipstick and there are little metal fragments, that would be bearing material.

 

Would a bad oil pump be the reason why my pressure drops while at idle?

When driving it goes up to about 20 or so. On a cold start the pressure shows 40 then slowly drops.

 

Brand of filter in car now?

 

If im not mistaken, I believe Fram as I have typically used fram in the past with no problems at all.

 

I'm pretty sure thats normal, oil pressure drops at idle since the rpms drop. It goes up as engine rpm goes up. A cold engine has higher idle rpms and that causes oil pressure to be higher.

 

Change the filter to wix brand and don't use the orange can of death!