Ford Escort Mk4 Xr3i Cabriolet 1.6 CVH Low Oil Pressure

[Xrpaul]

Hi looking for some help on my mk4 escort 1.6 cvh. K jetronic.
Got low oil pressure and drops to almost nothing when it warms up ( within a couple of minutes - cars fuel pressure high as well but dont want to run it to much until the heads getting oil)
Replaced the main and con rod bearings , no change ,also put in a high performance pump and cleaned pick up strainer to no avail.
Also had the head refurbed.
Any help would be WELL appreciated thanks.

Edited by Xrpaul on Tuesday 20th April 20:06

Edited by Xrpaul on Tuesday 20th April 20:40

[stevieturbo]

Xrpaul said:

Hi looking for some help on my mk4 escort 1.6 cvh. K jetronic.
Got low oil pressure and drops to almost nothing when it warms up ( within a couple of minutes - cars fuel pressure high as well but dont want to run it to much until the heads getting oil)
Replaced the main and con rod bearings , no change ,also put in a high performance pump and cleaned pick up strainer to no avail.
Also had the head refurbed.
Any help would be WELL appreciated thanks.

More detail needed.

Did this just happen over night ? History ? And what is "low" ?

And you replaced bearings before or after ?

[Xrpaul]

stevieturbo said:

More detail needed.

Did this just happen over night ? History ? And what is "low" ?

And you replaced bearings before or after ?

Not sure i bought the car as a project few years back and it was one of the problems.
Sure it starts between 40-50 psi then drops to 10psi when warmed up.
When i rev the car it does go up but its still pretty low and there no oil getting to my refurbed head , new tappets still tapping away pretty loud.
When i first bought it i had no experience and the tappets were loud , oil change new filter cleaned strainer didnt help so i got the head refurbed ( didnt help ) then new pump , then bearings but still the same. Cheers

[oilrag1]

Switch on your allow members to email me ,its in your account settings bottom left of page,then we can communicate properly .
cheers G

Edited by oilrag1 on Wednesday 21st April 08:55

[Xrpaul]

oilrag1 said:

Switch on your allow members to email me ,its in your account settings bottom left of page,then we can communicate properly .
cheers G

Edited by oilrag1 on Wednesday 21st April 08:55

Ok done thanks.

[LimSlip]

Xrpaul said:

Not sure i bought the car as a project few years back and it was one of the problems.
Sure it starts between 40-50 psi then drops to 10psi when warmed up.
When i rev the car it does go up but its still pretty low and there no oil getting to my refurbed head , new tappets still tapping away pretty loud.
When i first bought it i had no experience and the tappets were loud , oil change new filter cleaned strainer didnt help so i got the head refurbed ( didnt help ) then new pump , then bearings but still the same. Cheers

Did you replace both the cam and the tappets? Replacing just one or the other is pointless, they get shredded in no time.

[Xrpaul]

LimSlip said:

Did you replace both the cam and the tappets? Replacing just one or the other is pointless, they get shredded in no time.

Yea did both at same time cheers.

[littleredrooster]

Simplistically, it has to be either something restricting the input to the pump, or something not restricting the output from the pump.

So - is the strainer/pipe assembly all clear, no build of internal gunge? Is the pressure relief valve stuck open/partially open? Is the filter internal bypass OK? Are there any blanking plugs in the oil gallery which could be leaking? Does it have an oil cooler circuit which has been modified/faulty? Or, as a complete left-field suggestion, could the drive to the pump be faulty and not spinning the pump at the correct speed (sheared woodfuff key, press-fit pinion coming loose etc.)

[Xrpaul]

littleredrooster said:

Simplistically, it has to be either something restricting the input to the pump, or something not restricting the output from the pump.

So - is the strainer/pipe assembly all clear, no build of internal gunge? Is the pressure relief valve stuck open/partially open? Is the filter internal bypass OK? Are there any blanking plugs in the oil gallery which could be leaking? Does it have an oil cooler circuit which has been modified/faulty? Or, as a complete left-field suggestion, could the drive to the pump be faulty and not spinning the pump at the correct speed (sheared woodfuff key, press-fit pinion coming loose etc.)

Thanks for reply, Yea strainers all clear had it off at least 5 times.
Its a new high performance pump although its been a while cant mind about the pressure relief , would it have been pre-set closed?
There are oil bungs but i cant access a few and doesnt seem to be leaking anywhere.
No oil cooler.
Drive to the pump , as in the crank?
Your woodruff key and pinion is a good suggestion , i have not looked into them. - When i first bought the car it looks like someone had jacked the fuel tank up but im wondering if they actually drove over the top off something - and if it could crumple the fuel tank maybe its done something to the crank side .
Can i check woodruff and pinion while cranks still in car? Thanks.

[littleredrooster]

Xrpaul said:

littleredrooster said:

Simplistically, it has to be either something restricting the input to the pump, or something not restricting the output from the pump.

So - is the strainer/pipe assembly all clear, no build of internal gunge? Is the pressure relief valve stuck open/partially open? Is the filter internal bypass OK? Are there any blanking plugs in the oil gallery which could be leaking? Does it have an oil cooler circuit which has been modified/faulty? Or, as a complete left-field suggestion, could the drive to the pump be faulty and not spinning the pump at the correct speed (sheared woodfuff key, press-fit pinion coming loose etc.)

Thanks for reply, Yea strainers all clear had it off at least 5 times.
Its a new high performance pump although its been a while cant mind about the pressure relief , would it have been pre-set closed?

It defaults to closed, if that's what you mean. The simplest ones merely have a ball bearing with a spring behind which lifts off a seat at the required pressure. A foreign object in there could keep it open.

Xrpaul said:

There are oil bungs but i cant access a few and doesnt seem to be leaking anywhere.
No oil cooler.
Drive to the pump , as in the crank?

Yes - I'm assuming it has a chain and sprockets to transmit the drive. Could one of them be acting as a 'clutch' and not spinning at full speed?

Xrpaul said:

Your woodruff key and pinion is a good suggestion , i have not looked into them. - When i first bought the car it looks like someone had jacked the fuel tank up but im wondering if they actually drove over the top off something - and if it could crumple the fuel tank maybe its done something to the crank side .
Can i check woodruff and pinion while cranks still in car? Thanks.

I doubt it - it would probably need a stripdown to fully investigate.

[oakdale]

There's no woodruff key for the pump, it's driven by two or more flats on the crankshaft.

I don't know if you can fit the wrong one but there were two different oil pumps, they changed around 1986 and the early one is driven by two flats and the later one by either three or four, can't remember which for sure.

[twibs]

I think its 2 flats on both models of crank just slightly different sizes. not sure if its possible to put the wrong pump on the wrong crank

[Zener]

I think I would be opening up that new oil pump there is some real Mickey Mouse st out there nowadays and the after market brands we trust are not exempt , paying particular attention to rotor clearances relief valve including bore & spring etc