[DeTomaso] Misdiagnosing an oil pressure issue

[Sean Korb]

Years ago, I noticed in right hand turns my oil pressure would suddenly
drop.  It was alarming so I took right hand turns very slowly.  Sometimes
it would drop in left hand turns too.

I didn't know if I had safety wires for my -1 ZF ring gear and I had stock
2 piece valves so I thought it was a good time to do some familiar
maintenance.  I thought extreme measures were called for so I even got a
deep pan to install.

ZF turned out to already be safety wired.  Yay.  The old pan came off and
wow!  All the valve seals had disintegrated and settled in the pan!
Problem solved!  I cleaned it out and ran solvent through all the galleys
and block, installed the pan and put rebuilt heads on and painted the block.

I had the same problem in left and right hand turns.  And it was getting
worse!  I assumed I had missed a few flakes of valve seal and I was going
to have to take the motor out again.

One day I started it up and had no oil pressure at all!  It did eventually
come back but I did discover some other odd problems had been mounting and
wiggling the fuses helped.  I wire brushed them (a little copper wire
brush) and it helped but I still had some trouble.  I noticed some of the
rivets were loose so I set them with a wide awl struck with a hammer.  That
tightened them up, my lights and instruments seemed more reliable and I
went about my business.

I had some long left and right hand sweepers today on the way to a car show
and I noticed the pressure did not drop the entire drive.  It's been years
since I put the motor back in and a year since I set all the fuses and I
just... never noticed.  It just works.  Everything works.

So anyway, I'm kind of a dumbass but at least the issue is resolved and I
can take some curves in the Pantera like I always imagined doing :)

sean

-- 
Sean Korb spkorb at spkorb.org http://www.spkorb.org
'65 Suprang,'68 Cougar,'78 R100/7,'60 Metro,'59 A35,'71 Pantera #1382
"The more you drive, the less intelligent you get" --Miller
"Computers are useless.  They can only give you answers." -P. Picasso
-------------- next part --------------
   Years ago, I noticed in right hand turns my oil pressure would suddenly
   drop.A  It was alarming so I took right hand turns very slowly.A
   Sometimes it would drop in left hand turns too.
   I didn't know if I had safety wires for my -1 ZF ring gear and I had
   stock 2 piece valves so I thought it was a good time to do some
   familiar maintenance.A  I thought extreme measures were called for so I
   even got a deep pan to install.
   ZF turned out to already be safety wired.A  Yay.A  The old pan came off
   and wow!A  All the valve seals had disintegrated and settled in the
   pan!A  Problem solved!A  I cleaned it out and ran solvent through all
   the galleys and block, installed the pan and put rebuilt heads on and
   painted the block.
   I had the same problem in left and right hand turns.A  And it was
   getting worse!A  I assumed I had missed a few flakes of valve seal and
   I was going to have to take the motor out again.
   One day I started it up and had no oil pressure at all!A  It did
   eventually come back but I did discover some other odd problems had
   been mounting and wiggling the fuses helped.A  I wire brushed them (a
   little copper wire brush) and it helped but I still had some trouble.A
   I noticed some of the rivets were loose so I set them with a wide awl
   struck with a hammer.A  That tightened them up, my lights and
   instruments seemed more reliable and I went about my business.
   I had some long left and right hand sweepers today on the way to a car
   show and I noticed the pressure did not drop the entire drive.A  It's
   been years since I put the motor back in and a year since I set all the
   fuses and I just... never noticed.A  It just works.A  Everything works.
   So anyway, I'm kind of a dumbass but at least the issue is resolved and
   I can take some curves in the Pantera like I always imagined doing :)
   sean
   --
   Sean Korb [1]spkorb at spkorb.org [2]http://www.spkorb.org
   '65 Suprang,'68 Cougar,'78 R100/7,'60 Metro,'59 A35,'71 Pantera #1382
   "The more you drive, the less intelligent you get" --Miller
   "Computers are useless.A  They can only give you answers." -P. Picasso

References

   1. mailto:spkorb at spkorb.org
   2. http://www.spkorb.org/