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1997 Chevy Cavalier Engine oil presure low

Tiny
DJOZSA
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  • 1997 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • MANUAL
  • 248,000 MILES
I have this cavalier, I just got the crank machined, and replaced all the lower bearings, including the conecting rod bearings and oil pump.
Put it together it started and ran intell I noticed the oil light on Ishut it down and checked oil presure which read 15 psi, what could be causing this low presure CAM BEARINGS? What runs the oil pump, its got a new timing chain also.

Please help and your effort will be rewarded!
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Friday, July 9th, 2010 AT 6:41 PM

11 Replies

Tiny
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Hi there,

Thank you for the donation,

Did you measure the bearing clearance to ensure that the specs are correct after having the crank ground, if the oil clearance is excessive the pressure will be affected drastically.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Saturday, July 10th, 2010 AT 2:30 PM
Tiny
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Sorry it took me so long to get back to you but I had to double check it with a different torque wrench.
The clearance I get is.002.

The specs I get from Mitchell on Demand is.0006-.0019 Inches,
The torque they want is 70 ft lbs on the mains,
Can't see no abnormal marks on the cam lobes? Oil is clean, oil pump seems to be operating, is there another way to check the cam without pulling it out? Or what else could it be.
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Sunday, July 18th, 2010 AT 12:13 PM
Tiny
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HI there,

Are you sure that the oil clearance is.002" as that is huge?

Mark.
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Sunday, July 18th, 2010 AT 6:10 PM
Tiny
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I just checked the clearance again, I think I used the wrong plastic gauge, this time I used the green plastic gauge and the reading looked better the reading is.0015 I think the red plastic gauge was too big that's why I had a poor reading.
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Monday, July 19th, 2010 AT 6:02 PM
Tiny
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OK,

That is better, so we can eliminate crank oil bearing clearance, I would look at the pump and the oil pressure relief valve as well, cam bearings can cause a drop in oil pressure but they would have to be fairly flogged out for that drop, look at the pump and relief vale next.

Mark, (mhpautos)
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Monday, July 19th, 2010 AT 6:07 PM
Tiny
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Sorry, I'm not quite sure what I should be looking for, the pump is new, I know sometimes that doesn't mean anything but I don't really know what to look for.
Is the oil presure reief valve located in the pump?
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Monday, July 19th, 2010 AT 6:25 PM
Tiny
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Will have to check it out in Mitchell 1, will post soon
Mark
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Monday, July 19th, 2010 AT 6:31 PM
Tiny
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I looks like it will be in the pump, things to check now, ensure that the mechanical gauge you are using is reading correctly and the low rearing is what it is, check oil pick up tube is not sucking air from a faulty gasket, was the crank oil galleries cleaned carefully of all swarf from the machining? Replace oil filter as a precaution, are the lifters noisy, with such low pressure they may be rattling due to lack of supply.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Monday, July 19th, 2010 AT 6:38 PM
Tiny
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On the oil pump there is no gasket, When starting and running the engine, it ran without no top end noise, at first yes intell the lifters got pumped up but ran ok afterwards, the main reason I wanted to check this problem out because of the oil light coming on, I changed the O.P.S. Sensor with no luck, that's when I checked with a gauge still low, I ran the engine with no valve cover to see if the top was getting oil, not as much as it should.
This engine is still in the car, maybe not for long.
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Monday, July 19th, 2010 AT 7:20 PM
Tiny
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OK, the only thing I may suggest is to run a good oil flush through the system, see if that flushes out any muck that may be causing a problem, if not you will have to start re checking the new pump, cam bearings, and all you have already done, this is all a bi strange indeed, it may be a simple as a faulty new pump!

Mark (mhpautos)
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Monday, July 19th, 2010 AT 7:30 PM
Tiny
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Not only was the crank bearings bad but the entire cam with bearings are also shot, be carefull when you have a low oil presure reading, never just assume a flush will fix it, obviously the past owners never did proper oil changes just top it up, that's why it could be the most mind boggling, and the most fustrating problem to encounter.
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Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010 AT 12:54 AM

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