Oil Pressure

[jkohman1]

I have a 93 eclipse 1.8l, and heres my problem. 2 days after swapping the head i was driving home the oil pressure was just fine and about 5 minutes later i looked down and nothing no pressure i pulled over and checked the oil it was about a quart low and added a quart still didnt go up but i know that wasnt low enough to not have pressure and before the head swap it was just fine never had a problem. It does burn oil because of the valve stem seals but no leaks (i didnt rebuild the head i just pretty much threw one on from one of my other eclipses.) but still that shouldnt cause it either. So at first I thought the sending unit went bad. but then the next morning i started it up and the oil gauge worked just fine until the car got warm and then nothing again; came to a stop and the oil light started to flicker but no noises from the engine not even a lifter tick. so i drove the rest of the way to work and checked the oil when i got there it was a quart low again. I added another quart and drove it for a couple days and i noticed that the oil level never drops below a quart low and when it does drop that low i dont get any blue smoke from the exhaust unless i let it idle for a couple minutes and rev it up. I got into this morning and i had a little bit of lifter tick when i started it up, still thinking it was the sending unit i took off and it went away for awhile and i went around a corner got up to around 3000 rpms and it started making a weird noise and i dont think its the lifters because when i pulled over they werent ticking but it wasnt a knocking sound either. Got back home and let it sit for about an hour and started it back up and now the lifters are ticking really bad. I have some ideas of what could be wrong (oil pump shot or out of time somehow thought i read somewhere it could be lined up and be a 180 degrees off, oil passage blocked by a chunk of gasket material when I cleaned off the block or the sending unit) but dont know for sure. I use castrol gtx if that is of any use. Thanks

[david-b]

Firstly, don't drive the car anymore. Anytime you have problems with any part of the oil system, don't drive it. Should you get to the point where the oil gets too low and not realize it, you can destroy your engine.

Does your coolant have oil in it? Did you swap the head yourself? How old is the exsisting oil pump? And is the pressure gauage an aftermarket or the stocker?

[jkohman1]

yea before the head swap i did have oil in the coolant but as far as i can tell it stopped i dont burn coolant anymore either. The oil thats in it hasnt been changed since the swap but was changed about a week before i did all the work and yea i did it myself. The gauge is stock. as far as i know the oil pump could be the original i got the car with 167000 miles on it and now has 197000

[david-b]

Originally Posted by jkohman1

as far as i know the oil pump could be the original i got the car with 167000 miles on it and now has 197000

Change it

[jkohman1]

Hmm turns out I put the head gasket on upside down or backwards, thought it only went on one way. guess not. Should of taken it apart again... ohh well win some lose some, just glad its back up and running. Don't actually own it anymore (the guy that bought it told me what was wrong). Sold it for 500 bucks and got a 98 v6 mustang, 5 speed of course. Not as fun in the corners but alot faster. Can't wait to hear that exhaust again, and hopefully pull along side it at a stoplight, and smoke it.. Just thought I should let you guys know what was wrong so you your not a dumba$$ like me and put it on backwards..

[ned032002]

We dumbass's probably wouldn't drive a 1.8l but thanks for the info.

[SLoe]

Originally Posted by jkohman1

got a 98 v6 mustang, 5 speed of course.

It's not really a good idea to be driving around if you think you don't have any oil pressure. Better luck with the ford....