low oil pressure 1934 ford

[1021ocean]

idle about 1 pound motor sounds good does not smoke at all

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by 1021ocean

idle about 1 pound motor sounds good does not smoke at all

A Ford flathead requires very little oil pressure. A showing on your gauge should put a smile on your face.

[Ggmac]

Whats cold pressure? And what oil are you using ?

[Karl]

Any Oil pressure is good -The Chex Accessory combined Ammeter/Oil Pressure gauge I have reads "" Yes " or "No" for Oil pressure

[Lawrie]

I can tell you, if any of my flatheads idled at 1 psi I would be worried
Lawrie

[GB SISSON]

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To the original poster... Do you have a bypass oil filter? I recently ran an oil pressure experiment on my V8. Since I had used fuel injection rated 5/16" hose for my return line from bypass filter to sump I was able to clamp a pair of duckbill vicegrips on the return hose and saw a 12 lb instant rise in hot idle oil pressure. My restrictor is intact and on the incoming line to the filter. I'm not saying to run without a filter, but I d I have seen a lot of low oil pressure threads here lately so wanted to share what I found last week. Another thing to check if you are running the stock gauge is the sender. On the current engine I had a 50 lb dash gauge and an 80 lb sender. I found a 50# sender on the engine I had pulled out and oh what a feeling. Pull your sender and if is not marked it's the correvct one and if it has 80 stamped on the square boss, you will in for a happy surprise when you install a 50 lb sender. I hope either of these can help. Worth a try.

[51504bat]

Not knowing how long this has been going on or any of the other variables I'd start with a known good mechanical gauge. JMO

[tubman]

Originally Posted by Lawrie

I can tell you, if any of my flatheads idled at 1 psi I would be worried
Lawrie

I'm with you on this. There was a thread on here a while ago where someone posted that early flathead V8's were "splash" systems. My response was as close to "rude" as I have ever been on this forum. The old "10 psi per 1000 RPM" is the minimum I'd strive for.

And GB, I'd check the restrictor fitting; it may have been homemade by someone with a minimal selection of drill bits.

[aussie merc]

oil gauges are indicators nothing more, Check where your gauge sits at a range of rpm and sump temps with a good quality test gauge and that should tell the story mine reads 15psi on the dash but a test gauge reads 25 and so one thru the range so Nil to worry about A sudden change would ring alarm bells