oil pressure problem

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coltonk

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I have asked this on other forums but no one can help me.
I have a 85 4runner with a 22REC engine.
When I start the engine it takes 20 - 30 seconds for the oil pressure to start registering in my electric and mechanical gauges.
I usually have to raise the RPMs a bit also otherwise it doesnt come up for a very long time.
This is driving me crazy and I am afraid I will ruin my newly rebuilt motor.

Has anyone else had this same problem and found a solution or any aftermarket part to help?
 
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The oil pressure gauge is designed to respond very slowly, though not usually that slow... Check or replace the sending unit first... hopefully it's not actually an oil pressure issue.
 
The electrical gauge an the mechanical gauge both come from different port in the engine. I am pretty sure it is not that. But thats for the try..
 
Sorry, didn't see that you tried both gauges.

Your oil pickup in the oil pan could be blocked, which commonly happens when the timing chain guides break and fall into the oil pan. Just another idea.
 
coltonk said:
I have asked this on other forums but no one can help me.
I have a 85 4runner with a 22REC engine.
When I start the engine it takes 20 - 30 seconds for the oil pressure to start registering in my electric and mechanical gauges.
I usually have to raise the RPMs a bit also otherwise it doesnt come up for a very long time.
This is driving me crazy and I am afraid I will ruin my newly rebuilt motor.

Has anyone else had this same problem and found a solution or any aftermarket part to help?
Click to expand...

Have you replaced the oil pressure sensor on the engine? It's usually what fails. The oil pump is very simple and fail-safe *knockonwood*

But if it's not the pressure sensor I'd suggest pressure measure the oil flow.
IIRC you should be able to see if the pressure is "sufficient" if you look down the oil filler gap with engine running and see oil pouring over the camshaft. (IIRC it's possible to see that through the oil filler gap on 22RE)

Hope this helps any.

Edit: didn't read the post too well! I'd suggest to check if the oil pump is ok. IIRC it's under the engine where the oil pan is located (have to remove it to access it, maybe someone here can correct me if wrong)

And a dumb question, have you checked your oil level? :P
Perhaps the filter is damaged or filled up for some reason?
 
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Oil galley plugs?

Since this is a freshly rebuilt engine, I wouldn't rule out that whoever did the assembly may have forgotten to clean the oil galleys out or even worse, forgot to plug the correct ones. Hopefully this is not the case with your engine. If you can't get this resolved from others advice and if I were you... I would drive it to the shop that did the assembly (if possible) and have them drop the pan and check the galleys. Hopefully your warranty is still valid and they will stand behind their work.
 
I didn't see him mention that the engine was freshly rebuilt. But I can give some insight on the oil pump, as I just replaced mine about 3 weeks ago with the help of a friend who's a mechanic.

The oil pump drives off the crankshaft, and is located at the front of the engine behind the crankshaft pulleys.

If the engine was recently rebuilt, there is a chance that they didn't prime the oil pump, so it's not picking up any oil. We filled the pump with white lithium grease before installing it so that there was something in the pump to give it pressure. If this was not done, it could be an issue.

Other problems could be a leak somewhere that is closing up once the engine warms up (metal expands when warm). I would start with a compression check on each cylinder and move from there.
 
oi pressure problem

Just to give more information. I rebuilt the engine myself, I did not check the oil gallery plugs but I ask the shop who checked and hot tanked my block and they said they did not remove the plugs. I have not dropped the oil pan yet but I guess I will have to do it. I did a good job cleaning the oil pickup and took my time rebuilding the engine. The oil pump came pre-greased.

Right now I can only imagine the oil gallery plugs to some how I did not get the oil pump together correctly. If it was the oil pump I can not imagine that it would build pressure after a while. What it seems to me is the oil is draining back into the pan so each time it has to draw oil all the way to the pump. The higher the RMPs the quicker the oil pressure comes up.

I appreciate all the help and hopefully this information will help
 
My oil pump came somewhat 'pre greased' as well, but was the entire opening between the gears filled up? There should have been basically no air gap...
 
This engine has been run for about 100 miles so the grease in the oil pump shouldnt matter at this point should it. Oil pressure comes up before the engine gets warm so I cant see how it could be expansion of the block causubg the oil pressure to come up..

I was just hoping some else had this same problem..
 
That's a stumper, typically if your galleys are unplugged you won't build anywhere near the required pressure, same with an unprimed oil pump. The fact that you do get pressure to come up after 30 or so seconds is odd. You may want to pull that pump and give it a look over, if it appears to be fine do what dingman suggested and pack it with lithium grease. Otherwise the only other thing I can think of comes right back to the galleys. If the plugs were not removed for the block cleaning, there could be all kinds of sludge and junk blocking and restricting your galleys...but why would it get better after 30 seconds of running?:confused:

In regards to your aftermarket part question: I know that LC sells an adjustable oil pump pressure unit, but they seem to be used for lowering your pressure, not sure if they can adjust for more pressure or not.
 
I would question exactly how the oil is pumped through the engine, and how and where the internal and external pressure gauges read. There's a possibility that the oil is not getting pumped properly, but it is moving in a way that it appears that it is.

It may be worth turning over the engine with the valve cover removed to see if the oil is truly moving up to the top, and how long it's taking for that to happen.
 
I wish I had pictures of the oil galley plugs. I thought the galley plugs were all onder the oil pan but I have read that this is not the case. I guess this only leads me to the oil pump itself. I have a book that tells how to install the oil pump but it was a bit vague.. Is there any trick/secret to installing the oil pump?

I guess I will have to take apart the front of the motor so I can remove and check the oil pump..
 
Look up a how-to-guide on replacing the timing chain, and stop when the oil pump comes off.

The only real 'trick' is removing the crankshaft pully bolt, and the way to do that is to wedge a breaker bar against the frame, disconnect the coil ground and turn the engine with the starter.

Oil pump replacement is probably a 4 hour job with moderate mechanical knowledge. Like I said, use a timing chain replacement guide as a step-by-step.
 
As long as your oil pump is straight out of the box, you only need to make sure that your oil pump drive gear is on the crank with the splined end facing forward. For the 5 or 6 (i forget) bolts, there are 3 different torque values, I would recommend a Hayne's manual or better to make sure you have the torque correct. The top bolt that hides under the timing tag on the pump needs to have some RTV smeared on the threads. It is also very important that you use the correct bolt in that location and it is not too tight. If it is too long, or to tight it can interfere with your chain tensioner.
 
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