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Paul Merolla · 06-04-2014, 11:38 PM

The plot thickens...
Today I installed new metal-clad Viton valve seals. Fired it up, and no smoke! As a side note, I originally had 6 qts of 30 wt. Valvoline along with a pint of Comp Cams break-in lube in the pan. Today I put in 5 qts of the Brad Penn since the cam was broken in.
Anyway, all was well until about 2 minutes in when the oil pressure gauge dropped to around 20 lbs. I immediately shut it off. Waited a few minutes and cranked it back up...had around 60 psi for a minute or so, then it dropped again. I'm thinking all these issues are related to filling the valve covers with oil. For some reason, there's either too much getting up there or not enough coming back down. Either way, it ain't good! I don't get it...same block and heads from last year. Different oil pump (Schumann low-volume), different head gaskets (FelPro MLS), pushrods, lifters, and roller rockers.
Is there a plug that could've gotten left out? Could the lifters be allowing too much oil up top?
By the way, I noticed the other day that the pressure on startup was 72 psi but after a couple minutes it started to "flutter" down to 55 or so. I have the 60-65 psi spring in the Schumann pump.

06-04-2014, 11:38 PM	#5
Paul Merolla Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Papillion, NE Posts: 610 Likes: 242 Liked 293 Times in 65 Posts	Re: Fresh rebuild, oil everywhere The plot thickens... Today I installed new metal-clad Viton valve seals. Fired it up, and no smoke! As a side note, I originally had 6 qts of 30 wt. Valvoline along with a pint of Comp Cams break-in lube in the pan. Today I put in 5 qts of the Brad Penn since the cam was broken in. Anyway, all was well until about 2 minutes in when the oil pressure gauge dropped to around 20 lbs. I immediately shut it off. Waited a few minutes and cranked it back up...had around 60 psi for a minute or so, then it dropped again. I'm thinking all these issues are related to filling the valve covers with oil. For some reason, there's either too much getting up there or not enough coming back down. Either way, it ain't good! I don't get it...same block and heads from last year. Different oil pump (Schumann low-volume), different head gaskets (FelPro MLS), pushrods, lifters, and roller rockers. Is there a plug that could've gotten left out? Could the lifters be allowing too much oil up top? By the way, I noticed the other day that the pressure on startup was 72 psi but after a couple minutes it started to "flutter" down to 55 or so. I have the 60-65 psi spring in the Schumann pump. Last edited by Paul Merolla; 06-04-2014 at 11:56 PM.