Good evening all, After replacement of battery and cables our starting issues appear fixed. We got the mirrors repaired and on this weekend and will now pass inspection. We also added a temp and oil pressure gauge, haven’t hooked up the volt gauge yet. We will pay more attention to the charging light than voltmeter. Cold oil @ 40 psi Hot oil, low idle (in gear idling) @ 10 psi Hot oil, high idle (in Park) @ 20 psi Hot oil, running down the road @ 25 psi Temp while driving, 190-200 Temp after shut-off, 220-225 So, the engine oil pressure appears somewhat tired, but certainly OK for now. I am going to pick up a 170 or 180 degree thermostat and hopefully bring temps down some. Here are a couple of pics, all comments welcome. C & G
I don't think your water temp is bad. After you shut it off, there will be a bit of a heat soak. The water isn't flowing anymore and the temp sensor is high on the motor, where the heat will rise to. If the temp stays good while idling in traffic/not moving much, and is also good while going down the road, I would leave it alone. Just make sure you have a good mix of anti-freeze in it. It raises the boiling point. Oil pressure ... does seem low compared to my old 302 in my first Comet. That was the only car I have ever had a mechanical oil pressure gauge, and it ran 60 lbs all the time, unless the motor was pouring oil on the ground, and quite low on oil. That low idle pressure of just 10 lbs is a bother. The other readings may be OK. Some old GM cars would read 25 lbs at 2000 rpm, and the oil pressure would climb as motor speed increased. As long as you don't have lifters ticking away, you are probably OK. Is that a mechanical gauge, with an oil line run directly to it, or is it using a sender?
10 lbs. per 1000 RPMs is acceptable oil pressure. what grade oil are you running? what temp T-stat do you have now?
Hey fellas, I changed the oil this weekend and went to a synblend 10W40 from Quaker State. The oil pressure improved considerably. Maintains 40 psi or just under on the road, low idle nearer 20 psi now. Engine sounds smooth, no lifter noise at any point. We installed a mechanical OP gauge and used copper tubing. I swapped to a 180 t-stat (removed a 195) and temps didn't seem to change much. I took the car for re-inspection and got plates Friday when it was near 100 degrees. Going down the road the temp runs 185-195. Slowing down for small towns, etc. it will warm up to 205 or so, never over 225 after shutting off. We had the original 3-row radiator gone through and I know he had to pinch off a few tubes, but I assume it should be in good shape. I have no knowledge of the water pump other than sloppy seal-a-gasket around it, so if the temps bother me or get worse, I will try a new water pump. Thank you. PS - working on gauges, axle seals and repacking front bearings now.
You might want to try adding a wetting agent to your coolant. My personal experience is that it dropped my operating temperature about 15 degrees.
At idle 15 psi oil pressure is more than enough, oil pressure warning light senders are set to come on at 6 psi. Still Ford mentions in owners manuals it may flicker on/off at idle. As long as running temp stay below 225* you're not going to do any harm. Higher the temps, lower the oil pressure.
