oil pressure BBC

I have a 540bbc with a new century block. I run 15 qts. of Brad Penn 70 wt and i have a 3qt accumalator on it at the very end of a quarter mlie run the oil pressure drops from 60 to about 30 do u think it needs another quart or two of oil?It has a titan sportsman pump and titan pan.I just started with the blower deal any help would be appreciated. also it has a conventional dart head what type of EGT"S and timing ?Also the oil clearances are 3.5 to4.5.

 

do you have the funny car pan or the dragster oil pan?do you know how far the pump sits off the bottom of the pan?if your not sure which pan you have,measure the front and rear of the pan from pan rail to the bottom.

 

Ok,I'll check it ,thanks.

 

ok,I'll check it .Thanx

 

The most common cause for a drop in oil pressure is the oil filter. If water get into a paper oil filter it will impend the flow. Use a good metal screen oil filter and I bet that will solve the problem.
Joe

 

Thanx,it has a system one but i'll definitely look at it.

 

what RPM do you turn this? and what HP range? if you are turning this thing 8000 to 8600 as most 60 psi would make me nervous

 

I turn it 7500. I took the pan down today and checked the pump and raised the adjustmen tit now has 75lbs. I also filled the pan up to see how much it would hold and I think I was 2 to 3 qts. low.I put it back together with the pressure up and the extra oil and i'm going to try it this weekend.I also ordered a new spring to raise the pressure around a 100lbs. the pump and block manufacturers both feel I was pumping the pan dry and needed to work on the drainback.

 

also the pan is 5'' in the rear and I believe it was 4 in the front.also the pump to pan is .0400 on one side and .0500 on the other we always ran them at .250 years ago it appears the pan is just a little deep .

 

like gt said,60 is low,15 quarts should be enough,the next question was going to be the drain holes in the heads.it does sound like all the oil is being pumped the the top of the motor and not getting back quick enough.

 

well, I also have a 3qt accumalator on it.right now i have 18 total.the pan held 13, the filter 1,the acusump 3,and the lines and oil gallies etc .1

 

Do you use oil restrictors to limit the oil to the top end ?

 

We run have run several variations of blown Chevys over the years. What has been solid for us for years is a Titan pump, 12 qts in the pan and a three quart accumulator for a total of 15 qts. and I would recommend a good synthetic oil like Redline if you're running it very hard. Synthetic is actually cheaper in the long run. Titan was a great help in getting our oiling system working good & it sounds like they are giving you some good ideas. Did they mention the possibility of an internal oil leak? They pointed us in that direction on one of our oiling problems and that is what it turned out to be on that occasion.

Good Luck,
Joad Donnelly

 

We also have .060 restrictors to the top and the high pressure titan spring with plenty of turns on it.
2 big hoses return from the heads to the pan.
If the top end is not carefully metered the valve covers will hold a ton of oil.
Synthetic will take the aeration of the wetsump setup and still lube when foamy. We learned all this stuff the hard way.
Oddy told us 2000hp is his limit on a wetsump, we've made around 2400 for years and will try 2800 this weekend at Tulsa with a screwblower.

 

tuneup

34 degrees timing MAX with a supermag. Probably a little less with a promag 44.
EGTS can run over 1200 depending on the setup. The best thing is to read NGK plugs per Mike Canter's writeup. The Chevy will live with the plugs pretty hot and frosty at 11-1 comp but we've always run best with about 25% cad on the face like Canter describes.
As long as you have a high helix blower, start rich with 32 degrees of timing and it should go pretty fast.

 

I'm not sure about the restrictors,i bought the motor complete but new centuty as well as titan talked about the restrictors also,I currently got 29degrees in it and it has a 1471 hi helix. Digital 7 msd.Yea we talked about an internal leak and I sure hope that's not what i'm chasing here.

 

I meant 7530Tmsd digital ign

 

When Titan threw the internal oil leak possibility at us it was about the last thing we wanted to hear. After eliminating pretty much all the other possibilities Titan pretty much guaranteed it was an internal leak......and he nailed it. I'm guessing it is a pretty rare problem but something to keep in mind when chasing oil pressure problems.


Joad Donnelly

 

your next issue will be lack of spark, I would be suprised if a 7 could burn it once you get it running right. As MSD dont make a 10 anymore you may have to look at an 8 or a mag. Cheers Graham

 

Where was your internal leak?