Rebuilt 84 22r, ready to start first time so I installed a cheap manual oil pressure gauge in the port where the oil pressure sender is usually at. Just under the filter.
Engine starts up and runs great. Problem is that the manual oil pressure gauge shows over 80 psi of pressure and does not return to zero
when engine is shutdown. Have tried two different but same brand manual oil pressure gauges . Bothe gauges show over 80 psi on startup .
One of the gauges shows over 80 psi and does not return at all from the 80 reading at all. The second gauge shows over 80 psi but return to 60 psi when the
engine is shutdown .Even when I remove either gauge from the engine the gauge maintains the pressure it was at then the engine shutdown. Bad cheap gauges or
a restriction in the oil galleys? Thanks for any help. John

 

If the gauge maintains a reading other than zero when you remove it then the gauge is broken. There is basically no way for the engine to have residual oil pressure after being shut off. Even a plugged oil gallery right after the sensor would bleed off back through the oil pump as soon as you shut it off.

 

Thanks for the reply. You are right, I think the very high oil pressure my engine is putting out wiped out both new gauges. I purchased a different oil pressure
test kit with better gauge and still reads over 100 psi but gauge holds up and returns to zero when engine shutdown. Engine is sitting on the floor when I start it ,so
no cooling system set up so I am not able to run very log over a basic start . Maybe engine is OK, just not getting to operating temps and the grease packing I
used to pack oil pump to prime it is causing the high oil pressure. This engine is going into a VW offroad car so I have to wait for my adapter to VW trans to
show up before I can continue with the installation. Thanks again for your reply. John

 

Over 100 PSI? That's super high. Even over 3,000 RPM my 22RE was only putting out 60-70 PSI when I had a mechanical gauge hooked up for break-in. Maybe you truly do have some sort of blockage. Did you blow out all the oil passages to make sure they were clear and free of debris prior to assembly?

That grease packing is gone and pushed throughout the engine within the first few seconds of the engine running and picking up oil.

 

Yes, both block and crank passages were recleaned after the machine shop had cleaned everything. Remove all of the oil passage plugs in the block and in the crank when doing the cleaning. This doesn't mean that I didn't miss something. If I had a blockage would my new gauge return to zero as soon as I shutdown the engine or hold pressure for a short time?. The engine has only been started and run for less than a total of a minute or so. I also remember seeing a small amount of oil leaking from somewhere on the block above the filter not sure where it is coming from yet. Thanks again for all you input. John

 

Oil pressure will drop to zero within a couple seconds of shutdown. There are no check valves or residual valves anywhere in the system. There are dozens of holes throughout the oil feed system so there's basically no way to hold pressure once the pump stops pumping.

Only thing above the oil filter is the oil pressure sender port and the head gasket. The only part of the head gasket that sees pressurized oil is at the front of the block though. All the other holes see coolant or combustion pressures with the exception of the oil drain but that's just a gravity drain, no pressure.

High pressure might cause something to leak that normally wouldn't. Is the oil pump new? Maybe the relief valve is stuck shut and it's sending 100% flow through the oiling system.

Seems unlikely you'd get 3 bum oil pressure gauges in a row. Any way you could T in a known good gauge (like a tire pressure gauge) and pump it up with a bicycle pump to a low pressure just to confirm it's good?

 

Thanks for the reply. I didn't think there were any check valves to hold the pressure but then I really didn't know. The oil pump is new, haven't check the relief valve in the pump yet. Going to check it
out today. I think the latest oil pressure gauge is showing the correct pressure. On my test yesterday, I ran the engine a little longer that I have been running it and the pressure seemed to drop.

Going to double check what I can today and give it another try. May pull one of the oil passage plugs that is up higher on the block and see if I can see oil pressure at that point. Thanks again for your reply and helpful information.
John

 

Double checking the engine again today. Pulled an oil galley plug on the block above the filter and just before the head, plenty of oil being pumped at least up this far on the block.
Checking everything else I found that the engine idle speed was set way way too high. Don't have a tac set up yet but by my old ear and sound I backed the idle down to I would guess
less that 800 rpm(real guess) and now oil pressure sets at 65 psi while idling at a good steady range. Hopeful when i set up the idle correctly and break in the engine correctly that the idle
rpm will fall into the correct PSI.

I think the engine is OK, time will tell Now have to get the adapter for the transaxle and set up the cooling stuff and keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks for all your help with inputs and thoughts.

If I ever get this finished early next year I will post my final findings and thoughts. John

 

UPDATE ON HIGH OIL ISSUE ON 22R
After thinking about the problem a little longer and not really happy with my last comment, I checked a littler further
and found that the oil relief valve was STUCK in the newly installed oil pump. Had to purchase another new oil pump and got it in the mail today.
The relief valve in this new pump slides really smooth in the passageway. Will give another update after the pump installed and the engine
is installed in the car. Will more than likely be right after the first of the year.

John

 

I had a feeling the relief valve might be the culprit. When i was a teen, i built a 327 Chevy. All the magazine articles at the time suggested brazing the oil pump pickup to the pump. Well, i overheated it, jammed the relief valve and the thing had such high pressure it blew the gasket off the oil filter and spilled all the oil on the ground. Lesson learned.

 

Got a chance to install the new oil pump and start the engine on the floor of the garage again. New oil pump fixed my high oil pressure issue.
Thanks for the comments and helpful reply's.

John

 

thanks for the update, it is good to hear you got it figured out.