New engine, no oil pressure please help

SPR1NK

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My dad and i just finished building a 7.3 and got it fired the other night and it seems to not have any oil pressure, it is pushing oil through the turbo oil feed line, and it is pushing a very very tiny amount of oil through the outlet on top of the block on the back for oil gauge, but the oil pressure gauge doesnt register any pressure and it isnt pushing enough oil to push it through the line to the gauge, what could be the problem??
 

frankenwrench

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Did u pre charge the oil line feeding the gauge? If not, readings could be all over the place, or non existent. I am assuming u have a manual gauge not associated with the stock gauge on the dash by your use of the word "outlet". Please correct me if I am wrong. Mine did not register either after my 1st build and I panicked. Then my buddy loosened up the nut on the back of the gauge while running till oil dribbled out and it started reading. Since then I pre fill the line before hooking it up to the guage. If not a problem with guage, I'm sure someone else will chime in
 

SPR1NK

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Yeas we are using an aftermarket mechanical gauge, we had the oil line off of the gauge and sitting in a bottle to catch the oil as that's what i did when I built the engine for my truck and worked well, but we got no oil coming through the line at all
 

SPR1NK

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And we have the line for the oil pressure gauge hooked up where the factory oil pressure sender used to be
 

laserjock

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Did you rebuild the oil cooler? I have heard of the bypass being stuck closed, maybe sticking open or being missing would cause your issue?

Where are you pulling the turbo oil from? Did you put new cam bearings in? New oil pump? Is the oil frothy? Pan not mashed down on the pickup tube? Did you disturb the piston squirters?

Just trying to toss some things out there to help troubleshoot.

The oiling system is not that complicated. It also takes a gruelingly long time for oil to get to the rockers on a cold start let alone a fresh in primed engine.
 

SPR1NK

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Full rebuild, bored .020 over(engine shop insisted on that), new pistons, all new bearings, rebuilt the oil cooler, all the bolts for oil squirters got a dab of blue loctite when reassembling

Turbo oil is being pulled from the oil gallery plug at the back of the block buy the filter(pulls from same place on my truck)
Oil pan isn't squished at all

Oil bypass isn't stuck, I can move it, the pressure regulation valve tho feels a little gritty when moving that, so currently trying a different oil cooler to see if that helps

Don't know if the oil is frothy or not, haven't drained the oil pan
 

laserjock

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The bypass seems the most likely culprit to me. In descending order I’d say after bypass/ filter head next is piston squirters, then oil pickup or pump issue, then see through bearing clearances. I mean, if the pump is pumping, it’s got to be going somewhere. Even with see through bearing clearances, cold I’d expect there to be some oil up top. Did you install the rotating assembly or did the machine shop? Wes, are there any galley plugs that could have been left out to let the oil bypass through the block? I don’t have my picture of the oil system handy.
 

SPR1NK

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Well we tried changing to a known good oilcooler thinking maybe the bypass valve or pressure regulator valve werent working, but that didn't change anything, so our next step i guess is pull the pan and see what we can see
 

ifrythings

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Are you getting any oil pressure from the oil gallery that the turbo is plumbed into?

How does the engine sound when it’s running? Valve train noisy as hell?
 

SPR1NK

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When we had the oil line for the turbo in a bottle there was oil coming out, but just a slow trickle

Valve train sounds a little noisy, but I've heard other idis that sound worse...
 

Thewespaul

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I would be looking at the pickup and oil squirters closely next. If theres a restriction on the suction side there will be very little volume put out even if the whole system is tight. If one of the squirters popped out all of the oil will want to dump out there. If you check those and they are both good, then youre gonna need to start disassembling things and checking everything out. Theres plugs under the valve covers that could back out and drop pressure, but its unlikely. For testing going forward I wouldnt run the engine any more. Pull the glow plugs and spin the engine over with the starter, that will give plenty of rpm to be shooting oil across the room if everything is working properly.
 

SPR1NK

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How close to the bottom of the pan should the pickup head be sitting? It seems like its about 1/2" away from the bottom
 
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