Ticking and no oil pressure

It's been probably 50-60 miles since we had the head rebuilt on my 65 Mustang 200 six. We did not replaced lifters, pushrods, or rocker arms since they all seemed to be in good condition. My machinist said the lower end of the engine appeared to be in very good condition and should last quite a bit longer. However, there was some pretty sludgy, black oil in there so during the rebuild I let it drain for probably 3 weeks and poured and drained cheapo oil through the engine before we started it up.

I put in some Mobil Clean 5000 10W-30 oil (kinda cheap) and used a Motorcraft FL-1a filter for those initial 50-60 miles, and the car had ran fine with around 40 PSI of oil pressure, though the gauge did not show it until I replaced the oil pressure sending unit.

Today I changed the oil to some Valvoline VR-1 10W-30. I let the old stuff drain for about an hour, then poured 4 quarts of VR-1 in and used a new Motorcraft FL-1A filter which I filled with almost half a quart. Waited about 10 minutes, then started the car and after about 30 seconds the gauge still read 0 oil pressure and I started to hear a fairly loud ticking noise, so I shut it off. Then I put on a manual oil pressure gauge, started it, got 0 PSI and still a ticking noise, so I shut it off immediately.

Pulled the valve cover and the rocker arms and pushrods all seem to be properly intact and adjusted. There are also no visible leaks anywhere.

What could have happened?

the last time i changed my oil it took a while to get the pressure back.i didn't like it.i prefilled the filter too.

Sorry, but by "a while" how long do you mean? 30 seconds, 3 minutes, 5 minutes?

Oil Pump; Gunk in the oil pump screen. Or maybe the Oil drive shaft is not seated right, or might have broke in-half or sheared.

I pretty much did the same thing. Fully rebuilt head, left the bottom alone. Used the best looking rockers and cam I had laying around with new lifters. No idea how many miles on the pump but it seems to have no issues getting primed even with a new empty filter. I would pull the dizzy out and run the pump with a drill so you can see and feel what its doing without having to turn and cause further damage to the engine. Be careful not to drop the pump drive shaft into the pan. I have never done it but it comes up here fairly often so it must be easy to do. When I did my 6 I just taped the correct size socket to an extension and then chucked the whole thing in my cordless drill. It wont make much pressure with the dizzy out because there is some sort of passage that gets plugged by the dizzy body but you can see how quickly it primes and stuff like that.

fordconvert":15lbtima said:

I pretty much did the same thing. Fully rebuilt head, left the bottom alone. Used the best looking rockers and cam I had laying around with new lifters. No idea how many miles on the pump but it seems to have no issues getting primed even with a new empty filter. I would pull the dizzy out and run the pump with a drill so you can see and feel what its doing without having to turn and cause further damage to the engine. Be careful not to drop the pump drive shaft into the pan. I have never done it but it comes up here fairly often so it must be easy to do. When I did my 6 I just taped the correct size socket to an extension and then chucked the whole thing in my cordless drill. It wont make much pressure with the dizzy out because there is some sort of passage that gets plugged by the dizzy body but you can see how quickly it primes and stuff like that.

Click to expand...

On top of what fordconvert said, you will feel the drill bite a little bit when the pump gets primed. I left the valve cover off when I primed my rebuilt engine. All of the oil galleys were empty when I filled my engine and it took maybe 30 seconds to get oil dribbling out of the rockers?, It was less than a minute, but not sure on the exact timeframe.

Well thank god. For some reason it must have just been taking quite a bit of time for the oil to pressurize and flow to the lifters.

I waited probably 4 hours since I last started it, then tightened down my mechanical gauge a little more and turned it on. Took about 5 seconds and then it pressurized to about 38 PSI and the lifter noise went away about 2 minutes later.

So total running time without pressure must have been at least 1 minute 30 seconds. I bet it was because I let the oil drain for more than an hour before I plugged and refilled it.

Thank you again for your time!! I really appreciate it

I guess some folks religiously pre-fill their filters. I religiously don't. More out of habit (ie always done it this way) than anything else. I had heard somewhere before that some people have occassionally encountered an 'air locking' situation, for lack of a better descrip, when prefilling...supposedly just like what you experienced...taking longer to prime and raise pressure after starting whey they pre-filled the filter. Even when I may have had a carb/starting prob that allowed ALOT of fuel to get into the crankcase and had to drain&change the oil, I've let the motor drain for 24-48 hours and not experienced any significant priming issues/delays.

I wouldn't rule out that you have a worn lifter, or that you may need to retorque your valve train, as I would be a little concerned about the ticking (likely lifter noise) you heard. I don't think hydraulic lifters should bleed off without sitting for quite a long time, so I would think the tick could indicate wear.

I believe now is the time to either drop the pan & clean out all the sludge & replace the worn oil pump.

The best thing would be to remove the engine & completely overhaul it. Outlaw

I pre fill my filters when they are mounted in the up position. I have never had any issues doing it. The times I forget I notice a difference. The gauge or light just hickups for a second and I never hear any clatter. If I dont fill em I see that light on and look at the gauge at zero for a second or two. I dont think it does any serious damage it just makes me feel better. I always do my changes on a hot engine so there is still oil in and on stuff. Im too lazy to walk outside and look at the 200 but I am thinking that thing is almost horizontal? How much oil can you get in it? I have too many engines but I know I have at least 2 that are horizontal.

The filter is pointed at about 5 o'clock, I can usually prefill at least 3/4 qt. in it without spilling.