Jim Grant's Tech Tips
'89
Dodge Spirit, No Oil Pressure
Q:
My name is Damon and I have recently rebuilt an’89 Dodge Spirit (2.5
liter engine) that we originally bought new. I rebuilt the engine including
a new water pump, oil pump, etc. When I started the car it started easily
and ran smoothly but showed no oil pressure. The lifters chattered fiercely
and I shut the engine off. I removed the oil sending unit and started
the engine. No oil came through the oil sending unit opening (hole in
block). Therefore, I removed the oil pan and oil pump from the engine
and put the oil pump in a pan of oil and turned the shaft by hand and
oil came out the oil hole - the pump was working. Still no oil pressure
to the engine. While the engine was worked on at a machine shop, I was
told to leave off a balance shaft carrier in the oil pan. I was also instructed
to block the oil flow to that unit. The machinist told me that this unit
cannot be replaced.
A:
I’d say that you’re missing an oil gallery plug inside the engine.
The oil gallery is a maze of passages that provide oil to all the critical
lube points of the engine. Because of all the direction changes in the
engine the passages have to be drilled/machined from different angles.
To close the unneeded side of this machine work, a plug is installed.
These plugs are removed when rebuilding an engine to allow for proper
cleaning. If a plug is forgotten during assembly there will be little
to no oil pressure. It sounds as if you’re going back into the engine
to find a passage that is missing a plug.
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