No Oil Pressure

[CobraEd]

My neighbor did the EXACT same thing on his new F-150 pickup. It was OK. He couldnt understand what was wrong, . . . He matched in to in, and out to out!

When he came over to ask for help all upset, I asked him if he connected out to in to the filter and out to in from the filter back to the engine. You should have seen the look on his face.


Ed

[FIAFRED]

Frank,

Poorboy was being kind in not mentioning that it was MY Cobra that had the lines reversed, and I drove the car over 50 miles. Talk about sweating bullets over the possible ruination of my Southern Automotive built 351 W!!! After getting the lines hooked up right, I have indeed, driven my car 1000 miles, and the oil pressure maintains a steady flow of 50-55 lbs. My engine is running absolutely strong and doesn't skip a beat. I did originally have a oil filter that would allow some oil to slop backward through the filter, but have since gone to the unforgiving Ford HP1. I don't know if this is a testament to the fine engine builds that Southern Automotive puts out, or if it's just dumb blind luck! Whatever the case, I'm VERY thankful, and SO much more attentive to my Cobra. I felt that weighing in on your situation, with my story, just might give you some needed optimism. All of the posts on your situation are right on target. To some degree, it's a crap shoot. Two minutes/50 miles...I would gladly have taken your mistake over mine. Most agree however, if the engine continues to maintain steady oil pressure(based upon your engines original pressure readings), for a few hundred miles, or the equivalent in engine run hours, then the engine is probably fine. My engine was run in by Southern Automotive, and had the valves adjusted, before it was delivered to me. So I don't really know if this was my saving grace. Good luck...I'm definitely pulling for you!

Fred

[Bob In Ct]

Hey Frank:
Would I be correct in assuming that you would not have realized the problem even after 2 minutes if the oil pressure pick-up had been in front of the obstruction (the high pressure side) rather than behind it (the low pressure side)?

Bob

[cobrajeff]

I hate to admit it, but this happened to me too. I pulled my engine after the first season to "de-tune" the cam and heads. When I put it back in, I was sure I had all the lines to the cooler and remote filter hooked up the same as they had been - NOT! I did lube the engine with a pre-oiler, then fired it up.

As I was trying to "run-in" the new cam, I noticed the oil press guage didn't have any reading. I told myself it would pop-up, soon. After about two minutes, I decided it just couldn't be right, and shut it off. Re-routed the remote filter lines (back to the way I'd had them before, I guess). I fired it back up, and all was well.

I didn't bother with cutting up filters or any of that (though those are certainly good suggestions). I decided just to "go for broke" - and changed the oil (no particles) and kept going. Still going strong 4 summers and 4000 miles ( there'd be MORE miles if I could keep a trnny together) later - no noises, pulls to 7000+, and no problems.

hope you are as lucky, too
cobrajeff

[Frank Coppola]

Bob,

Good question. The way I had it hooked up the oil was running through the cooler and then the filter. The reason it took me so long to figure out the problem was that I was POSITIVE I hooked it up right. I thought the cooler was plugged or the line was blocked as when I cracked the lines there was oil in the cooler. -I was assuming the oil had run through the filter into the cooler and was then getting blocked. I simply removed the filter, pulled the distributor and used a drill to turn the oil pump. I then noticed the oil flowing the wrong way.

What's also amazing is after changing I-don't-know-how-many oil filters in my life I never took a look at one to see how they work. I knew which way they flowed, but it wasn't until this episode that I inspected the filter and realized that the check valve is unforgiving.

Fred and Jeff, Thanks for the empathy, it is well received. I can't wait to put it back together (correctly) on Saturday.

[Frank Coppola]

I fixed the lines, changed the oil and filter, pulled the distributor and used drill to prime the pump. By the time I pulled the drill off the socket and looked at the dash I saw 40psi. I put the distributor back in and of course the timing was all screwed up AND my battery was dead. (Amazing how such a simple project is now such a cluster&*^%!)

The battery has been charged, I found TDC, and tonight will fire the baby up and set the timing.

stay tuned....

[niles]

I wan planning to order a remote filter head today.
Two questions for the experts:
In a "two filter head" does the oil go thru the filters in series or parallel?
Pros/cons vs one or two filters
thx
gn

[Frank Coppola]

The dual filter adapter I have seen on the market is in series. In my humble opinion the most important part is FLOW. When I bought my cobra it had the dual remote filter, and was plumbed with 10AN lines. The motor subsequently lost all oil pressure as the small lines and dual filter proved to be too restrictive. After I had my engine rebuilt I went with 12AN lines and a high flow remote filter and cooler to accomodate this size line. I haven't heard anyone recommend dual filters, especially if you are using a high performance filter.

my 2 cents

[ERA535]

I have (on a shelf) a Moroso dual head filter head. The oil goes through in parallel - that is, the oil goes into both filters at the same time, not into one filter then out and into the next one....


Pros - double the filter area

Cons - I have found on an FE in an ERA engine compartment, there is no space for the dual filter setup if you want to mount it in the "correct" location - top left of engine.

[CSX 4027]

I did not read the whole thread so if this reply duplicates what was said then please disregard.

Did you fill the cooler before hooking up the lines?
What size lines? -12?
If so and the cooler was empty it takes a bit to fill and come around the system that might have an air pocket. Only maybe and certainly not for 2 whole minutes.

The easiest may I know without wiping out the motor would be to pull the distributor and put a drill on the oil pump and run it up. If you still have no pressure, back to the drawing board.

Hey, did you flush the cooler before installation? Even though they come capped off, that does not mean it was clean and free from blockage.....Steve

[CCX33911]

I made a custom bracket (like the original) that mounts a single huge HP6 style filter in the stock location. The oil passage sizes on this filter are huge (significantly larger then any other normal filter). This is the same filter used on TF dragsters, etc.

If anyone would like to see a photo of the bracket/filter let me know.

[Bob In Ct]

Hey Niles:
If one has a dual filter set-up the filters should act in parallel. This would cut the resistance to flow in half( through the filters). Going in series would double the filter drag without producing any other advantage. If you are intent on reducing the drag produced by the filter(s) I would recommend synthetic oil (mobil1, Red Line), lower viscosity oil and a filter with more filter paper ( mobil1 filter 350 square inches of filter element vs Fram about 200 square inches).

Bob

[CSX 4027]

Newer tech motors with roller cams which make up the majority of the new car market do well with synthetic oil. I use it in all my new cars.
But, older tech motors with solid lifter flat tappet cams need the lubrication of a petroleum based racing oil that has the zinc still in it and which might be gone soon. If you open up a quart and can't smell the zinc, it doesn't have it. The smell is more like a stink. The only ones that currently still have it are the Pennzoil
25w50 and the 76 Nascar 20w50. I have a good stock of both preparing for the EPA extinction which is soon to come.

[Frank Coppola]

Well boys and girls our original story line to this thread has a happy ending. I started the monster up, this time with a charged battery, the timing right, and the oil flowing the right way..... The motor sounded ferocious as ever no ticks, no unusual sounds AND I have 75psi at 2,000 rpm. So I think I am good to go. Thank you all for your help.

I stand corrected on the dual oil cooler running in series. I looked at the old filter and as usual, smarter minds prevail.

However, I stand by my opinion that a bigger hose is better.

[ERA535]

Frank - with 535 horsepower you can be wrong as often as you want!