Raising Oil Pressure

 

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Short of a total bottom end rebuild with new Thrust Washers, Main Bearings and Rod Bearings, there's never been an easy way to increase your oil pressure quickly and inexpensively......until now.

Below are two quick fixes and the first is from Len Renkenberger, the author of The Six-Tech Manual. Len was kind enough to let Paul Rego and I post his manual on our sites for enthusiasts to download. His technique can be found on page E14 and is rated Skill Level D..... for dummy I guess but perfect for me.

His fix focuses on the Oil Pressure Relief Valve (OPRV) and the spring that controls the opening and closing of the valve. Because the spring is cut from a continuous coil, there are inconsistencies in its length and a small difference in length can make a considerable difference in the pressure exerted by the spring. The way you can correct this problem is to place a #10 flat washer between the spring and the head of the piston valve. Because this is such an easy fix I decided to try it even though my start up OP is in the 80 PSI range. After doing it, I had 95 PSI at cold idle and it would jump to over 100 when I goosed the throttle. I plan on doing a bottom end rebuild on the engine this winter (2010-2011) so I removed the washer and the OP dropped back to my normal range. Once the rebuild is complete, I'll see what my OP is and decide if the washer is needed.

Here are the pictures on how I did this.

This is Len's OPRV Diagram

That's the housing for the OPRV and you'll need a 7/8" socket to remove it

This is what you'll unscrew from he block: housing, spring and copper washer.

The piston can be easily pulled out. Don't worry, there's nothing to fall into the engine.

This is the piston.

This is a #10 flat washer on the piston.

Reassembled and ready to go back into the engine block. And that is all there is to it. DO NOT add more then one washer!!

The second solution came from Bob Lang and was shared with the Triumph Mail List. This is on my winter "To Do" project along with the bottom rebuild.

Blueprint Your Oil Pump

The Bentley manual lists all the clearances in the oil pump. That's all
really kool and everything, but unless your motor has a gazillion miles on
it, the rotor clearances are _probably) okay and close to spec.

However, there is a fix that I've done a bunch of times that is easy and
pretty much automatically raises o.p pressure 10 psi everywhere. Drop the
pan and pull the oil pump. the bottom cover of the oil pump will likely
have scoring. On a flat surface with some emery cloth of very find wet or
dry (400 or 600 grit) and some OIL, polish the cover 'till all evidence of
scoring is gone. Clean the part three times with brake cleaner (make sure
there is no grit left on the surface (hopefully, for obvious reasons)).

Reassemble.

I did this a couple of years ago when my oil pressure idiot light kept
coming on at idle (motor hot). Oil pressure went from under 10 psi to
about 25 psi. If your oil pump rotors are knackered, you can buy new guts
for something like $30 from the various sources. You do not need a new
pump body unless the outer rotor clearance is way off - the inner rotor
tips to the rotating body clearances are most important, then the pump to
body clearance and the only one (in my experience) that matters is the
rotor to bottom clearance. Also note that if the rotor is too deep in the
pump body (scoring on the upper end of the body) you can reduce the
'height' of the pump body be polishing as described above, BUT you must
make sure the pump body is square as well as flat or you'll dish the
bottom cover and you'll be back to crappy oil pressure in due time.

Cost: $5, $10 if you screw up the oil pan gasket (or (shame of shames) you
glued it to the pan and block).

Time: 1 2 hours MAX. Most of that time will be trying to figure out how to
put the three pan bolts that are just above the frame rail. Leave 20
minutes to wash your hair of all the oil that drips on you while you
remove the pump. Hint: use cardboard to keep the drips off the floor and
let the motor drip for an hour or two before you pull the pump.

Seriously, this is an easy fix. If it doesn't work, then check your
bearing clearances. I'm amazed at how many motors have low oil pressure
and the only problem is the oil pump clearances.'