My car all of a sudden seems to have dropped just about all oil pressure and squeels extremely loud + high pitched. The only thing I can compare the squeel to is a banshee screaming (or a seized bearing). It is related to the engine rpms, and unfortunately is NOT the belt, alternater, fan, fanclutch, or water pump because I started it with the belt off for a few seconds, same noise...

My oil guage always has been a little slow & screwey, cause the sending unit leaks, & a few other things but not too bad, about a 1/2 quart of 20/50oil per 3000miles.
But even delayed, the oil pressure would never really drop below 10-20psi even at idle, and hauling ***, wouldnt go over 80 psi Usually stayed between 20 and 60 psi.

On the way home, I noticed my oil guage was staying at about 0. I thought because it had been so tricky and the wire so flimsy, the wire broke finally. I heard the squeel, but thought it was construction across the way.

The car drives & performs like nothing is wrong, no weird smells or vibrations or anything, just the loss of oil pressure and ungodly squeeling!

Its a 12A with a holley and a header, and the oil filter gets hot, which means if oil is pumping up to to the filter from the drain pan, then perhaps the pump is ok. But then checking the oil after running it, it doesnt really move on the stick.

Im pretty puzzled with this one, It was running a little hot before this started (top end of the operating range as opposed to the middle) So I flushed the radiator and block, and that put it back to mid normal again. A few days later it started operating on the hot side again (but still within speck) After running it I took the cap off, and it damn near exploded everywhere like it does when a car overheats, but my car definately did not over heat. I added some more water to the coolant, that helped a little, I took the cap off when it was making all that noise, and it started to explode again. My rad cap is rated at 13lbs, which the book said was reccommended, I dont know if this provieds more info? I think its a seperate issue, but people seem to like all the info they can get

ALL HELP IS VERY APPRICIATED, I NEED TO BE DRIVING TO A NEW JOB BY MONDAY!
THANKS!!!

 

well i can tell u this, when warmed up, if u remove the rad cap on all cars it will splash everywhere, because its under pressure and when u remove the cap the pressure wants to go out fast.lol, idk about ur other problem though, sorry.

 

taking the radiator cap at any time while the car is warmed up is going to make it "explode" regardless of whether or not it is overheating. It is not a good idea to be taking the cap off until the car cools down because you risk burning yourself on the hot coolant. Sorry I didn't help with your problem, just letting you know that the exploding is most likely not part of it.

edit: ^ beat me to it. I need to type faster!

 

Well, thanks, Usually I can slowly open a hot car, with minimal spill out, (Worked at grease monkey) and so could the rest of the guys, but your right though! hot cars like to explode coolant!

 

Check your water pump and alternator, sounds like a bearing in the pump to me. If you have ac or ps, check those bearings too. Keep in mind, belts may seem prorerly tensioned, but old, hard belts can slip.

 

Hate to be the one to say it, but sounds like a spun bearing to me.
Normally, I would go with trochoid's advice, but I guess he missed the part about you taking the belt off already......

 

Oops, your right, misread it as checking the belts. I was fearing a bearing also, he has all the right signs.

 

could be a bearing in the water pump, cause it to not work to full potential, and also cause the squeeling

 

Well, his description was rather lengthy and run on for a bit..... I *almost* missed it as well.

 

Sorry for making it that lengthy, but if it were shorter someone would say *we need more info* So I opted to give too much, heheh.

Anyway, does anyone have an idea to which bearing? One of the ones on the eccentric shaft most likely? Or is it a situation where Ill have to tear it down to find out???

Thanks

 

You will need to tear it down, you have 4 bearings to choose from. From my experience, if you lost all oil pressure, plan on replacing all 4 of them and the e-shaft.

 

^^^^and possibly 1 or more rotors or stationary gears. If the bearing has spun, it has likely ruined whichever item it was in, along with the e-shaft.

 

So sounds like Im better of to put the car on hiatus until I can afford to put in the REW

 

good luck getting to work

 

Although, if it was really that bad (All 4 bearings + E shaft + possible rotor or stationary gear) Would that reflect in the drivability? Like wouldnt there be some excess vibrations or grinding noises at least ? The only thing that seems wrong is the squeeling noise, otherwise Im sure it would drive fine (but Im not about to find out how far) Perhaps Im a little in denial, but who would want to be in this position?

 

If the only thing rotating while the engine is running, and the noise is not coming from the tranny or dizzy, it's the bearings. The longer it runs that way, the more potential damage to stat gears, rotors and housings. Sucks, I know.

 

OK Explain this one guys!
I just started it up this morning, and I HAD OIL PRESSURE AND NO SQUEELING!!!!

Yes, It appears to have fixed itself overnight!!

Whats going on here? Perhaps the bearing is only a little spun? Or could it be that the oil pump had stopped working yesterday, causing the squeel because of no lube? Maybe it just needed to cool down?
Im not going to use it as a commuter or anything, but seems Ill be ok to drive it to park it, while I borrow a car

Any Ideas on this??

 

Your oil pump is either working, or not working. I dont see how it would be physically possible for it to intermintatly work. And if your bearing was fried enough for you to hear a screaming from it, your motor would be seized. You say it has no issues with driving and revving and such? But if you still think its a bearing drain your oil. It will be full of metal if its a bearing. Other than that, I would check your water pump, alt., AC if you have it. take off all your belts and fire it up, see if it still squeels. As for the oil pressure I would guess that its your sending unit/wiring/gauge. Get a mechanical and hook it up directly to where your sending unit goes.

 

Again, It WAS squeeling without the belt on, which would mean that the fan/water pump/alternater are ok. Could a bad sending unit cause this?

 

Well I drove it about 5 miles or so, to park it in my dads carport. It drove up there no problems at all, but started squeeling again as I was pulling it in. A guy with some experience at shucks(auto parts) said that it could be a stuck oil pressure regulator, the squeel being the apex seals on the housing

Also, if the bearing were bad, he didnt think the car would run for more than 2 minutes before seizing. This could also explain being intermittant, unless the oil pump gear is missing a tooth, or the chain slipped..

Does anyone know off hand exactly where the oil pump is located in a 12A?

 

On the front. Take off your front cover and youll see a chain, looks a lot like a timing chain on a pissed-on, its at the bottom of that chain. I really dont think that the squeeling has anything to do with your bearings, your motor would be dead. Get a mechanics stethoscope. Fire it up, and use the stethoscope to pinpoint where the sound is coming from. Its got a long metal probe on it, designed for exactly this. You can find them at any schucks/napa/westbay, and theyre cheap.

 

You can check the chain by removing the dizzy. You won't get a good view, but it's easier than removing the front cover. The oil pump will work, or it won't. It cannot be intermittant. I got over 6 hours of run time, mostly idling in the shop with 0 oil pressure showing on the gauge on a fresh rebuild once. Assembly lube helped, but still lost all 4 bearings and the e-shaft.

I would start listening to the tranny, pilot or tb may be going out.

 

The oil pump could be giving an intermittent squeel though, no? There gotta be some kind of bearing surface in there.

 

Nope, oddly enough the oil pump is trochoidal. How's them beans?

 

I just finshed tearing my engine apart with the same symtoms.... spun the front bearing. I drove the engine for 750 miles and as long a I kept it below 5000 rpm it ran great. Finally reved it and it started to vibrate and die.

RXDad