VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1932 oil pressure

I’ve noticed on my 32 that when I drive it for 30 minutes or so and then stop for a few minutes when I start the engine again after stopping for a short time the oil pressure stays at 0. What is causing the pressure to not go up after the car is warm, bad pump? When cold starting there is no problem with pressure. Pressure reads 5-7 idle after warm and 10ish while driving after warm. When cool it will kick up to 15 or so. It’s only after running and then stopping and restarting do I see an issue. I attached a pic of recent oil level, pressure and the pump. Thanks for any help or suggestions.

does it eventually picked back up in pressure on a warm start if you let it idle for a few minutes ???
i know when warm the oil is more viscous vs cold

you could pull the valve cover and look to see IF oil is flowing to the rocker arms.

Yes, it will eventually show pressure. I’ll pull the valve cover to see if there is oil moving. Thanks for the reply.

oil pump loosing prime.

Air in the oil pressure gauge line.

Thanks Chev nut! What would cause the pump to lose prime in this case? From what I understand this is a workers style pump w-3220 is stamped on it.

The replacement oil pump you have has a body made of aluminum or pot metal. I hve seen them craze and crack. Possible but a thought,

An easy test would be warm up the oii and remove the dash gauge oil line from the back of the gauge and see if oil is pumping out, (catch the oil in a container)

I wanted to come back to this and update. I’ve noticed that the engine makes a slight knocking sound when there isn’t pressure but as soon as pressure comes back on the sound disappears. Appreciate all the help so far.

If it were mine I would replace te oil pump.
The knocking is the main bearings not bearing filled with oil.
I would try to find a genuine Chevrolet cast iron gear type pump for a 1930-1932 engine.

Thanks Chev nut. I’ve been keeping an eye out on eBay for the correct pump. I saw filling station has one but pretty pricey.

Th Chevrolet part number for the is 604507 for the 1932 gear type oil pump kit.

the one at TFS is the NEW Billy Possum (C&P Automotive Oil Pump)
It is a NEW pump built for these cars, great flow and more pressure (think around 10psi @ idle then 25 psi @ cruising speed), even though it is NOT needed.

everyone says they are great pumps

i rebuilt the original single vane oil pump in my 1929 which is a 1 year application. I get around 5 psi cruising and tons of flow, which is what the older inline 6 needs @!! pressure is irrelevant flow is critical.

1929 oil pump @ 400rpm
1929 oil pump @ 1200rpm

the 1929 needs very little pressre as no parts get full pressre so all it needs is volumn.
The 1932 gets full pressure to main bearings only.
The gear type pump produces a more steady flow according to Chevrolet.

None of the early engines need much flow or pressure as they don't have highly loaded bearings or bushings or need oil to help cool the engine.

The 4 cylinder engines have a solid part of the rod cap that passes through the trough to produce an oil mist that lubricates cylinder walls, wrist pins, rings and rod bearings, etc. The oil flow just fills the troughs and reservoirs that gravity feed oil to the main bearings. The valve train is lubricated manually by oil can.

In the early 6s rod dippers produce a little flow to the rod bearings but more important is the mist to lube pistons, rings etc. A little pressure is needed to lube the valve train.

99.44 % of the advise you get on oil pressure is from people with experience with more modern higher horsepower engines. Producing higher oil flow and pressure takes horsepower from engines that don't have excessive amounts.

Thanks all, appreciate the replies. I went ahead and broke down and got the pump from filling station. I’ll report back once I replace to share if that fixed the issue.

I have The Filling Station gear pump on my 29 and it works great with more pressure than needed.

Thanks Bare_feet! Hoping to tackle this in the next couple weeks.

I replaced the pump this last weekend and put things back together and now the car won’t start. It just spins over and will also sound as if the starter is struggling. The batter is fully charged and checked that ther is over 6.4v. I’m going through all the connections, checking points to see if something was jostled. I replaced with a tune up kit earlier this year but did get a new condenser and upgraded the positive cable to 00. Things were running fine before except the oil pressure issue and now I can’t get it to fire. The only thing that was really touched was removing the distributor to install the new pump. I’ll be tackling it this weekend but thought I would post for any thoughts. I followed the instructions here and getting good spark when testing center coil, could shows good voltage, I will be checking points and plugs this weekend but get a spark when using the screwdriver across the points. Appreciate any thoughts!

https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/285347/re-1950-wont-start.html#Post285347

Good news is the pump when I used a drill to prime is working well.

" and put reverts in g back together "

What does that mean?

Your ignition timing may be off.

Hi Part16john

As you know, firing only occurs on every second revolution of the crankshaft.
It's very easy to drop the distributor in and time to the wrong TDC of number 1 cylinder,
as in TDC between exhaust and intake, instead of TDC between compression and the power stroke.

Check that first.
The best of us can make that mistake. :-)

Bill, that was auto correct…corrected now.

Stovbolt, I took out the number one plug and felt for when number one was at top and set plugs accordingly based on where the rotor was pointing but based on what you described that may not be correct?

Thanks again for taking the time to respond, still learning lots about this car.

John,
If both intake and exhaust valves are closed and number 1 piston is at the top then it is in firing position. If the piston is at the top and a valve is open then number 6 is in firing position. The cam shaft is half-fast compared to the crank so a cylinder only fires every other revolution. I bet nearly everyone of us has timed and engine "180 degrees out". I know I have more than once when I get it too much of a hurry and don't double or triple check.

Thanks so much Chipper! I’ve been reading a lot on timing and had it timed correctly before but not sure I’m grasping what it means to be 180 out and how you correct it. Is it a matter of moving the plugs to be opposite of what they are now?

Thanks again for the support!

Resources used so far

https://1931chevrolet.com/specs7b.htm
https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/287904/valve-timing.html
https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/437558.html
I also have manual and papers from buying the turn up kit

Hi Part16john

When you say you felt for number 1 TDC, do you mean you felt for compression with your thumb over the hole?

The valves on number 1 may APPEAR to be closed at TDC even on the wrong revolution as the exhaust will be NEARLY completely closed, and intake JUST starting to open.
The best is to have the valve cover off and watch for valve movement.
As you come up on number 1 TDC, the exhaust valve on number 6 will be closing and neither valve on number 1 wil be moving at all.

All that said, a fast and easy "try" is to just pull your wires out of the distributor cap and reinstall with number 1 wire where number 6 is now and working around from there.
If you mistakenly timed to the wrong TDC (180 degrees out) that will correct it and the engine will start.

Good luck! :-)

Thanks for the info, Stovbolt!

When you say you felt for number 1 TDC, do you mean you felt for compression with your thumb over the hole? YES, manually cranked and found 1 with my thumb over number one plug.

Not sure we helped you out here, but hope we did.
Let us know if you get er going!