just got a new toy . 70 lark with 350 2 barrel . mtr. runs good but the oil light comes on at idle when warm . no oil pressure gauge yet , but its on my list! so should I be worried or is it common . anything simple I can do . oil pump . or ? mtr. taps for an instant on cold start , but quiets right down . should I be saving up for bearings ? what kind of compression does this mtr. have . are there way better heads or are they all the same . ? what kind of gears should it have in it ? hoping to come across a 455 I can afford ., but if I can get the 350 to give decent perf. , might not be bad . im sure it should get 5 more mpg. , and im on a way below poverty level inc0me thnx
Since you started your own thread , I would answer here about the oil pressure issue. A gauge to determine what the actual oil pressure is . So look into that when you can. It would probably be best to pull engine for cam bearing. It would be a good time to clean and paint engine and compartment. I would also consider drilling out oil pickup passages from oil pickup tube to pump to 1/2 inch and get a later 5/8 pickup tube. A distributer recurve and a well built Quadrajet should get you decent mpg. And a bit more power. Head work is where you can make more gains in power. , bowl port and big valves. Can also mill heads for a bump in compression. Preferably you have a good running short block. You can get into rear gear changes and torque converters for more power. But focus on what your engine needs to correct oiling problem first.
1st things first, you need an oil pressure gauge ASAP. Only then can you evaluate and proceed. Until then, I would not beat on the car. The stock idiot light sender turns the light on at 7-9 psi I believe. If the light flickers, you are likely near there at least at idle. The more important thing is to watch what happens at higher RPM. Stock oil pressure in a 350 SBB is 37 psi @ 2400 RPM. See if you have that. If so, replacing the stock pressure relief spring with a white Stage1 spring might give you more at higher RPM. If the pressure is low at idle, but satisfactory at higher RPM, you can try installing a booster plate and blueprinting the clearances inside the pump. More on that here, http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/oil-pump-clearances-and-oil-pressure.326597/
This is what I would do too, I put in a gauge and it darn near read 0-5lbs at idle hot did the spring and the booster plate, that gave me a little more pressure. I ran it for 8years like that eventually the crank broke but I was racing it had a cam in it and I never replaced the cam bearing untill I got the motor rebuilt. Ran fine. I beat the crap out of it and did not have much oil pressure. I am sure if you have the cash you can do all the other motor mods mentioned but until then and your on the budget I would do what Larry suggested you'll be alright if you are not racing it. But if you do not get the 37lbs oil pressure at 2400 rpm I would rebuild it if you want it to survive. I even ran 25-50 Valvoline racing oil during that time I went against all the rules here. lol, I even stuck in a Comp Cam 268 cam and did not break it in properly and it was ok. I let the darn thing sit there and idle, that was what I did wrong that was in 1983 No one knew crap about a Buick 350 in 1982. ha ha ha ha got to laugh this is wild. I am done ye ha.. this site was not here in 1980.
we are all so lucky to have this site . like you said , info WAS hard to comebye . for everything , but black sheep/buicks for sure. I changed the oil/filter 20/50 w/stp seemed to help .the only filter my local a/p had holds about a tbspn of oil . theres plenty of room for one much larger . anyone know the best place to get some ? seems to be doing better , light wise ,so gauge asap. I believe it has a posi in it ,as well .has 50s in the rear , so floored it a couple times on level packed dirt and had 2 equal strips . don't think traction will be a issue anytime soon , but we can dream . so the pump would be the first thing to try , right?if the housing is ok , not much $? seems like I did one on a 225 a while back . are they similar ? , anyway my intention is to clone a gsx again .just the look .that is . if I come across a 455 at give away price , what the h .done it in the past , many times , but getting less likely all the time ,RIGHT. if I could post pix , id put the trim tag up . should say the rear gears? or most all larks the same? feels pretty tall , buick tall . seems strange to have a posi with tall gears . but might be good for snow/ice ?
Get a gage immediately, then chalk/paint small mark on tire & driveshaft, lift rear wheels off ground, in neutral, turn wheel 1 turn, count driveshaft revolutions. You'll have your gear ratio.
thicker oil is just a bandaid. Just makes the gauge read higher because the pump has to work harder. Run the thinnest oil you can that gives adequate readings.
its actually the first time ive used it in years . but if one bottle makes a difference it gives you some kind of idea how bad things are!the mtr. sounds good . the cold sartup tick is gone , so im hoping rings , bearings , some work on the heads ,and attention to the oil system , and I can have a reliable driver . seems like the oil system was weak on these mtrs. as designed ? ive seen the same thing on 455s also . I guess they never wanted them to run forever! in real life Im not going to race or drive 100k mi. , so might not need to do much . im going to install oil gauge today . should know way more then. p.s. just re read your post on oil pumps , thnx . now if I can just digest it all!! much info . does someone sell a pump I can just bolt on and be done ? im starting to think this mtr. might be fine for my purpose with just the pump .and, tomorrow might be the day I find a 4 dr electra with 60k and lost title/back reg. fees . for a $100.oo . what the h . free to remove .still have my dreams!!
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the oiling system on either the 350 or 455. It was perfectly adequate if you never spun the motor north of 4500 RPM, AND, you changed your oil. We are getting a lot more power out of these engines, and we are revving them higher than they were designed to run. Of course it would be better to have an oiling system like a SBC, but with a little attention to detail when building a Buick engine, we can make the stock oiling system get the job done.
time to decide what to do next . drove about 100 mi. yesterday . car ran great .installed the oil gauge today . 40 psi on start up .5 minutes later maybe 10 . LESS at idle so , no more anything till its fixed . mtr. runs grt. no knocks/taps /ticks . is there a chance of the oil pump being the only problem . will the plate I ve read fix it , or should I be planning on a new timing cover?i don't think any damage has been done yet . we will see!!?xo
When I started working at a Pontiac dealer in 1983, we would get Grand Prix's in with the 231 and the oil lite on. Under warranty, we would replace the timing cover and the oil pump. After the repair, it was common for the oil lite to come on with the engine hot, ac on at idle in drive. GM had us install a 2 lb oil pressure switch. If the lite didn't come on with the engine hot, ac on at idle in drive, it was good to go. I believe that GM said that only 3 lbs of oil pressure was required to operate the lifters. I did that several times in my garage for friends of mine and I don't recall any of those engines failing.
10psi MINIMUM at hot idle after a 20 minute highway drive is what i would shoot for. Either get a $200 ta cover, bolt it on and go, or take yours off, measure it and see if its serviceable, and shove a standard volume oil pump kit, your spring of choice (10psi/1000rpm minimum), plus or minus adjustable regulator, booster plate, and shim kit. If the gears sit too deep in the cover (no protrusion), the cover is essentially garbage. Since its down anyway, take the pump apart, and measure. Determine your next course of action after. You need to shoot for .002-.003 clearance from the gasket surface to the oil pump cover/booster plate using appropriate gaskets. If there is too little or no clearance, the gears will be pushed back into the cover and eat their way upwards until the problem arises again.
mine has been running 9-10 psi at warm idle for years. about 32 psi at highway speeds. I am in the process of building a new motor but mine had lived for years and years like this. I run 10w40 Brad Penn oil. change once a year. (that's about 1,000 miles)
If you read through my thread that's exactly where I started, with the oil pump. It ended up being much worse after I did a full tear down but it was worth it to find out the real reason I was getting low oil pressure. If I had kept going it would have been a catastrophic failure. It may be worth it to pull the timing cover and oil pan just to check things out while your already there. Gaskets are cheap. I hope yours turns out better! Good luck Bill
wow , goes against all my thinking , but if it works it works. ill have to remove the gauge . cant stand to look at it . when I was young , I had a 325 dodge mtr. in a 46 ford p/u . spun a rod bearing . drove it for ever , with a crazy amount of stp . it ate at my nerves . I had such relief when it finally came apart . still spun the tires till they popped though . put in a new used mtr. and a drunk totaled it while I was parked on the side of the road . still miss that old truck !! so if I pull the pump apart , can I tell how worn the case is , just by looking? I have another 350 in my 64 lark parts car . think I might tear it apart first to get a feel for how it all works . maybe that cover is in better shape . probably all originals are pretty worn by now ? id hate to ruin a otherwise good mtr. . if the smoke ever clears here , ive got a line on a 69 430 . might take my gauge with me when I go to see it. not the 455 id like , but still probably a lot of bang for the buck.
Believe me, you won’t miss the 25 cubes the 430 is less then a 455. Do some oil modifications, front cam bearing, TA 284-88 cam degreed 4 advanced . Some bowl porting and performance valve job, with a 2500 convertor, 3.42 gears and a Quadrajet done by one of the pros here on this board with a recurved distributer. Easily over 400 hp /520 torque.
thnx for hanging in , while I sounded stupid . just took the pump apart . NOW it all makes sense . im guessing , thnx to gravity , most of the wear is on the pump , not the timing cover. the one on my parts car doesn't seem to bad .but I have nothing to compare it to .im going to pull the other and see if its worse if so , I think I will put the other in and see if its better or worse .just wondering why the pump cant be milled to get rid of the grooves , their not very deep .been tried , im sure! seems like a bronze or copper , or something plate would be a fix ? well , gota go see how the other looks . there appears to be dots on the gears . do they need to match when installing ? thnx
