oil preasure went away w/Fram filter

[ceylove]

Just did the 500 mile oil change on my rebuilt motor.

In a hurry, ran to AutoZone and got the correct (by their chart) Fram oil filter.

It was the only one listed for '69-76 BMW 2002 4Cyl. The Fram # is: PH3816.

The one I took off was the BMW filter. I compared both filters before installing the new one and was satisfied they appeared the same.

Started up the motor and the op light stayed on. It's a new OP sender and was functioning before the oil change. Flickering at idle, going out once revs hit 1000. Turned off the motor quickly, looked inside oil filler at valve train and had friend start it again and sure enough, no oil squirting through the valve train.

The only thing that changed was the filter, so went back to the old BMW filter, started it up, and full OP again. Has anyone else had similar experience here? I did not replace my oil pump as it was working fine before, just cleaned it well, etc. What should the OP be at idle on a fresh motor? what should it be @????RPM? My OP gauge doesn't fit into the OP switch hole so I'll have to sacrifice an OP sender to make something to screw into the hole to gauge it.

Any input here appreciated.

Thanks

BTW-motor is 2.0L E12 head, 292 Schrick cam, new dbl springs, valves, etc

stock pistons, new bearings, seals, etc everywhere. Weber 32/36 carb

[TobyB]

So throw the Fram away and get a real filter that fits.

I have found Wix, Mahle and Bosch to all be decent.

Or at least pass oil.

You wanna see 20(ish)+ psi at idle, and it should climb quickly to

40 before 2k, and max at about 55-60 by 3k, hot.

If it goes much over 60, your bypass isn't working, and that will pop

seals in the bypass passage if you really rev it while cold.

And get a real mechanical oil pressure gauge. It's not hard to rig,

and then you'll always know. You can add the light too if, like me,

you fear that you'll miss a low gauge.

fwiw,

t

[ceylove]

TobyB-thanks! I did toss that one and I'll check my op to see how it compares to your numbers.

[BigDog]

FWIW I think something else is amiss here. I ran that fram filter off and on for years, never ever had a problem. My oil pressure always read the same whether it was with that or a Mahle/BMW filter.

BD

[TobyB]

Yoo bet-

keep in mind, there's quite a bit of variation between cars

of different ages and eras and oil weights!. So don't be surprised if yours

turns out to be different than mine-

the 3 'good' targets are 20psi at 1k, 40 at 2k, and 60 at 3k and up.

Good luck!

t

[BigDog]

Toby,

From your experience, does the electrical gauge that you mount with the dual sender unit up by the dizzy produce higher readings? Mine seems to run a bit more than that, just curious.

BD

[TobyB]

Not really-

the numbers I'm using are for a well- loved

parts motor that doesn't knock!

(I seem to have a few of these)

Kind of a 'safe minimum' I guess...

Jenn's car has always idled at 30 hot, and gotten onto the

regulator at 60 psi by 2500 rpm.

But she has one of the good motors...

heh

t

[allbim]

ceylove,

You may want to fill the filter before you put it on the engine.

I do wonder if your oil pressure light should be flickering at idle.

What do you think Toby?

[ceylove]

no more problems once we put the BMW brand filter back on. Idle was set to about 800 rpm and oil p light was flickering.

I brought it up to about 1000 to 1100 rpm which still doesn't sound too high, and the oil pres light went out and stays out at idle.

I have no idea where the stock oil preasure sender is set at or if different makers are set at different numbers.

So far so good, faster idle and stock filter.

I'll pre fill it next time but still stay away from cheap filters.

Thanks all for the info

[canadamatt]

If I don't happen to have a mahle on hand (dealer is an hour and a half away from my shop), I just go to napa and get their 'Napa Gold' filter which is made by WIX. "the interweb and bobistheoilguy.com says" its one of the best... take that for what its worth. The interweb also seems to hate most Frams... I have had bad experience in numerous vehicles as well.

Matt

'72 02/m20turbo

http://www.tinyurl.com/02m20

https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTY5NTgxOTI5