My 1990 2.3L has been running odd lately. About a month ago i noticed that my oil pressure guage was going all wacky. when it was cold and I started it it would not register any pressure at all until the car warmed up. I checked my oil alot, and I never needed to add any, my dipstick read it well within the guidelines. I recently (for about the past three weeks) have noticed a knocking sound in the engine. Now its worse than before, and now the oil pressue gauge kinda goes along with the noise it makes. Like, when i sztart the car it reads no pressure and once i start driving and get up into higher RPM's it starts making the knocking sound. Now, whether the car is warmed up or not when the knocking sound starts the oil pressure gauge drops. If i let off the gas then the sound will go away and the pressure comes back up. Also, I have noticed that when idling my temp goes up pretty quick. And it doesnt matter if its 30 degrees outside. Once i idle the temp goes up. Also when I idle the oil pressure gauge goes down. Am I crazy or is there something wrong here? I dont really have the money to buy another car or have the engine rebuilt/new/whatever. So if its something bad what would you guys reccomend doing? Either way I'll be strapped for cash.
You haven't thrown a rod, yet. Once you do that the rod will probably go out the side of the engine block creating a hole and an oil mess. It sounds as if the oil pump could be your problem. And if this problem continues, you will do damage to the engine. Take the car to a reputable mechanic and have him look at it. He will know within a few minutes what the problem is. Good luck.
The fact that you are having low/no oil pressure can cause your rod bearings to go bad. Once the rod bearing fails, you are in for a costly repair. The oil pump doesn't usually knock like that. I'm not saying it never does, but the noise is probably your rod/rods. Stop driving it and take it to a shop before it totally fails. They can replace the oil pump and the rod bearings by just taking off the oil pan and repairing it from under the car. Once the rod bearing totally fails, though, you are in for a very expensive repair since it will most likely ruin your engine block.
I'll tell you, it sounds like its time to rebuild. If you caught it sooner you could have just replaced the oil pump and nothing else, but because you didn't get it fixed when there was NO oil pressure, your engine now needs to be rebuilt (sorry, but its just common sense that when it reads no pressure, you get the car towed because oil doesn't mean anything if it can't get through the engine at the right pressure)
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The sad thing is, with 15 PSI, straight back exhaust, and a bobs log, it still feels slow...
Maybe 20PSI, new computer, new 3" VAM, and some porting will make it faster
It is a rod bearing that is about to fail due to low oil pressure. Same thing happened to my brother's car. Do as icemann suggests and have it repaired before it goes. Don't drive it to a shop have it towed. Once the rod bearing totally fails, your hooped because it will damage at least the rod and crank if it doesn't wreck the block.
It would not matter to you anyways babe. I live in Canada so costs are too different. I also did the work myself. If you find a reasonable mechanic, it shouldn't be that much. Maybe someone in your neck of the woods can chime in a make a recomendation. Alternatively, you could try asking a local member to help for a reasonable fee. On SCCOA, the members drive hundreds of miles to help each other for nothing.
If your going to fix it yourself, you need to pull the engine, rip it apart to the crank shaft, and replace the bearings (rod, crank and you should do seals since your in there)
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The sad thing is, with 15 PSI, straight back exhaust, and a bobs log, it still feels slow...
Maybe 20PSI, new computer, new 3" VAM, and some porting will make it faster
Like the others have said, you have not thrown a rod.
One way to check to see if your connecting rod is knocking is to crank the engine without the spark plug in one cylinder at a time. If the knocking goes away when a spark plug has been removed from one particular cylinder, you have found the cylinder where the issues are arising.
As for your crank shaft bearings, you could just pull the oil pan and check for clearance with a feeler gauge (a plastigauge might work) and check what the minimums are with specs from Pro-sis or Alldata. Im sure someone here may have bearing specs for you.
When was the last time your oil was changes along with what vis-cosity rating did you use?
I proabaly had it changed about five months ago and its running 10W 30. I used to run the heavy stuff (20/50) but the mechanic told me i should run 10/30
I proabaly had it changed about five months ago and its running 10W 30. I used to run the heavy stuff (20/50) but the mechanic told me i should run 10/30
Hi,
One problem with running a thicker oil is Resistance. I always go by what the manufacturer recomends. 5 months seems alittle too long too to go without an oil change IMO unless its synthetic.
I would change the oil and filter to what your owners manual suggests and go from there. Im also a fan of branded oil over dyno.
As for people recomending you which vis-cosity to use, everyone you ask will always give you a different answer...
1990 Mustang 2.3L mustang threw rod? 
