Oil pressure dropping. I think I killed her...

[Von]

I was off monday and tuesday but was busy doing the salesman/manager shuffle and paperwork on my wife's new car. 2011 Nissan Maxima with 31k miles. Black/black, leather, sunroof, sat radio... all that stuff. Super nice car. She'll be happy with it for a good many years. Newest, nicest car she's ever had and I stayed out of the picking process.

I went out this morning and pulled the valve cover. All the lobes are still there and it's still in one piece. Definitely some wear on the lobe/ rocker arm contact points. No galling or gouges but more wear than I'm comfortable with.

I crack me up sometimes...
While I was turning the motor over with the cover off I realized it was in gear, the truck wasn't moving and there was weird noises coming from the bottom of the motor. I remembered a guy at work saying "Oh ya could've busted the crank... I've seen it happen"
I pulled the flywheel cover off since that was easier than draining the oil and pulling the pan. Turned it some more and the flywheel turns too.
I think the drive gear on the starter was stuck engaged with the flywheel and that's what the weird noise was...

My mailman stopped by while I was doing that and we got to pontificating on why I could turn the engine with it in gear and not meet any resistance from the drive train. He had to get back to his route and left.
... Duh. It was in 1st gear. It's geared so low I had to turn the engine a while before it actually started to turn the wheels.

I'll have to tell my 4 wheeling mailman about that.

Messed with the carb a little bit and tried to start it. No go. Then checked the points I reset last week... Guess I didn't get the lockdown screw tight enough, they'd closed up. Reset them again and it started up.

Still no oil pressure for a few at start up.

Since I have the Pontiac to drive and what with the 715 shedding bearing material, I think I'll park it till after the holidays and go from there.

It'll be a lot easier to get into the back yard under it's own power...
I'd give up a few body parts for a real shop and some room..

[Don Cavey]

Since you say no oil pressure, I didn't see whether you put a mechanical gauge on the thing. Do you know there is no oil pressure or is the electronic gauge just saying no oil pressure? I had that issue with my Grand Cherokee and it was the sender, not the engine.

I know this sounds simple and I am sorry if you have already checked that. But I sincerely hope that is the problem. I know that when I start my truck after it has been sitting, I see no oil pressure. A snap of the finger on the gauge and it jumps up to 60 or so PSI (I forget exactly the amount).

Just hoping!

[Von]

I didn't verify with a mechanical gauge. I've seen the electric gauge stick before and tried thumping it on startup.

Just from the sounds the engine was making I believe the gauge. Some serious rattling and occasional knock that subsided when the pressure came up on the gauge.
that and the condition of the oil on the last several changes.

I'm off next week. If I get bored and the weather is decent I might drop the pan and clean everything good, put new oil and filter in and see how it does.
Maybe check some clearances.

There looks to be plenty of room to drop the oil pan without lifting the engine, is that correct?

[militarypotts]

You know Don, I took your advice and tapped on my fuel gauge today while the truck was running. It jumped from empty to full and now it's staying in the full position. I know the tank is about half empty, so I'm not sure what's going on. The oil pressure gauge is still sitting at 0 though. Truck idles perfectly and is as quiet as can be. This oil gauge has been acting up for a while now. I did notice under the dash though, a connector hanging down, not plugged into one of the gauges. This may be why my oil gauge stopped working suddenly. I will check it out when the weather warms a little.