I’m posting a picture of my guage cluster. At this point I had been out cruising for an hour straight. Does the water temp and oil pressure look right to you guys? This is a Chevy 250 straight six.
Last edited by Peggy M; 04/24/202312:41 AM. Reason: more info for title
What year of 250? There were different oiling setups for different years that have different expectations.
Also, what kind if oil are you running?
On edit: you will probably get more of a response if you change the thread title to be more descriptive about what you want advice on (ie: 19xx 250 Oil Pressure and Temperature Readings)
Coolant temp is too low. Is the engine idling, or at cruise RPM? 10-15 PSI is OK at hot idle, as long as it increases at cruise RPM. What weight oil are you running? Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
The speedometer shows 51 MPH and the voltmeter shows around 14 volts, so I'd guess that he isn't at an idle.
'57 GMC 102, Original 347 V8, HydraMatic, 3.08 rear gear, added A/C, disk front brakes, HEI, AFB carb, '98 Honda Black Currant paint. T-boned and totaled 10/12 '52 GMC 152 Stake Bed, Original 228, SM420, added A/C, HEI, disk front brakes, '67 Chev 3.55 rear gear. Gets used as a real truck.
What thermostat ? 180 is what it should have. What oil weight? 10w30 or 10w40 is what it should have. If it has lots of miles, run 10w40.
When hot, mile idles at 15 psi with a 5w20 full synthetic oil. While driving it's more then 30 psi, my gauge reads 0-30, I don't know how much over 30 it has. When hot in traffic, mine runs 195-200 with a 180 T-stat, at idle or on cooler days it runs right at 180. I have mechanical fan, aluminum radiator, pretty much stock 1970 250 engine. Automatic transmission has its own cooler, and A/C does't add much heat to the engine unless it's really hot out and I'am not moving much.
I am guessing you have electronic gauges, have you checked the oil pressure with a good known mechanical gauge? You should hear the lifters and rocker arms rattle with that little of oil pressure when hot at idle.
I will disagree with Joe H on the oil. If the engine hasn't been rebuilt, I'd recommend 20w-50 or 15w-40 Rotella T4.
The heavier weight oil is needed to fill the large clearances between moving parts and to keep the oil pressure up. Thin oil on a worn out 70 year old engine is asking for trouble.
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You can't have almost no pressure. Other gauges are a little off. We don't know anything about the history so I am guessing that new fancy cluster and some senders have installation/compatability issues. Volts too high, water to low, oil at zero, don't know how much gas is in tank. Don't know if you were goimng 51 MPH when you took pic. Better not drive til oil pressure is fixed. You/we will need to go over the installation, one gauge at a time.
Who and when was cluster installed? Need full disclosure and history and your experience..... to begin with. ..so far you have not responded to any of your 3 posts.
Otto, no problem disagreeing. I hate to recommend that heavy of an oil, but in some cases it does solve the problem. Back when I was drag racing a lot ( every weekend ) we ran heavy oil for a while. After a season of racing with heavy oil, the distributor gears were half gone. Pontiac's drove the oil pump from the distributor. After seen what the oil can do, we dropped back to 10-30 or 40 depending on how fresh the bearings were. Dad went all the way down to 5w20 with no ill effects.
I figured with that type of dash and how nice it looked, the engine was in just as good of shape. I'am still betting it's a sender issue, either faulty or voltage.
250 are tough engines, but not that tough, it needs oil pressure!
Running 15W-40 oil. Engine has not been rebuilt. It’s a 250 from the 60’s is all I can tell you. I was running at 51 MPH when picture was taken. I had this 41 rebuilt a few years ago. Originally had the stock 216 in it. Last year I swapped the 216 for the 250 after throwing a rod in the 216.
I definitely need to recalibrate the speedometer because it was running 10 MPH lower than what I was actually driving.
Confirm the pressure is accurate with a direct reading gauge connected to the engine oil gallery- - - - -then pull it out and rebuild it. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
If the actual pressure at cruise speed is as low as that fancy gauge indicates, the engine is on the ragged edge of disaster. Badly worn connecting rod and main bearings cause low oil pressure at cruise speed. Either fix it now or wait until it becomes a boat anchor. You can ask John Milliman (the owner of the Stovebolt site) if my analysis of oil pressure symptoms is accurate. I took one ride in his truck with a newly-installed "good condition" used 261 engine and warned him not to drive it again until he pulled the oil pan and inspected the bearings. A couple of rod bearings were totally worn out, along with two cracked pistons. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
OK- - - -not quite as dire a circumstance! 216's routinely run very low oil pressure, even at cruise speed. Connecting rod clearance will have no effect on oil pressure, as the rods are lubed by spray nozzles in the oil pan. Main bearing and cam bearing clearance will have a big influence on a 216. Where is the pressure gauge line attached to the engine? The only place to get an accurate reading is at the oil gallery on the lower driver's side behind the exhaust pipe. 15-20 PSI at hot cruise speed isn't ideal, but it's not uncommon. Pressure will drop to nearly zero at hot idle, which is also normal for a 216. Don't run water-thin oils such as 5W-30, etc. The engines were designed to run straight 20 or 30 weight. 15W-40 Diesel rated oil will work well. Lots of stovebolters run that oil with no problems. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Some people attach the pressure gauge line to a port in the cylinder head above the distributor on the passenger's side. That will give a very low, inaccurate reading. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
There's a temporary fix- - - -install a Melling M-29 oil pump that's intended to fit a 1953-54 235 engine. It has bigger gears and slightly more volume than a 216 pump, and it's sort of a band-aid fix to compensate for worn bearings. It requires a little bit of creative plumbing of the pump pickup and pressure lines to make it fit. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Sorry, I was referring to fixing my post. Lol because I forgot to put the picture up. Not sure if tightening but not help with the pressure gauge or not. I will find out tomorrow when I crank it up.
Ok I had a chance to get out and drive this evening. The first picture is about 10 min after first starting the truck. 2nd picture is after about 20 minutes of cruise time. Of course I drive through town so only went about 4 miles. I tightened what “I believe” was the wire going to the oil pressure gauge. What gives??
