[Pudgy234]

Just curious is to what the oil pressure should be on these cars when hot and idling. Sat in traffic after a solid 40 min highway drive. Oil started flickering for about 15 min while I just stopped. Then evantually it just stayed on. The engine remained quite so it wasn't starving for oil. I replaced the pressure no luck. Oil pressure test revealed I was making 4psi at hot idle. My car also idles low...600-675 rpm and don't know why. If the light is on and I shift to neutral or park oil pressure goes up a few pounds and the light shuts off.

Has a new ford oil pump too
03 focus spi motor

 

[freemind]

Who put the pump in?

 

[Pudgy234]

I put the pump in. It was brand new ford pump.

 

[freemind]

Are you 100% sure that the gears were clearanced correctly?

 

[Pudgy234]

The pump only goes onto the crankshaft one way. Either way you have pics of how it's supposed to sit?

 

[freemind]

No I don't but, IIRC the gears are supposed to be clearanced with a feeler gauge.

 

[Pudgy234]

It could be somethig else too. The car idles low. I get about 10 psi in neutral and the light shuts off. I don't know how to kick the idle up

 

[sailor]

Does it still idle up high when cold started?

How about when it's put in gear, does the engine compensate for the load to keep the idle speed even? (might dip slightly & recover)

Trying to guess if your IAC (Idle Air Control) is functional.

 

[Pudgy234]

Yeah I think the IAC is working to an extent. I've suspected it but then it seemed to get better. So idk.

 

[Mandroid]

Have you tried adjusting the idle screw on the throttle body? Bing it up to 800 rpm or so. I believe that is where it's supposed to idle. Any higher and it will throw a code "engine idle higher than expected"

 

[sailor]

Current idle range is about right for an inop. IAC. The automatic control should raise it a bit over that. Normally set a bit below to give the IAC range to work in for different conditions.

 

[Pudgy234]

So try replacing the IAC?

 

[amc49]

Oil light coming on at idle probably because motor is worn. Probably why the pump installed and once again not the pump causing the issue. Pumps don't wear while leaving the rest of engine untouched but so many fall for that one.

Replace IAC or clean the TB and/or PCV valve so you have all the idle air you're supposed to.

Depending on oil weight used you may be able to improve the oil light issue slightly by bumping up oil weight.

 

[Pudgy234]

The motor under went a complete rebuild after the it dropped a valve seat. I have a reman head on that came complete with cam and rockers. I stripped down the block had it checked, honed and pressure cleaned. Had the crank sent out machined and returned with the right size bearings. New pistons, rings and 1 rod. I'm currently running 10w-30 with Lucas oil stabilizer and a smaller oil filter to bump the pressure up. The car had always seemed to idle poorly. Even my buddy said the same thing and he owned the car before me but he never saw the oil light

 

[amc49]

They stay on only fractionally and can depend on the switch used. The switches contact anywhere across say 3-7 psi depending on the one you get. If at 7 then only a slight amount of wear will have it coming on.

If pump is one that drives off crank nose then you don't simply throw it on like the old days, it must be centered with a specialty tool or someone has to custom shim to center it, if not then if loaded to one side the gears will wear like lightning and could be your issue. The centering prevents shoving gear tip solidly into it's recess to load gear to tear up. Why someone earlier mentioned setting the gear clearance.

'...smaller oil filter to bump the pressure up.'

Uh, no, the bypass simply bumps open faster, the filter should NOT affect oil pressure at ALL, that would be a disaster. Now you're not filtering the oil.

 

[ReallyRandy]

Did you ever find out the issue? My cousin is having the same issue in hers, and while I have worked on it before, I'm not too familiar with the SPI engine. Hers just got a new oil pump installed at the dealer, and has 184k on the clock and a stack of dealer service records that would probably require a giant redwood tree to print.

 

[a_2000_se]

Here is info on a TSB from Ford regarding oil pumps. Later on in the link the type of oil pump used driven from the crankshaft is referenced.

The TSB probably came about from all the SPI engines being replaced. Imagine also the wear that might occur from a dropped valveseat if the oil pump and engine bearings aren't all cleaned/replaced.

I replaced an oil pressure switch years ago because of a dimly lit light. But it was for different symptoms - the light would only dimly light when key on engine off.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236136&highlight=prime+oil+pump

Gerotor and Eccentric oil pumps
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=234139

 

[amc49]

I said it all the time at the auto store but no one listens until they have already spent (wasted) the money, it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to wear just the pump and not the engine, if pump is dead then generally so are the rest of the engine clearances. One either gets that, or they are doing extra work that will do nothing. I watched it all day long after telling them, the lemmings follow the others who go there, unfortunately it didn't work for them either. You never hear that part though, people do not like to admit they messed up.

A worn engine will show oil light even with brand new pump if the clearances are greater than the pump can cover.

Next they come back wanting another pump saying the pump was 'bad', like that is even possible. The morons that ran the store then let idiotic customer install up to 4 pumps and warrantying out every one and why the vendor gets so pissed off at the stupidity of the parts chain. Customer gets refund and walks off in a huff because we could not supply a decent pump, like the dumb-ss even knew what to do with one. LOL. I don't miss those days of pure insanity and many were like that, the average DIYer now is nowhere near as smart as he was 20 years ago. Why these ideas won't die, rather, they self perpetuate.

 

[Mandroid]

Try running a fram filter (they generally raise pressure) and run thicker oil? At this point it might be your only hope.

 

[Pudgy234]

So I'm bringing this thread back. I've read everything here. I guess my next move should be to remove the oil pump and replace it just because it may have been installed wrong and could be worn. Install the new oil pump and check the gear with a feeler gauge. Where do I check with feeler gauge?