Oil pressure problem with my KA

[drift into a curb]

So I was setting up for a KA-T set up. On my car I used a Transdapt oil relocator set up and from there I used a sandwich to feed oil to my turbo/oil pressure gauge.

Well my problem is I'm not picking up any pressure. My car had no problems with this before. I didn't change anything other than the cams which were working fine before the KA-T set up.

I ended up changing timing covers in hopes it was a bad oil pump. I replaced the oil pick up and gasket, oil passage o-ring, crankshaft pulley seal, and sealed the covers with liquid gasket per FSM. Well, I squirted a little oil through the pump, primed all the lines and filter. Hmmm, it's still not picking up oil.

I don't get it and it's racking my brain. I have been following the FSM and taking my time doing this. Is there something I'm possibly overlooking? Any experiences or advice? Not some "do your research" because I've talked to numerous people and it's very rare oil pumps do go out on our cars (so I did switch mine out).

I'd appreciate any info you guys ran into with your ka-t set ups. Thanks

[sideview_180sx]

james you think it mite be the guage itself?? you might be recieving oil but say the guage mite not be getting power to function. is it electric guage or a mechanical??

[drift into a curb]

It's a mechanical gauge. I thought it might be that, but my block isn't getting oil. I cranked and nothing shot out. *scratching my head on this one.

[orion::S14]

Is this a '97-98 motor missing the last cam tower, and using S13 cams?

[drift into a curb]

It's a '95 S14 using the s13 248 exhaust cam as the intake (rotated 4 teeth). I was reading that the those galley plugs in the rear only needed to be pushed in for the 97-98 correct? Hmm any other questions or info I could provide you guys with, please let me know.

[orion::S14]

I was reading that the those galley plugs in the rear only needed to be pushed in for the 97-98 correct?

Correct.

...

Oil pan is not dented?

Do you still have the OEM dummy light for oil pressure installed, and does it stay lit when trying to crank the car?

??? - Brian

[drift into a curb]

Oil pan is not dented on the bottom. I still have my stock oil pressure sensor installed. And the lights are hooked up on the gauges. I'll check if it stays lit or is on at the time. I don't recall because I was looking my oil pressure gauge at the time. I'll give it a try tomorrow when it's day time.

[drift into a curb]

Does the oil regulator valve often fail and cause problems? Or relief valve?

I haven't had a chance to see if the light goes off, but I'm gonna a try and also pull out the oil pressure switch and inspect it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v343/driftintoacurb/oilpump.jpg

[drift into a curb]

The light didn't come on for some odd reason.

I'm afraid my battery may have taken a shit. We jumped the car and finally got it to pump oil through the oil pressure switch. So signs are pointing to positive finally. I'm going to try a new battery asap and hopefully I'll have some good results.

[orion::S14]

If the stock dummy light goes off, you have some pressure (+6psi)...and your new gauge is broken/bad...unless the problem is fixed now for other reasons.

Good luck with it.

- Brian

[S14DB]

Wait, what's the diff with the 97-98?

[orion::S14]

Some '97-98s are missing the rear most cam tower, so the rear oil plug is pushed further into the end of the cam to prevent oil from spewing out the last cam journal.

Basically, if you put S13 cams into a '97-98, press the plug in the S13 cams to the same depth as the OEM '97-98 cams.

- Brian

[drift into a curb]

I was checking my forsale posts and came across this old thread. So i figured out my problem. A couple years too late. I had a Perma-cool sandwich adapter. These are meant for oil coolers, 1 port in and 1 port out. Unfortunately I was trying to run it for two ports out for oil feed and oil pressure gauge. I did get it to run with the Perma-cool sandwich, but it was very iffy and eventually something leaked in the water system. The sandwich adapter I do recommend is the Greddy Sensor sandwich plate. It has two outs and is made out of some purdy aluminum. So, beware of running the Perma-cool set up from summit or where ever as I don't think they make one specific for gauges.