No Oil Pressure

joshdell

New Member
I have an 03 pitbull and when I first start up It is pushing 20lbs of pressure, But as the motor heats up it will drop to 10lbs and eventually drop to 0lbs. I can bring the pressure up if I add some rpm's but that is about 1500 to 2000. no noise down below. I have changed the oil- straight 50 wt and flushed the lines but I get the same thing. I swapped gauges as well. A friend told me he thought there might have been an issue with the pumps at one time but wasnt sure. I have also noticed a noise from behind the cam cover that comes and goes. sounds like a spring flinging around or something to that effect. Anyone know why the pressure would drop to ZERO?
 

Dakotabos

Well-Known Member
Calendar Participant
Troop Supporter
Where are you taking your reading from?
If it is Zero you would have alot of noise. If I had zero pressure I would pull my oil filter put a litter bottle with the bottom cut out of it where the filter goes and crank the bike and see if the oil is pumping through the filter hook up area. (MAKE SURE YOU HAVE OIL IN TANK WHEN YOU DO THIS)
Let it drain into a pan. If the oil is pumping good there BONUS if not I would be pulling lines and see if theres a clog then if those are good I would pull my oil pump and make sure its operational.

My 2 cents

Happy troubleshooting :cheers:

PS this job would take atleast a 12 pack on hand
 

Ridgeback05

Member
I would check the screen and check valve on the oil pump theres a nut that you take off too check be carefull its spring loaded
 

LARS

sippin & cruzin
I just did a quick search under "oil pressure",about half way down on page 2 Turk1 had some responses on his question,also page 3,GasMan did an install thread,it's also about half way down the page,there are some posts in there about low pressure.Hope it helps.
-Larry
 

QHRCN

Active Member
I had the same problem on a 07 bull dog changed oil changed filters checked screens and no fix. never noticed until installed a gauge. I called S&S he explained that my gauge was a 0-60 lb gauge and these gauges were designed to be accurate in the upper 2/3rds of gauge so his feeling was there was no problem if your dummy light was not coming on and no noise from engine. his fix was "quit looking at gauge"
 

BigDogBro1

Made in the USA
Same thing here......

Should really use a gauge the reads up to 40 psi, then you'll get better readings at the lower end. My 0-60psi gauge bounces the needle around 0-5psi when the engine oil gets hot. It's also due to the S&S oil pump being a high volume lower pressure style, I've been told.

No dummy light, no worry as well I say.

I only bought the oil pressure gauge to check oil pressure after oil changes at startup.
 
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RazzBarlow

Member
I used to work for a domestic auto manufacturer and customers kept complaining that their oil pressure gauges weren't "reading in the proper spot". Finally, after trying to educate the customer about variances in temperature, viscosity, weather, etc..., they modified the gauges so that when they reached 8 psi, they went to 2/3 scale on the gauge exactly. No higher, no lower. So basically, they turned the gauge into an "idiot needle".
 

joshdell

New Member
Razz, your calling me an idiot? Lol! I feel ya and understand what you are saying but I am not going by the gauge alone.
Dakota Yes before I posted I had already flushed and checked the lines, screen and the check Valve. I have not had a chance to do the oil filter chech, but I did remove the line from the pressure cauge and cranked it up. no oil pumped up until I hit the throttle. The only thing left is the pump. I dont know much about how the pump works and I am trying to figure out how it could pump fine when it is cold but then nothing when it heats up. I coud see pressure reducing when it heats up. I was hoping someone here might have had the same issue at one point in time. It is time to put it up for the winter anyway so I will pull the pump and have a look see. Thanks for your help. If I do it anytime soon i will put out a post with my findings. thanks again.
Lars, i am doing the searches now. Thanks
 

BigDogBro1

Made in the USA
I may be wrong on this.....

Isn't there two sections to the EVO oil pump? One side that pumps to the engine and another engine sump return that pumps to the filter and then to the tank. If your engine sump has minimal oil to pump back through the return lines at idle RPM's then you may not see much oil flowing at that time.


You say you did pull the line to the gauge and didn't see oil coming out until you reved up the engine.

You may actually have an oil pump problem.

When the engine is at idle try disconnecting the oil pressure sending unit wire for a second to see if the oil pressure idiot light comes on to check it. Not sure if the computer modules will kill the engine.

There is an adapter to mount the pressure gauge at the sender oil port so you don't have to remove the gauge to check the tappet screen.
 
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K9err

New Member
Hey joshdell...just found this post. I'm having the same issue with my 07K9! I was told by a BDM mechanic that I need Baisley gears to increase my oil flow. Have you fixed your issue?
 
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