Oil pressure

[chankel]

I have been working on my 1964 230sl fuel problems for 2 years. After rebuilding pump, changing lines, cleaning tank, changing fuel pump, I may finally have that fixed so now I get a new problem to deal with. I do not have any oil pressure when trying to crank or after it starts. I drained the oil to look for metal but could not find any with a magnet. The car has run no more than a minute or two in the last few years. Can this be a gauge problem or is it probably an oil  pump or oil pump drive problem and what can I do to check each to isolate the problem?

[menesesjesse]

A simple garage check would to be to remove all the plugs and remotely crank the motor with the oil cap off.  Look in the cam cover and there should be a lot of fresh oil coming from the pump and supplying the valvetrain.  A dry cam will indicate weak oil pressure for sure.  Good luck
Jesse   

[ja17]

Take the valve cover off and see if you are getting oil up there.  You can even crank the engine with the valve cover off.  If no oil, I would suspect that the verticle timing gear has failed. It drives the oil pump. Do a search on it. If you cannot find enough info on it, check back with us.

[chankel]

Thanks for the information, I removed the vertical timing gear,(easy job with all the info and pictures on this site) it had a lot more play than it should have. I have ordered the replacement parts except for the cover plate which they say is no longer available, mine is probably reusable. The horizontal gear and the oil pump drive look good so maybe this will work. I will let you know in a couple days when the parts come in.

[Naj ✝︎]

While the vertical gear is off, you can drive the oil pump with a flat screw driver blade and speed brace or even a drill to pump oil upto the camshaft. I believe CW but not sure.

naj

[chankel]

That is a good idea, I would like to check the pump without the drive gear in to narrow down the possible problems.

[chankel]

Good news on one front. I hooked a drill up to the oil pump and it saemed to work properly. The parts came in today for the timing gear, hope to install Thursday, maybe that will solve another problem and I will be one step closer to getting to enjoy my car.

[chankel]

This is a big day. After three years, many dollars, tons of work, and countless hours of research on this site, I have joined the ranks of proud owners who can actually drive there cars. Yes I took my 1964 230SL out for my first short drive today, it felt great. Not to say I still don't have a few things to do, but it is running pretty good. Thanks for all the help.

[knockmacool]

Congratulations, and we wish you many happy miles!