So if seal is good As you said, and you said you checked pickup tube b4 instal & that was good too, (then if those two are good) , then I guess it leaves you with only one suspect, front cover, right,?
Either it doesn't seat true on oil pump & allow's a little air which I guess you will see as score lines on front cover & new oil pump gear, (I hope it's not the case, cause it sucks) or maybe oil bypass valve that is build into engine not the one in oil filter is stuck open, (which is very rare but could happen) & allows air into system,
But at this point no choice , & you have to open cover to find out,
(Try checking pick up tube as well as it is in place by some compressed air (if possible) to see if it holds pressure,

 

I'm waiting for bearings to come in. Might as well.

I found the oil bypass I was thinking about. It looks like this:




And this is the general procedure:




Having studied this I don't see how it could be the issue unless it was stuck OPEN, which isn't likely. But I'm going to check it.

Basically, for the column of oil above the filter to be draining back into the oil pan (which is what seems to be happening) with no massive oil or air leak above, the front cover bypass valve or the oil filter bypass valve would have to not work. At least, that's my thinking now. It sounds as thought it doesn't have oil at startup and that the oil takes too long to get there. I'm discounting the drip from my timing cove/crank seal because I've had far worse leaks from the front and no pressure issues.

Confusing matters, my oil light is now staying off.

The humongous oil filter should improve pressure if nothing else does, assuming there is no issue with my oil pump, the bypass piston, or pickup tube o ring. I'll try that first. Then the bypass valve. Then the pickup tube and I'll recheck the oil pump gears then. If I have a problem after that I'll replace the main bearings but not the rod bearings because I'd need to replace the rings and burn my new head gaskets to do that. All of the rest is just RTV.

 

Just to put a pin in this I discovered the cause of the oil leak and fixed the low pressure.

First I was messing with my cooling system today and noticed that my crank pulley was wobbling. I pulled it off and part of the damper was squeezing out. I had a spare and a new front seal so that took care of that. Here's a picture of the bad pulley.




I am a rover hoarder and it sometimes pays off.

Then I checked the pressure valve. It seemed to move easily but it was a BITCH to get back in.

So then I put on my new mega filter.




This increased the pressure immediately. I cut the old filter open and it did have some sludgy stuff in it which I assume is the Vaseline that I put everywhere in the oil pump when I swapped last week. No Vaseline this time.

So I've staved off removing the pan and front cover, and replacing the bearings. Yay.

If I ever have to replace the head gaskets it will get new rings and bearings. But for now, it is fixed.

 

Good that you find the problem b4 tearing into other parts,,,
But with what you found to be the problem, (clogged oil filter) is very concerning, because oil filters that have bypass valve are actually designed so an engine doesn't run into the problem as yours did with clogged filter element even when element is totally clogged the bypass valve is supposed to open right away, I wonder why your's didn't,!
After you cut filter open did it actually have a bypass valve,?
Was it moving freely,?
Even with lots of Vaseline inside filter, worst case Vaseline should be forced out of bypass & find its way inside engine, & be desolved after engine reaches operating temp, it can & in your case did clogg filter element, but bypass should have been washed with hot oil & not clogg up,!, & WIX filters are supposed to be amongst better filters , I wonder what happened that bypass didn't do its job,
good that you cut filter open & post results, now I wonder if bypass valve actually works in real world when it's needed & not just as theory,

 

That my thought too. The bypass came out easily and went in easily. But there is no way for me to really test it.

I still have the parts of the old filter but I don't know what to look in re the bypass in the filter. Also it is supposed to prevent drain back. So, while I have solved one problem, maybe (low pressure at idle), I don't know whether I did anything for the drain back and I dont yet know what to look for in the filter bypass. I'll Google it. I'll find out about the drain back in the morning.

 

Sounded terrible this morning. Awful.

I wonder if I don't have a loose exhaust flange. It is that bad. Sounds terrible. Maybe it is not oil hitting the engine that makes the sound go away but rather hot exhaust hitting the gaskets. Wow. Disconcerting loud ticking sound. I am going to record it tomorrow so when I figure it out people will know what to listen for.

 

Charlie,

What did you use to hold the crankshaft pulley when you removed it? Last time I had the oil pan dropped so I could wedge a piece of wood in the crankshaft to stop it from turning. I'm needing to replace the crankshaft seal. Mine is leaking like the Valdez oil spill for the last 3 months. I'm thinking a bike inner tube, Rigid chain wrench and an iron pipe touching the ground. I've been following your post, man you have been working through the issues Geezsh.

 

^ Charlie had a tool made. I'm tempted to order one. Charlie, we need a group buy on your tool!

 

It is basically a metal coach's paddle. I'm looking for a picture...

 

AH, here is what you need. I can't remember what it cost.... maybe 35 or 40 dollars. I use it all of the time... I used it a couple of days ago. EDIT: Well, DUH, that's in this very thread. Any decent fabrication shop should be able to look at those pictures and make one while you have lunch. The length of the handle could be longer, but I wouldn't make it shorter--it rests very easily against the power steering unit for loosening and a 5 dollar metal fence post cut to length holds it just below the power steering unit for tightening. swinging the other way for loosening (and avoiding the power steering unit) is fine, but you have to take the oil filter off. Or if you have gorilla arms I guess you could just pull or push the two levers.

Bolts go through the holes to the threaded holes on the crank pulley. The socket for the crank bolt goes through the middle. You just brace the end on something sturdy and turn the socket.

Sometimes it is better than dropping the pan and wedging wood or a mallet in the crank. It definitely works better on a stand (with a metal fence post on the tool) because you are levering against the tool, not the stand. I never have any help and it took me about 30 minutes to swap the crank pulley and seal, including rummaging for tools and spitting out dripped antifreeze from another project.

I used to bend the bolts badly every time I used it because I couldn't run them all the way to tight or they would hit the metal shield behind the pulley. One time I bent them so bad it took alot of work to get them off. Since then I got shorter bolts and use washers. It would be better if the tool was dished to fit inside of the pulley, but nothing is perfect and this is plenty strong (including the bolts) for 150-200ft/lbs. Also, the paddle can be wider (but there is no reason) but not shorter. My prototype was a 2x4 with bolts through it. It broke in an alarming fashion while I was trying to give myself a hernia with a too-short ratchet.