Hey,

Stepdaughter thought the "oil" light meant she needed to change the oil. She put it off till the engine sounded funny.

I just swapped in a new motor, and after cranking it to start the oil pumping, it eventually got an "oil" light. No oil pressure. So I pulled the oil filter and initially as I broke the seal, it dripped a good amount of oil. But here's the wired part... as I finished unthreading the oil filter, it popped as the last thread let go, and more oil dripped out.

So I think the oil pump is working, it is the original, was "primed".

Do I have a bad oil filter? It is from China!

But even then, why would it hold pressure on the engine side (inside threaded part) of the filter and not let it bleed back to the oil pump (outter area) side?

Blocked oil passages?

UPDATE: Found the timing cover gasket (bought three) did not have the hole cut for the oil to get to the block. The oil pressure indication is on the timing cover side, so it showed I had pressure, but it wasn't actually getting to the block. I cut a hole in the gasket so the oil would pass, and now oil flows into the engine!

 

I plan on cranking the engine by air wrench with the oil filter off and see if oil is coming from the oil pump. If it does, its either a bad oil filter or clogged passages...

 

I can't tell from your post if your engine swap was before or after the oil light came on. If you switched engines due to an engine failure, you should have replaced the oil pump when you did (especially if you switched engines due to an oil problem). However, why aren't you using the best oil filter available? That's engine protection you should never take a chance on. If your engine swap was "just because" and now you're having the oil light, it could be the sending unit. Either way, if you're not getting adequate engine oil pressure, I would have it flat-bedded to a mechanic and have it checked.

 

I wish every vehicle i owned had a oil pressure gauge and oil temp gauge. It just gives me a piece of mind.

 

X2, the TJ has them, wish they were in the JK.
Seriously considering adding a cluster with oil, volt guages.

 

Sounds like you're knowledgeable enough to swap a motor and troubleshoot yourself, so this may be a dumb question:

a.) how much oil did you put in.
b.) how long did you run the motor after you started it?

When I swapped the engine in mine, it took a long time for oil to get through all the passages and have the oil light shut off. I don't know where the sensor is, but it seems to be at the end of the passages somewhere. Also, the oil pan isn't dented at all, is it? The sump/pickup is right smack at the bottom rear of the pan, so if it's dented there, you could have tweaked or blocked the pickup.

 

The TJ ones were no better than a light, all it would do is move from no pressure to pressure, they weren't really a gauge.

The Voltage light on the other hand was a true gauge.

 

x2...IMO it'd be great if someone engineered a triple pod for the JK that would sit down inside the center of the dash (replacing storage nook that's currently there)

Or a pillar pod would be ok too I guess, not optimal if you want to fold the windshield down....

 

The old engine was destroyed by a 20 yr old female. I put in a little over 5 quarts of oil in the new engine, and plan on checking once the oil starts pumping through, they take 6 qts. I had primed the new oil pump with oil, it should work right away...

I found it. Both the gaskets for the timing chain cover that came with the new engine, and the one I bought at Advanced Auto parts DO NOT have the hole punched in the gasket where the oil goes to the block. I took the one I bought from Advanced and cut a hole in it, and woopi, I have oil pumping through! Too bad though, when I pulled the oil pan to get the new gasket in, there was significant amount of what looked like bearing material.

I'll see if I'm luckey enough to just have to replace the rod bearings, I believe the main bearings will be O.K., I didn't crank it over more than a total of 5 minutes...

 

I don't think a guage would have mattered here. When I was cranking the engine, it didn't have a light. I found the timing chain cover gasket SHOULD have a hole in it for the oil to pass through and go to the engine, but all 3 gaskets I had, did not have that hole punched. I punched a hole myself after finding several metal bits in the oil pan.

A gauge located where my dummy light sensor is, would still have showed full pressure, but because the gasket was blocking the oil, it wouldn't have been any different. Maybe I would've figured it out before I killed the new bearings.