Scott,
The oil pressure relief valve on the left side of the engine's job (we are
talking about a "B" this time, aren't we) is to by-pass excess oil flow that
the bearings cannot use. It is a very simple spring balanced device.
You will find that it sometimes goes into a sort of oscillation at different
flow rates (engine RPM's). This doesn't mean something is wrong.
If you didn't replace it during your rebuild, you might feel better if you
did, not that there is anything wrong. The spring and valve are $6 from VB.
Moss also has a "heavy duty" spring that will raise pressure from about 75
psig to about 100 psig. I have one, but never installed it. I decided that it
would only put extra strain on the oil pump and that if the bearings were
already flooded, the extra pressure wasn't really necessary, at least for
street use. Racing might benefit from the extra pressure and flow. Since my
car is a daily driver, I opted to not go the route of speed goodies that
cause extra stress on other parts, like a high lift cam, that high pressure
oil relief valve, etc.
Incidently, I think that the oil pressure of a cold engine should be about 75
psig. That's where mine is until it gets fully warmed up. At running
temperature I see about 50 - 55 psig on the guage. It's been that way since a
rebuild about 50,000 miles ago.
I also change the oil and filter as close to 3,000 miles as I can remember to
do it. In the summer I use 50w Valvoline. In colder months, 10w-40. Oh, and I
use Fram filters, which should start another thread of discussion. I have
also used the Fram filter with Teflon about every third change.
R. Johnson - Dallas
'90 Maine Coon
'79 Midget
'76 Midget
'73 MGB
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