Maybe Boston Bob can chime in here. It sounds to me like the case needed an
align bore and the rods needed to be resized.

Dennis

>From: Thomas Pfrommer <pfrommer@PHAS.UBC.CA>
>Reply-To: Thomas Pfrommer <pfrommer@PHAS.UBC.CA>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Re: oil pressure -- next round
>Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 10:04:03 -0700
>
>Hi Dennis,
>I was using 20W50.
>Yes O had new gears and a new pump housing in, but the old cover, which
>i will replace now. I know that I am almost above the pressure, and this
>is OK. However that was measured without load. I did try it without the
>pressure gauge before and had it run for  more than half an hour. No
>buzzer. Ok Lets go on a small trip (a couple of hundred meters). As soon
>as i was outside, the buzzer went on.
>So It is really something wrong when the engine gets hot. I will check
>the housing for wear but I ordered it from busdepot just before
>reassembly, and the engine run in total after reassembly not more than
>say 1.5 hours. The scratches though are weird. I did sand the cover down
>and now there are clear scratches again. Perhaps I am sucking air and
>not oil, as David suggested. Hm Will see.
>I am not sure about the loose mains, I brought it to a shop with good
>reputation to to the job and they ordered the bearings for me. Also I do
>not have a cam bearing left around, so I doubt I forgot one. They were
>new as well. I did the valve adjustment as written down in the Bentley,
>but for the two cam followers (see my reply from 11:41 PDT last night
>why two were different),  it was a bit hard as they were not completely
>filled with oil, hence i could not feel the exact point when to start
>counting the 1 3/4 turns. Could these two followers (actually the valve
>adjustment) cause such a pressure drop? Hm will check again when the
>engine is filled with oil ....
>But first i will check all other stuff once it is open ....
>
>Thanks a lot
>Thomas
>
>
>
>Dennis Haynes wrote:
>>What viscosity oil are you using? This may have been mentioned but
>>remind me.
>>I doubt you have a blockage. The lenght of hose going to the guage
>>will not efect the reading unless you are actually flowing oil. It may
>>delay the reading but the final pressure reading is good.
>>Scratches in the oil cover is common. Dirt. Was it a new pump and
>>housing? You can check the housing for wear with a striaght edge and
>>feeler guages. The Bentley has the specs.
>>
>>12.5 psi is almost .9 bar. While not quite the pressure that should be
>>there you are clsoe to satifying the switch, (.9 Bar). If you can get
>>maintain 2 bar, (28 psi) at 4,000 rpm, you should be safe to run.
>>These pressures are an indication of loose mains or out of round rods
>>or a missing/bad cam bearing shell. Also, how are the vlaves adjusted?
>>If you set the lifters with clearance, you will have some excess flow
>>there. They should be tight, ( touching + 1-2 turns) so that all oil
>>flowing through has to get forced through the rockers.
>>
>>Dennis
>>
>>>From: Thomas Pfrommer <pfrommer@PHAS.UBC.CA>
>>>Reply-To: Thomas Pfrommer <pfrommer@PHAS.UBC.CA>
>>>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>>Subject: oil pressure -- next round
>>>Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 22:03:22 -0700
>>>
>>>Hi again,
>>>OK I am in bad luck i guess .....
>>>after I measured the pressure (I posted the readings a few days ago) I
>>>realized its really oil pressure and not electronics or other stuff. OK
>>>got the muffler off, got the tin sheet off (I really hate this f!@#$%
>>>sheet), and the engine support bracket. Unfortunately, the water pipe
>>>did not allow to unscrew the upper nuts completely, so in the end I had
>>>to get the pulley off and then the water pipe.
>>>
>>>I did not make any mistakes with the gaskets. Everything as it is
>>>supposed to be. BUT I do see quite obvious new scratches in the cover.
>>>Together with the bit of oil that I saw at the pump after I ran the
>>>engine a bit, it looks like I have some backpressure and a blockage
>>>somewhere. Any other ideas? Hm in cold run I got 55psi at 1000rpm. Only
>>>when it warmed up, I had 12.5psi at 2000rpm (and 3 meters of tubing
>>>before the gauge, which will drop the pressure a bit, but not that much
>>>I guess). Also that was still beofer the fan of the radiator went on,
>>>but the engine was quite hot already.
>>>
>>>I have to admit I don't know what to do any more. I just don't want to
>>>open the beast again ..... I checked all oil gallys with an air pump and
>>>felt air coming equally out of every opening. I could not sense any
>>>obstacle sitting somewhere. Also the indication of the new scratches on
>>>the cover rather show some backpressure than too loose bearings or
>>>similar. I sanded the old cover flat before I put it on (now I have a
>>>new cover ready to be put on). Also the scratches show that all areas
>>>are equally scratched, so i did not flatten it at an angle.
>>>
>>>Hope someone can help me. Oh man, I hope i could drive around now, and
>>>now it seems that all effort wasn't worth it (besides the gain in
>>>knowledge about these engines ...)
>>>
>>>I need rum now
>>>Cheers
>>>Thomas
>>
>>