bcarpman,
He apparently wanted it at 180*... if he changes yours, let me know.
Carder

Well, Tyler got to it pretty quick this time. Unfortunately, he found nothing wrong internally. Checked the pump, bypass, pickup, pan to pickup clearance, dipstick level, cut open the filter, even pulled a couple bearing caps.

He did find a lose ground wire that his FORMER installer had forgotten to tighten, but the problem wasn't intermitant. It was very consistant with engine rpm and load. I have a hard time believing a bad ground could cause such a consistant problem with only one gauge (all the others are perfectly consistant)

Yikes, nothing I hate more than a problem without a known cause. I'm going to drop it in tomorrow and see. Going to hook up a mechanical gauge just to make sure.

He also said he wants to use the 180 deg thermostat, so I guess I'll stick with that.

It was dyno tested after the original build last may (2007). but it's been apart twice since then for other issues. When it was initially dynoed it made really good oil pressure. I don't have the sheet on me, but I think it was like 60psi at that speed.

I wonder why he didn't do a pressure test FIRST with a mechanical gauge,it easy to second guess someone but I would have cut the filter open then if it was clean put a mechanical gauge on it next before the ripping began. Either way I hope he finds the problem and solves it for you,Smitty

I work for an engine machine shop that deals mostly with drag racing and high end street cars, but the same principles of an internal combustion engine apply. Anyways, I've seen that exact thing happen a number of times when there isn't a sufficient oil pan on the application. What I mean is, we'll have a customer that has a small block stroker with a high volume oil pump and a stock oil pain and at WOT, the oil pressure will hold for a second and then start to drop as there isn't enough volume of oil in the stock pan. it needs something aftermarket that holds more quarts b/c it is pumping it faster than it's draining back and getting to the pickup again. Maybe this is something for you to look into. Hope it helps.
Barry
www.ProLineRaceEngines.com

Not a bad thought ..... on the Dyno you get just a few seconds of WOT pull and its over ...
I wonder what his thinking is on 180* stat? ... I know on my motors until we got the temps up over that 200 mark there was milk on the valvetrain ....m

This does sound like it is running out of oil! Pan could be the problem.

I agree, we had a similar problem with the first couple 383's we built. Insufficient oil levels, or an improperly placed oil pump pick-up. Either way it sounds like it is siphoning the pan dry, or the pick-up is placed to high. Thats just me pulling one out of my rear.....

I agree with the running out of oil theory...If they went to a high volume oil pump you need a 10 quart pan.

I too have seen the same problem. How big is your oil pan? I'm running 10 qt Canton pans and no problem.