Hey Guys!

New member here excited about my first boat / money eater.

I just picked up this 94 Nordic. The owner just had it rebuilt and explains the current engine as "the 502 EFI motor runs, was just rebuilt, but has no oil pressure, (likely a spun bearing) it doesn't knock yet".

I have started it with the muffs on and verified the oil pressure with a manual gauge. It starts and hits 40. After warming up it slowly drops. It maintained about 30 while idling for a few minuted before I shut it down. No knock.

I am about to pull it and have it rebuilt but I wanted to ask the experts first if this could possibly be something else like a missing galley plug. I have not actually ran it yet as I do not want to mess anything up if it does have to be rebuilt.

Thanks guys and I look forward to being an active member here!

So do you know why the previous owner thought there was no oil pressure ? 40 cold, 30 warm, at idle doesn't sound like 'no pressure' ?

Nice boat. Lets hope your problem is not so bad. Could be a bad oil pump (In my years of racing/engine building, you would not believe the guys who want to re-use an oil pump because they figured it didnt have alot of hours/miles on it), could be that the pickup fell off, or it could be they added a different pan, and didnt take the proper measurements for the pump/pickup tube.

Can I ask you a dumb question ? Did you CHECK to see how much oil was in the motor ? I saw a guy put a "chrome" dipstick in his motor cause it looked cool. Problem was...the bling stick was about 6" LONGER than the original. The stick was going all the way down, and touching the bottom of the pan. It showed full when there was 3 quarts in the pan. He had little to no oil pressure too. Just an idea. (and a dumb story...but true)

What kind of pressure do those engines require? 30 psi warms sound like plenty to me, but then again I know nothing about high performance engines...

I would defiantly change the oil and filter. Cut the filter open &you check for metal. If it spun a bearing, there will be lots in it. Your oil psi doesn't sound too bad, but I would think on a fresh oh it would be more. I would bet the guy who built it didn't ck bearing clearances & probably just slapped bearings in it. My 2 cents.

let me start by saying,welcome aboard,and u have a nice looking boat,i don,t like to speculate,can u supply more info,how much run time on engine,what weight&brand of oil,what brand of oil filter.have u checked the routing of the oil lines.i suggest checking as much as posible before removing the engine.where are u located?

after looking at the picture again,im guessing u are in arazona.

just an idea but my dad bought a truck one time with a similar situation the guy he bought it from had just put a gm crate motor in it and lost oil pressure,he dropped the pan and they had not tightened the oil pump bolts good and they had came loose but not all the way out and lost pressure,he tightened em down and was good to go

Let us know where you are. I have a 35' Nordic and live in Peoria, AZ... I do most of my own wrenching, I'm no engine builder but I'd be willing to take a look at it or recommend some local marine mechanics.

I think I would pull it....but remember, oil pump, bearing clearances oil cooler/lines etc will all effect oil pressure..just a brand new factory 454 spun a rod bearing, had slight knock that sounded more like a piston slap, with NO loss in oil pressure, so ? better off finding out what you really have...