no oil pressure

[love ke70]

hey guys,

just rebuilt a 1995 323 astina.
i know, thats where i went wrong, but its my sisters car, so i gotta do the right thing.
anyways, all went well except the oil filter seal not sealing so i pissed a sump full of oil onto the shed floor.
another new oil filter and some oil and all went well.
drove it to work in the typical running in, aka thrash it, style of driving and all was well.

got back in that afternoon and oil light stays on....
so i tow it home, and think
maybe dodgy sensor, remove sensor, fit new one. nothing.
remove sensor, start motor (yes, nothing in the hole...no oil comes out. nothing. not even a token drop!!!)
so, sump comes off, check, pick up still in place.
next, oil pump comes out...well its still there
remove oil pressure relief valve, split pin, washer and spring comes out. but piston isnt having a bar of it. doesnt want to move.
is this normal? could this be cause for no oil pressure?
what else may it be?

im at a dead end. cheers, andrew

[slide86]

the piston should move freely.

i think your piston as stuck at the top, which would allow the relief port to remain open, thus the lack of oil pressure.

you have to ensure the piston can move freely at all times.

[love ke70]

yes, stuck at the top
thankyou.
so do i force hte bastard out and try free it up, or get new front housing and pump etc and just replace the whole lot?

p.s. the pump is spun by the crank (sits around the crank) so to replace oil pumo involves replacing entire front housing

[slide86]

does it have a big bolt/plug at the end? some pumps have one so you can remove the guts of the thing to clean and so forth.

personally i would get a new pump, if the relief valve is incoporated in that.

[love ke70]

no, no big plug.
its all quite open once you take the back plate off of it.
the father has told me to leave it til he gets home (he's better at breaking stuff than me)
but ill be suggesting a new one to him.
looking at the section of piston i can see its quite scuffed so im guessing it has been catching for quite some time.
ill let you know what happens

[Shifty]

Have you checked that the oil pickup is there & that the gasket isn't blocking the hole?

[love ke70]

yes.
im settled on it being the oil relief relieving all pressure.
350 for new pump
10 dollars for new piston and spring

guess which option im taking