[iceman411]

After putting some good street miles on my new combo, I took it to the track and my '69 GTO went 11:57, 116 with a poor mid 1.7 60' right off the trailer!!! 3850lbs... Not bad. the next week it went 11:44, 119 with a 1.67 60'. In the shut down area, hard on the brakes, I noticed the oil pressure gauge read zero, and turned the corner and it went right back to it's usual 40-50 psi to get the time slip. Next run went 11:37, 119.9 with a 1.72 60' and the same thing in the shut down area. I got invited to leave for no roll bar.....Mission accomplished!!!! Since then I've noticed the same thing on the street with hard braking without winding the motor up- oil psi drops and goes right back up after going around a corner. Motor- 455 solid roller, moroso 7 qt pan, melling oil pump. Works great on the street(never gets above 180 in traffic) and has never got hot. Mains had .002, can't remember the rods tho, Eagle crank 4.250 stroke, eagle 6.800" rods, 425 gram Ross pistons. 2 bolt studded block, stock windage tray with a few extra holes drilled in it. I originally intended to run the Crower rollers, so I didn't bother restricting the block, yet ended up tossing in a set of Comp's due to avaliability at the time. A bow tie friend of mine had the same issue with a moroso pan and switched to a either Canton or Steff's and his oil problem went away....I have no problem ditching the Moroso pan as it fit poorly to the motor, yet I'm in the process of building a caged '77 TA and am uncertain if it will clear the stock front chassis. Since the season has ended here in the snow-belt, I want to pull the motor and check the bearings, which I had planned irregardless of this issue and now really need to. Has anyone else ran into this? The Moroso pan did have a baffle in the bottom that did require trimming(a little) and I did weld(lightly) the Moroso pick-up to the pump and there was approx .200- .250" clearance from pick-up to pan. Any Ideas? Think a set of Crower rollers or sticking with my comps and tapping the lifter bores for restrictors and possibly a new pan? Racing.....It is addictive...

[screamingchief]

That issue is fairly common with the Moroso pans,among a few select other pans.

Most use an oil system accumulator to deal with it.

That or switch to a pan with trap doors to hold the oil closer to the pick-up under all conditions.

Some also choose to modify the Moroso pans internal baffles,or add trap doors to the those pans.

Plenty of options,some simple,some more complex,some cheap,some not so cheap,like anything it all depends on what your after and how you choose to get it.

The topic has seen some discussion,a search should yeild more info.

[fasteddy]

Save your bottom end-put on an Accusump. Ask me how I know-:0(

[gjn]

I have the Moroso 7 quart pan and stock windage tray and have had zero problems with oil pressure on the shut down area (100+ passes this year). I only run 6 quarts of oil too. I am a little slower; but, I dont' think the pan is the issue.

[NHRASuperStock455SD]

Try running more oil. Most Pontiac guys dont run enough oil in the pan. If you install the Accusump run more oil plus add 3 quarts to that.

I would guess that 80% of all Pontiac engine failure is due to the lack of enough oil in the oil pan.

Lynn

[goatasaurus rex]

have you considered if the pick up is off the pump? i had a similar problem, pretty much exact same problem. scraper side of factory windage tray came off. motor ate up half of it and when it was done with it, spit into the sump and on the way down took the pick up off the pump. not cool, all bad.

good luck

bob

[Skip Fix]

Milodon road race pan second gen F body did the same thing and pickup was correct. I like the Canton baffles better, see posts in "search" for pictures.

New "race" motor will probably get an accusump, as well as an extra 1.5" deepened Canton pan.

[65nss4spdGTO]

I've been running a Moroso Pan with no troubles. What is your oil pressure through the traps? What oil are you running? What heads are you running?

[russ467]

Mine did the exact same thing w/ stock pan.
I mostly run 1/8 mile tracks with short shut down area, so I was standing
on the brakes.

Installed a canton pan w/scraper and windage tray. Problem solved.

I think the problem is caused from the pan running very low on oil and standing
on the brakes, makes what oil is in the pan go to the front and uncover the pickup.

[Probird]

Try putting in another quart of oil or get a different oilpan with trap doors. I run the Moroso and haven't had any problems after adding another quart of oil.

[shaker455]

Iceman,
How many quarts are you running in you engine?

Are you running a remote filter?

I just assembled a stroker engine using the same pan....pan takes 7 quarts "without filter" so you should have about 8 quarts in there total.

[jess5780]

iceman i lost the bottom end in my 455 because of the same problem
invest in a good pan and a good oil pump the pan deffinatly needs baffels
i went with a billet fabrication pan and a titan oil pump then backed it up with a 3 quart
morroso oil accumalator any drop in oil pressure for any length of time is just asking for trouble

[iceman411]

Ive considered the possibility of the pick-up coming off the pump. I do get some oil out of the right side breather that leaves alot of residue on the heaterbox and firewall after four passes which led me to believe that the comp rollers were letting too much oil pass thru and filling up the valve covers.? Anyway, Moroso 7 qt pan, I've been running 7qts 10-30, stock style oil filter(Kauffman without the bypass spring), I used to run and still have a remote filter set-up, yet I pulled it 'cause the Doug's headers fit so nice, and ported E-heads. going thru the traps I have 50- 55psi on the auto meter. I also am taking the psi reading from the fitting next to the distributor. Motor is coming out soon to take a look and if all seems fine, I'll try 2-3 more qts and see what happens. On all the pontiacs I've had in the past, I never saw '0' on the oil gauge even with stock pans, yet none have ran as strong as this and this motor has the first aftermarket pan on it. I thought the Moroso pan and it's baffle was good enough, but I was really turned off on how poorly it fit. Had to "ding" the front of the pan to clear the studs, beat the side out to clear the factory windage tray and trim some of the baffle to clear thier supplied pick-up. Thanks for all the replies as this car would never had gotten to this point without the help and suggestions of the posts and replies here. What a blast!!!

[shaker455]

I would say just add one more quart for a total of 8.

Not sure what heads you using but if there E-heads the oil return is high and slow...

A lot of guys that drag will add return lines (and a extra quart) plumbed into the valve covers directly to the pan.

Never was a fan of restricting oil to the top of the engine as it is needed to regulate the temp of all the moving components.

I have Moroso pan # 20500 went on there site and it says 7 quarts "not" including the filter.

[NHRASuperStock455SD]

Originally Posted by shaker455

I would say just add one more quart for a total of 8.

Not sure what heads you using but if there E-heads the oil return is high and slow...

A lot of guys that drag will add return lines (and a extra quart) plumbed into the valve covers directly to the pan.

Never was a fan of restricting oil to the top of the engine as it is needed to regulate the temp of all the moving components.

I have Moroso pan # 20500 went on there site and it says 7 quarts "not" including the filter.

The Moroso uses 3(if you include enough for lines etc), most Pontiac are 6 stock! That is 9, if you have a 7 quart pan that is 7 + 1 + 3 or 11. Do yourselves a favor guys, keep plenty of oil in your pan.

I run 10 without the Accumulator and 13 with it. My onboard computer showed 40PSI while the accumulator was discharging when the pan was sucked dry Not enough to prevent problems. Never and I mean never count the oil in the accumulator towards your oil total. Always put 3 extra while running one. It is there for safety only not to run on.

Lynn