I think mine maybe dying. its running 22 psi when warm 45 psi when cold. its -3 here right now though. Oddly enough the Oil pressure has seemed to drop since doing the head gasket. Can I just change out the seals? Also I think this maybe why my Hydraulic lifters wont stop ticking since changing the head gasket. ive put 150 miles on it now and they wont shutt up and they never made a peep before.

Yeah, I had the same problem...replaced the gaskets (3 of them, $17 at napa). Ticking went away within 10 miles and I have 75 PSI at 3500 RPM running temp...I'm not sure about the gauge though, it's a cheap walmart one.

What car is it? If its a EA82 you might have displaced the rubber o-ring between the head and cam case. This will cause the HLA's to not pump up from lack of oil and tick. How many miles on the engine? Anything over 100K and a oil pump reseal is a good idea. Btw, oil pressure usually ranges from 0 @ idle up to 75+/- at higher RPM's.

especially with the stock gauge, anything over 5psi is good for a subaru... 22psi isnt a lot to worry about. not sure about the head gaskets, but if its never been done, reseal the oil pump, and replace the sending unit or get an aftermarket oil gauge.

well i hope fixing the oil pump doesnt lead to an oil leak from to much PSI. lol. it seems everytime i fix something it leads to another problem

when you installed the head gasket were the proper reinforced o-rings installed on the cam carriers? there's one small o-ring at the base of the cam carrier that must be replaced with a reinforced type oring that is hard to find. Subaru and http://www.thepartsbin.com are the only places i've ever seen carry. never seen any autoparts store carry this oring. a regular oring will cause issue, similar to what you're having, but would probably also cause a small amount (or large?) of seapage at the corner of the cam carrier as well.

 

your oil pressure sounds great, that's well above normal for most soobs of this vintage on the road today. reseal the oil pump. here are a few tips i typed up for the XT6, yours will be slightly different but very similar:

http://www.xt6.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5243

 

is the ticking all over the engine or localized to one cyilnder/one side?

Its only on the side that i changed the head gasket and it wasnt there before. its a 92 loyale with 125k on it. I figure that the oil seals should fix it i hope but now that you talk about the cam support ring i wonder

Yes, if that oring with the brass washer in it, doesnt get changed when you pull the cam towers off, you are gonna have leaks and HLAs are gonna tick.

 

Most of the subaru dealers carry these o-rings. They are spendy for their size but they are worth it. I pay 3.54 a piece for the orings on the last engine I rebuilt.

 

As far as oil pressure goes, at 3500 rpm I'm gettin 70 PSI. At start up when its cold, I'm pushin 80 PSI.

 

As long as your pump isnt dropping to 0 psi at 1000 rpms, it should be fine.

I've had a few rebuilt engines tick for a couple hundred miles. The only way to get the HLA's pumped up was to run the car at 5000 rpms for a few minutes.

Why would i have taken the cam towers off?

Sometimes its easier to pull the cam case off first when removing the heads. Some of the headbolts are a PITA to get a socket on.

sorry bout the mix up. my names for parts on an engine differ from other mechanics.

 

Cam tower to me is cam case. The thing thats held on by 8 12 mm bolts...

ok so fill me in as i didnt change it myself but i do have the schematic for the cam case. id like to go back to the mechanic with this info. i wonder if these would come in the gasket kit he got for the head gasket change?

yes the o rings should have came in the gasket set. if it was the complete set with intake, exhaust head gaskets, cam cover gaskets thermostat gasket oil pump blah blah blah blah.........

I've got a 90 loyale with 210k on her. New oil pump a couple years ago.

(new oil pressure sending unit too). About 75-80 psi at cold startup. Steady 45 psi warm/3200 rpm. Don't assume that your sending unit is sending an accurate pressure to your guage.