I have an aftermarket gauge and noticed it was idling at 25 psi when it normally idled at about 40. Pressure was still 70 or so while going down road. I checked the oil and had to add 4 qts to bring it to full.

Engine is new MKIV 454 .040 over, roller cam etc. My question is, does anyone think I could have damaged anything? Runs fine, no noises etc. I feel pretty stupid to have done this on an engine I just spent $6k on but it seems to run fine..

I have about 500 miles on the new build and I guess these BB's use a bit more oil than I expected. I already changed the oil once at about 100 miles..

The first victims of oil starvation would be rod bearings and main bearings. There might be some crankshaft scoring from this. I know that this is not the answer of a perfectionist, but if there is no rod knock and you still have good oil pressure, then it will probably continue to work OK. I would replace the oil filter and cut open the old one and look for metallic debris. Then you decide what to do.

it still had pressure, so i wouldn't worry about it.
but i would try to figure out where the oil went. rings not sealed, valve guides, intake gasket, etc..

it still had pressure, so i wouldn't worry about it.
but i would try to figure out where the oil went. rings not sealed, valve guides, intake gasket, etc..

Yea, that's what I figure. The pressure never got below 25 or so and was nice and high when hammering on it so I suppose I didn't break anything. I found a leaking drain plug in pan. The nylon gasket wont seal for some reason.

A 4 quart leak would have to be pretty messy under the car and on the GROUND. Not sure how you could have missed that..Also a burnt oil odor from burning on the exhaust. If no signs of that, maybe more going on instead of just the drain plug..

Find the leaks and look into burning oil. But 25 psi at idle is ok. 70 at higher rpms is ok too. But I suspect that if you where 4 quarts low that means you had maybe one in the engine and once pumped up into the top of engine wouldnt leave much in pan. If this lasted long you probably saw 70 but was lower when you werent looking. I can only hope that you have a high capacity oil pan. When its cold, you can pump that oil up in engine and run out before any gets back down. Best suggestion so far is cut open the oil filter and look for metal as JWagoner has said.
Bill

I have an old HP book on chevy big blocks that had an interesting fact. When GM first designed the big block, and was in the testing phase, it was determined that with as little as 3 qts of oil in the pan rod bearing starvation would not occure until 6K rpm. Just thought I'd share.

When I was a stupid teenager, my grandfather gave me an old one gallon can of Montgomery Wards motor oil to use in my Chevelle - that was burning and leaking plenty of oil - one quart every 100 miles or so, running or not. Anyway, shortly after I started using this very clear and thin oil, the idiot flickered on and off during a 250 mile trip and came on solid for the last 10 miles. When I pulled the motor out and pulled the pan off, my dad asked me why I had used paint thinner in the crankcase! Cutting open that filter sounds like the best idea so far. Good luck!

When I was a stupid teenager, my grandfather gave me an old one gallon can of Montgomery Wards motor oil to use in my Chevelle - that was burning and leaking plenty of oil - one quart every 100 miles or so, running or not. Anyway, shortly after I started using this very clear and thin oil, the idiot flickered on and off during a 250 mile trip and came on solid for the last 10 miles. When I pulled the motor out and pulled the pan off, my dad asked me why I had used paint thinner in the crankcase! Cutting open that filter sounds like the best idea so far. Good luck!

I'm gonna pull the filter this weekend, I am wondering if my aftermarket dipstick is reading wrong. If it is short I suppose it would read low. I will drain all the oil and put 5qts in. I assume that would be pretty close to full.

As long as you had oil pressure/the idiot light didn't come on and no hard cornering. I bet your OK. Just monitor it and see, what your oil filters show you.

As long as you had oil pressure/the idiot light didn't come on and no hard cornering. I bet your OK. Just monitor it and see, what your oil filters show you.

Thought I would update the board on this. Turns out my aftermarket dipstick was too short. I added a measured quantity and it registered way low on the stick. New dipstick did the trick, the engine is running pretty good and I am going to be spending some cash on tires!

When I was a stupid teenager, my grandfather gave me an old one gallon can of Montgomery Wards motor oil to use in my Chevelle - that was burning and leaking plenty of oil - one quart every 100 miles or so, running or not. Anyway, shortly after I started using this very clear and thin oil, the idiot flickered on and off during a 250 mile trip and came on solid for the last 10 miles. When I pulled the motor out and pulled the pan off, my dad asked me why I had used paint thinner in the crankcase! Cutting open that filter sounds like the best idea so far. Good luck!

:) ROFLMAO

my dad asked me why I had used paint thinner in the crankcase! Cutting open that filter sounds like the best idea so far. Good luck!

I actually covered my face in shock when I read that! LOL :clonk:

As long as you had oil pressure/the idiot light didn't come on and no hard cornering. I bet your OK. Just monitor it and see, what your oil filters show you.

You'd be surprised what one of these motors can go through without hurting it. I once dropped my pickup tube and drove over a hundred miles before noticing the lifters going crazy on an offramp on the highway. That motor is still running strong today.

Thought I would update the board on this. Turns out my aftermarket dipstick was too short. I added a measured quantity and it registered way low on the stick. New dipstick did the trick, the engine is running pretty good and I am going to be spending some cash on tires!
Glad it wasn't anything serious.:thumbsup:

most people run way too much oil i their pans anyway, it would probably amaze you to see what it looks likes when a crank is whipping through suspended and pooled oil at 6000 rpm. it amazes me how many people buy and install a deep pan and then fill it up to the stock level.... windage trays rule:cool:

:thumbsup:I think it will be fine... We also had a sump fall off and didn't notice it right away. After the repair we noticed the engine had a slight but permanent loss of some oil pressure. 20 at an idle instead of 30. That motor went on to be the best engine we ever had. We raced it hard for a couple years and never had oil pressure related trouble.