lost oil pressure

[str8bloc]

started truck 60psi .drove around 20 mins 15 psi 30 mins 0 psi. i pulled the passenger valve cover and oil was only squirting out of the first rocker #2 pistion.WTH happened?

[Captkaos]

No oil was moving?

[beastie_3]

pull distributor and prime the oil system. That way you can see if its the pump or not.

[str8bloc]

i had the pass valve cover off only the first rocker had oil but very little

[str8bloc]

well i just rstarted it after 4 hrs i got oil pressure for almost a minute then went back down to 0. ima swap dizzys tomm and see if the prob persists.

[Blazin]

Whats the motor? How many miles? Did it have low or normal oil pressure prior to this happening?

I would start by setting up an under hood mechanical test gage. See if the same thing happens. Start with the simplest test, it could just be a bad gage, or if its an electric gage could be a bad conection.

I'm going to assume " dizzy " means the distributor.
The oil pump is driven off the bottom of the distributor, but if you are getting oil pressure for a short period it sounds like the shaft is fine.
While its out use a drill and a gear less distributor shaft to run the oil pump. Have someone watch the gage, also see if your getting oil to the top of the motor.

[str8bloc]

motors a 350, unknown miles,it had 60 psi for almost 30 mins then it started to drop slowly. i took the pass valve cover off and restarted the motor only 1 rocker got oil the rest didnt. the gauge is new and is electric, they told me it could have shattered the nylon retainer?its wayyyy to hot im waiting until tonight to tear into it

[Lt.Del]

this may sound obvious, but, someone posted a similar thing recently and it ended up being oil level too low. 
Could be clogged pump screen, worn pump, bad gauge, bad sender, loose wire connection.  if it ever sounds like a diesel engine, you're in trouble.

[Blazin]

Oil not getting to the top of the head could be clogged up push rods. That does not indicate poor or no oil pressure.
I would hook up a mechanical gage right at the motor before anything else.

[str8bloc]

well i dont have a mechanical gauge but i did swap dist. and i gotoil pressure verry quick but it didnt want to start i think the carb is needin a rebuild its a 1406 and gas came from the holes on the top by the secondary rods?

[Irish_Alley]

sound like your timing is off or you have a bad connection. did you verify spark? granted your carb may have a problem but it started before you took out the distributor just not after you put in the "new" one

[HAULIN IT]

ima swap dizzys tomm and see if the prob persists.

i did swap dist. and i gotoil pressure verry quick

Are you trying to tell the class that you have an engine that started out with good oil pressure & as it warmed up...it went lower & lower to nothing & now changing the distributor fixed it?
How about the engine is cold & the oil is thicker so it has oil pressure now (again) & once you run it for 1/2 hour & everything warms up...you'll have no oil pressure again? MUCH more believable.
The only way the distributor itself could have caused this is if the gear is spinning the shaft (quite common on some Ford's), however the engine would shut off instantly since you have no spark...one of the fail-safe plans built into the engine kinda by design (accident). Good Luck, but your kinda doing this backwards...The whole "should I prime it", pull valvecover, check oil @ rockers, start engine. You got the cart ahead of the horse. Lorne   

[thirsty]

i think the carb is needin a rebuild its a 1406 and gas came from the holes on the top by the secondary rods?

Fix this. You probably have a nice mixture of oil and gas in the oil pan. Change the oil after your carb is fixed and your oil pressure might come back.

[VileZambonie]

I agree with Lorne, why even touch the distributor? Now you're saying it's got carburetor issues? You need to hit the reset button on this one and start over, and set your timing too.

[454Man]

This is a good time to get a vac gauge and a timing gun. Like stated above id take a rest and start fresh.