Will bad rear seal cause oil pressure to drop?

[84RabbitGTI]

I had the engine rebuilt last summer and drove about 1000 miles, and now the oil pressure is indicating low on the gauge.  The Water temp varys to near the low, even when the engine is warm, and up to a high of just below the middle mark.  The oil smells hot.  Temps here this winter have been

[Gordie]

The 226 engines never had high oil pressure and if it goes very low at idle it is typical but it should be around thirty at higher rpm and when you are driving.  The rear main seal should not affect oil pressure but it will sure cause it to leak oil at that point if it is bad.  Many of our K-F products have that nasty rear main oil leak.

[Roger]

I had the engine rebuilt last summer and drove about 1000 miles, and now the oil pressure is indicating low on the gauge.  The Water temp varys to near the low, even when the engine is warm, and up to a high of just below the middle mark.  The oil smells hot.  Temps here this winter have been

Hello  a few things that you could look at (#1) I can't remember if the oil gauge is mechanical or electrical if it is electrical then look for a bad ground in or around the dash gauges, this would also effect the water temp guage. (#2) Look at the oil filter some have a bypass built in and using the wrong filter could cause over heating and erratic oil pressure. These are a few things to look at before getting expensive.
  I hope this might help
      Roger   

[84RabbitGTI]

Thank you, I'll look at all suggested here!  Any thoughts on the proper oil filter? 

[Roger]

Thank you, I'll look at all suggested here!  Any thoughts on the proper oil filter? 

The only thing I could suggest is to get the specs on the original equiptment filter and find the equivilant in a modern filter (the newer filters have such a small micron element that it could cause a problem in a low pressure system. Yes it's just a theory but something to think about.
     Roger

[montefrazer]

The 226 used a partial flow system, not a full flow, so a plugged filter might actually raise the pressure since oil isn't flowing through the filter. The filter you need will depend on which system you have on the engine. This was a dealer or after market installed item. The one on my 47 Frazer is , I think, an AC system. It uses an AC PF-316 disposable paper filter. Fram Ch-233, PUROLATER P-70FF, ATLAS C-21, SHELL S-11, TEXACO T-11, MOTOR LIFE M-70FF, and UNION OIL PF 316 are all listed as a replacement. This was also a Mopar and Packard filter in the late 40's and 50's.

[84RabbitGTI]

I apparently have the correct filter. There must be something else wrong.  FYI: The oil pressure measure system is electrical on the '51. The oil pressure gauge consists of the sender unit on the engine which sends a variable amount of current through the windings in the gauge on the instrument panel.  I have a mechanical gauge for mechanics which bolts directly to the engine and sends oil directly to the gauge.  I'll try that to make sure the gauge isn't faulty of course.  The oil smells hot and some smoke comes out of the breather tube, but it looks quite clean.  No oil out the tail pipe and the anti-freeze is not cloudy.  It leaks alot out of the pan area and rear of the engine. That seems to be pretty normal though.  I'm not trying to do "donuts" in my culdesac either, in fact I'm not dogging the engine at all.  I live in a very flat area.  It has started and run fine all winter.  I run it every week or so depending on the weather about 10 miles.  Just short of 2000 miles on the re-build.
I'm hyper observant about the engine 'cause they are so damn expensive to fix, and I don't want to have to do that again for a long time. I want to move on to other areas of the car as the whole vehicle needs work.  Thanks for your indulgence!