Oil Pressure Gauge 73

[73c34me]

Greetings, My oil pressure gauge didn't move tonight. I pressurized the line w/ carb cleaner from a spray can & it held til it blew the spray hose off. Then sucked out the line w/ a syringe. Next I reinstalled the fitting on the block with a new brass farrow. Put the 1/2 drill on a pre lube tool in the distributor and spun until oil came out all the push rod rocker arm junctions. My son was watching the gauge and said it never moved. It worked when I pulled the motor...

Oh yeah, i don't have a battery installed yet, so no juice, but the mechanical gauge should work? Any ideas?

 

[73c34me]

Ttt

 

[Sam Cogley]

I think 73 was the last year for a mechanical gauge, it should read whenever there is pressure in the line, no matter if the power is off or on.. Either there is an obstruction, or the gauge is shot. I've heard of owners upgrading to the 1974 electrical gauge to get that oil line out of the dash - if it starts to leak, it can be a mess.

As goofy as it sounds, I've tested some old truck oil gauges by blowing into them via a short length of clean line.

 

[DC3]

I had an issue with the oil pressure gauge in my '73 when I first got it. I've since converted to electric but initially I fixed my mechanical gauge by cleaning the inside of the gauge itself with carb cleaner. Mine would read about 10 all the time until I cleaned it and then it became fairly accurate. Apparently, it was all gummed up inside.

DC