No oil pressure after oil change

[brober29]

Have a strange issue with my M25XPB. First of all, the boat/engine are new to me and the boat has sat in dry storage for about two years. I had the diesel tank cleaned out and put fresh diesel, a new Racor etc on and the engine fired up and ran perfectly. Oil pressure was between 50-60 psi when I was warming it up. I then changed the oil and filter, checked the oil level and fired it back up. The alarm never shut off and the oil pressure gauge was reading 0 psi. I shut the engine down and checked the oil and the level was fine. I then tested the switch by grounding and it seems to be fine. To rule out the sender, I fired it up again and tested with a mechanical gauge. It was reading a little less than 5 psi with the mechanical gauge. I pulled the hose that goes from the block (above the filter) to the sender switch fitting and cranked the engine over a few times and it seems that no oil is pumping through that hole (the one in the block above the filter). There was oil in the new filter, so it seems that oil is getting from the pump to filter.

I find it very odd that this happened so suddenly. What could be blocking oil flow between the filter and the sender (and rest of the engine)?

[brober29]

Should also add that I used Heavy Duty 15W-40 Diesel motor oil and a Fram PH-3593-A filter.

[Ken Juul]

How long did you have it running?  It can take 5-10 seconds to fill the oil filter, until it is full oil isn't circulated very well.

[Stu Jackson]

To rule out the sender, I fired it up again and tested with a mechanical gauge. It was reading a little less than 5 psi with the mechanical gauge.

Did you also remove and clean the connector on the sender?

[brober29]

I did clean the fitting out. I also used a hose and blew some oil through the oil filter fitting and it came through the outlet hose with little effort. I let it run for about 30 seconds and it barely registered a single psi. The only things left are the pickup and pump but I just can't imagine either going suddenly.

[Ron Hill]

brober : I'd give Joe Joyce or Russ Hagen a call at Westerbeke and ask them your question.
With oil in the filter, I suspect your oil pressure sender or that circuit that includes the lift pump. 
Was your lift pump working when the engine was running or only running while the glow plugs are on?  A thought

[Stu Jackson]

Ron, I suspect that brober doesn't have a C34 by his signature.  I also understand that the connection between the oil pressure and the fuel pump is only on the newer engines, not the M25 series.

[Ron Hill]

Stu : He said M25XPB and that's what that engine has !  Just like the M35B/BC engine !   

[Stu Jackson]

Seems like it all depends on how it's wired, Ron.  We just don't know.  This is the link to the long discussion about that a few years ago:  

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,3347.0.html

Probably takes getting to the later pages to get to the meat of the issue, reply #30 page three about wiring diagrams, and page 4, reply #47 to the end about differences in the two wiring diagrams in the manuals.

[brober29]

Thanks for all the replies but I'm pretty certain it's not an electrical issue.  I'm using a mechanical gauge attached to the sender port to measure pressure. I disconnected the hose that runs from above the oil filter down to the sender fitting and turned the engine over for a few seconds to see if oil was being pumped through the hose and there is definitely no oil be pumped through. I broke down today and asked a diesel mechanic to take a look tomorrow. Have a feeling that something is blocking the pickup tube or screen. In over thirty years owning and working on marine diesels, I've never seen an issue like this. These Universal engines seem to be quite problematic. The PO had to replace the heat exchanger twice, lift pump, starter, raw water pump, transmission and had a host of smaller issues and the motor has less than 700 hrs.

[Stu Jackson]

... I've never seen an issue like this. These Universal engines seem to be quite problematic. The PO had to replace the heat exchanger twice, lift pump, starter, raw water pump, transmission and had a host of smaller issues and the motor has less than 700 hrs.

I agree, this one is a new one on us.

These engines are pretty reliable.  But maintenance IS required.  I have 2400 engine hours.  We have replaced the HX (2 inch to 3 inch), new raw water pump (the seals go, so the pump may be fine, but the shaft and seals need to be replaced, it's a NORMAL wear issue on ALL diesel engines, the exhaust riser replacement is required, I'm on our second fuel lift pump, the transmission could have been an issue if he left it in forward gear 'cuz the manual says NEVER to do that), and the "host" of smaller issues you don't say any details.

888 engine hours when we bought the boat in 1998, 2400 now, love the engine.

Stay with it, we'll do the best we can to help.

[brober29]

I will be sticking with the engine. Hopefully, after this gets resolved it will be a reliable engine. I certainly appreciate all the help and I'll post the resolution once I get this resolved (hopefully soon!).

[Indian Falls]

Before I went too far I'd put another new oil filter on it.  Take off the new oil filter make sure it had some oil in it.  If it's dry you've got some real problems.  If it's wet change the filter. 

[brober29]

So we got it fixed today. The mechanic came over and checked the filter first. He put on a new Fram PH-3593-A, the same type of filter I had tried three of. We had the same results, no pressure. We decided to check with a local marine wholesaler to see if they had the Universal 300309 filter in stock and they did. We put it on and like magic, we had oil pressure. I know many other M25XP/B owners who use the Fram filter successfully so I'm really not sure what went wrong unless we had a total of four bad Fram filters. Maybe the M25XPB has a slightly different filter fitting, pressure relief valve or something else, than the XP? I thought that the XP and XPB blocks were exactly the same (Kubota D950) with some differing bells and whistles from Universal. Happy to have it running properly again but quite confused by the filter issue. The Fram PH-3593-A cross references to the Universal 300309 from what I have read.

[Ron Hill]

brober: At the present time I have a PH3593A filter on my M25XPBengine.  A bad batch of filters??

Stu : If the Universal engine(or maybe other brands?) has two screw connections on the oil pressure switch that means that the lift pump is also wired into the oil pressure circuit !!

A few thoughts