Recently had the 383 completely rebuilt...everything new! Its been overheating since first putting it on the road 3 1/2 weeks ago. Now has 135 miles on it. Took it to the radiator shop this morning and on the way the lifters started clattering like crazy. Pulled into
the radiator shop lot (it was running warm, maybe 195 degrees). Shut it off. Started it up again & watched the oil pressure gauge. NO OIL PRESSURE and the lifters clattering real loud (but no knocking). Had it towed home. Took the filter to the rebuild shop for inspection...no metal debris in it. Rebuild shop said pull the distributor & spin the oil pump and look for pressure. Did that and got about 25lbs. of pressure on the gauge with the drill. Put it all back together and turned the engine over with the starter only.....again...no pressure registered on the gauge. I'm afraid to start the engine. Any thoughts on this?

Probably popped a lifter out of its bore. Look for a lifter in the lifter valley. You can pull the valve covers to check.

But all the lifters are clattering and the oil pressure gauge reads 0 pressure and engine runs very smooth. Any other thoughts?

Pull the valve covers and have a look at your rocker assemblies. Hopefully you didn't wipe the cam out but probably not since you said the oil filter wasn't full of metak.

What did the end of the distributor drive look like?

Was it rounded off?

If you have oil pressure with a drill and hex rod but not the dist drive I would start there. Check the end of the drive and the oil pump to be sure the pump isn't going bad where the drive connects.

Milodon pickup ???

cam bearing not installed correctly or turned in the block? pull the valve covers, spin the pump with a drill while a helper rotates the crank. make sure your getting oil up top

Stock Dodge pump.

Distributor drive looks excellent. No trace of wear. It's not rounded off. Why would I have oil pressure when spinning it with a drill and not while spinning it with the starter or with the engine running?

See that is what gets me. There are only 2 differences in the scenarios 1. Pump driven by a different device and 2. Engine is moving.

I would pull the pump and check the input end of the pump. Compare how tight the distributor drive is in it to the hex drive rod.

The only other thing I can think of is a bent pushrod allowing the lifter to move too far out of place and exposing the oil gallery when the engine is moving but settled into place by the time you used the drill.

It won't hurt to pull the valve covers too.


Is it a mechanical gauge or the factory one?

I recently went through the same problem with one of my 440s except for the overheating. No oil pressure all at once while coming to a stop. Couldn't get pressure spinning the engine with the plugs out, spun with a drill and had about 20 lbs. (not enough). I pulled the intake, valve covers, and oil pan; everything fine. I cut the filter open too, no junk or gunk in it or the pickup.
Since I had just bought the car and it had had a fresh oil change with (do I dare say it?) Fram oil filter, I figured I'd run it for the life of the oil.
The ONLY thing I changed was the brand of filter, which I was hesitant to leave on the engine when I bought it. Spun it with a drill and got 60psi instantly. I fill the oil filter before installing it of course. No problem since. If you are running one of these filters I would change it. Next, I would look at the cam bearings for oil hole alignment.

It's a factory electrical gauge. I had all the gauges checked for accuracy by that automotive electrican in Arkansas. The oil pump is brand new and I get 35lbs. of pressure when spinning the pump with the drill.

I was running the MOPAR filter from Year One. Did your lifters begin clattering very badly when you noticed the loss of oil pressure?

Maybe a cracked pick up boss...

just pull the valve covers off and I'm pretty sure you will see the problem.you can generate a small amount of oil pressure with a drill even if a lifter is out of its bore!

i had a fresh rebuild on a chevy . on way to work oil light came on but that evening all was good so put mech, gauge in next morning rounding same curve gauge hitt,s zero by time i got to work liffer,s were chattering,, got off work drove home no problem changer the filter it wasnt, a fram but 6 year,s later no problem