No Engine Oil in Head After Oil Change.

Ouch! Even thinking about this hurts!

GA. My first thought.

thank you for your response. will have it checked out ASAP.

when the gasket was installed I observed one side was blue with some white markings running along the gasket. the other side of the gasket was grey n rough with no markings. the smooth side with the markings was installed facing upwards. (to the engine head) rough side on the block. correct way or wrong? if correct any other possibility for no oil

Do you still have the old head gasket? Hopefully you do. Being you done the work yourself, it's time to cut your loses and possible engine replacement, you need to pull the head again. Compare the head gasket to the old one, ( if you still have it). Lay the "new" you installed back on the block and check the hole aliments. The oil supply ports are usually about 1/4" diameter, water jackets are much larger and corrode. And the oil return paths are open to the bottom of the pan. The oil supply ports should be completely open through the gasket. On some engines some water jackets maybe covered (on purpose) by the head gasket and why its paramount to compare the new gasket with the old ones.

Good luck and let us know the out come.

GA

Well said. I would guess you are right....

But it could even be for a different model/version of the same engine, as manufacturers do not redesign an engine from front to back, just to move an oil supply a few centimeters for some reason......so the gasket may even be not made for that version of that engine......similar but not exactly right!!

A typical error of the modern so called mechanic!! If its not fixable electronically, they have problems with real mechanical work!!

Each gasket hole needs to be checked MOST carefully, always, with ANY engine, with the block or head.....sometimes even both for safety, though I cannot remember the reason for saying that anymore.....it may have been a wrong head at some point in time or similar!!! But long ago!!

I forgot to mention the following:-

This is one of the reasons why after major work, its NOT a good idea to start the engine, but to remove the plugs (glow plugs on a Diesel), disallow fuel pump and ignition, turn the engine over on the starter....

(in fact I actually turn it over by hand till I see oil in all the right places, but that may be difficult if the engine has been re-bored! It takes a long time by hand, but as long as engine oil was used on all parts, it will not cause any damage!),

Better safe than sorry!!

Gave a GA, add one thought - compare holes in gasket to the holes in the block, possibly wrong gasket or mis-manufactured. Follow oiling path from block to head, find where it is blocked. JHF

Get new mechanics!

the strainer is clear. the gasket seems to be ok. concerned about the oil sensor switch also. oil reaches filter and sensor but the difficulty is at tht point. getting to the head. bearing in mind that the tiny oil passages for the head had been manually cleared. yesterday the main mechanic told me tht he toggled with the mentioned switch and wow there was a sudden spray of oil. he thought the problem was solved. sadly to say quoting him "some oil only reached tensioner".

"bearing in mind that the tiny oil passages for the head had been manually cleared."

If the mechanic(s) cleaned the oil ports at the top of the engine where did all of the loosened particles go? If they did not use a vacuum to do the cleaning than more than likely, most of it went further down into the engine oil galley passages causing restriction(s) and/or obstruction(s).

A bad oil filter can cause pressure issues and prevent adequate oil pressure from reaching remote areas of the engine.

Most oil pump assemblies have a pressure relief valve that can become obstructed or stuck. If stuck in the open position, it will severely lower the oil pressure available to the oil galley resulting in no or little oil to the upper engine.

There is also a very high possibility that the wrong head gasket has been installed on the engine. There are multiple different, designs of engines in the same model and year in which the oil galley passages and ports from the head to the block are configured differently. I have seen more than one instance wherein a mechanic was provided the wrong gasket set by the parts store. In some cases the numbers on the parts box was correct however the gaskets or seals inside the box were not correct.

It is critical that the mechanic doing the work fully understands which engine they are working on and what is correct for that particular engine.

On some vehicles it is very possible to get the gasket on backwards. The head has an oil port that must match to the gasket and head. I would have the mechanics remove the head and inspect the gasket placement. If it is on backwards, they are responsible for all of the expenses incurred after the head was replaced.

I've seen this problem before. Several others here have mentioned an improperly installed head gasket. I tend to agree with them. The incorrectly installed head gasket are blocking the oil ports, thus preventing oil from reaching the top end.

Yes, have the vehicle TOWED back to the shop that screwed up your engine.

You do know why there's such a thing as "Grease Monkeys" don't you? LOL

oil reaches the top last. This is also where you can see it. But are u shure oil is reaching to crank and pistons which is not visibal? is oil reached filter? (if filter is dry no oil is reched)

what is oil pressure ? 0 ? low ? irratic? (air in oil) in such case even do not try now to start unless the issue is sorted out. You willl end up in engine sizure - costly repaires or even permenant damage to the engine.

oil pump may be dried out wet geares seals with casing and creat sucetion a dry gears will not. Priming with oil may help.

Prime the engine with external pump using oil from pan if oil reaches top now there is no blockages and the oil pump also is primed in this process.

also check for cracks/ pin holes /hardened or cut "o" rings & gasket / lose capscrews in suction tube from where pump may scuk air instead of oil.

Why the head gsket needed replacement? how was the oil? high sludge in oil may creat blockages; especially in narrow pasages / orifices etc. if engine was not in opertion for long before replacement of gsket the probbilty of such blockage is high.

Let us know the out come for our knowledge once resolvedVy

thank you. quite informative. oil reaches filter then at one point a small amount reached the tensioner but the cams were dry/restricted from oil. (pin holes to cams are clear. (no blockages there) Head gasket was replaced because over heated. However the prob was a clogged up radiator.

In a not well maintained engine, there's a lot of sludge on various places, especially if oil used is not very good at keeping it in dispersion, and is ready to clog oil filter and tight passages if disturbed. Now I can't understand "dry". At assembly everything should have been oiled, to survive the time oil fills-up filter and reaches them. Oil 'em, disable ignition, pull plugs out and manually crank untill you see the oil coming out. It may take longer than normal, it is to be expected in an overhawl. I also believe (hope) you replaced oil filter after flushing even if new. I assume gasket is applied correctly and is of the EXACT model. I've seen funny differences on gaskets of similar models like missing or slightly misplaced holes for the glory of planned obsolescence etc, but I assume a mechanic has checked all that before assembly, way too basic to miss. S.M.

After flushing out the engine the oil passages may be plugged. If the head gasket change doesn't work

you may have to clean oil passages and check main and rod bearings.

Consider the possibility that your oil pickup tube is bent. This causes the symptoms you have described and should be checked. It's an easy fix.

You already have many valet responses and I want to add one. You did not tell if the Engine actually started after the repair. The oil pump and distributor run on the same gear with a slot for the distributor and a slot on the other side for the oil pump. You mention in one post that a new oil pump were fitted, if care were not taken to home the shaft properly into the slot and the bolts were tied down that gear will be broken and there will be no drive to the pump. Another warning if the repair shop installed the wrong gasket or the wrong way round, you will be a fool to trust any thing else they did. Did they use the right torque settings for the head bolts, did they use a torque wrench, did they use the right length bolts on the correct places where they were removed , etc, etc. If the engine did not start yet, did they install the camshaft correct and the camshaft timing, those engines break the valves if the camshaft timing is out. Find another shop and let them pay for a total repair.

Hi guys I'm so relieved. Car is up n running. Ok the fix was quite simple. The head was removed n placed on the table. A solvent called I think S40. Sum similar to Wd40 was used to flush out each oil hole in the head. Nun left out. Then it was air flushed n re installed. That was the magic. Thanks guys. I shared all responses from u guys with my mechanics. I'm sure these post will be most helpful to someone else