I started my PA today for the first time in many years. I ran it for about 20 seconds and no oil pressure showed on the gauge, so I shut it down. I just put in fresh 30W. Any thoughts?
I removed the flex line for the gauge, and it was clear. I then cranked the engine and no oil came out. The oil pump on this engine is driven directly off the cam, and so it can't be spun with a drill. I would think that an oil pump would be self-priming?
When my line to the pressure gauge clogged up, it was not the flex line, it was the hard line between the gauge and the engine compartment. That said, since no oil came out when you cranked the engine with the flex line off, I think you've removed the gauge from consideration.
At the moment I'm at a loss to suggest something else that is easy to check. If it ran well with proper pressure when parked and nothings been done to it since there aren't a lot of obvious items to check. I guess I'd consider pulling the pan and seeing if something built a nest in there and is clogging the pickup.
The pump actually lost its prime. I packed it with grease, restarted the car and presto, 40 pounds of oil pressure.
http://youtu.be/aYMAK_sQB1E
Great news, good job, thanks for the followup.