need some help diagnosing what the problem is .

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NStruck

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318
Hi
I have 1996 1500 318 engine 4x4 short box 3"lift with 154000km ( 98000 miles)

I have had the truck for 3 1/2 years and it has always run very well .

I have a couple odd things happening with the engine.

1st - last year i noticed that occasionally the oil light would flicker when i shifted into reverse , and occasionally when i was stopped at a stop light . my thought originally was that it was the oil pressure sending unit and I picked one up at NAPA but have yet to get around to installing it .

i was reading in another forum about another car and a thread mentioned the same thing and in that case everyone was saying that it was an indication that the rod bearing was shot and not pushing enough oil at low rpms .

2nd - I suspect that I may also have a bad head gasket as my oil seems a bit frothy sometimes when i check the level , not always and not much and not gooey just frothy . .

the coolant does not seem to have any oil in it .
and the truck is not over heating . and there is no white smoke from the exhaust .

I don't put a lot of miles on the truck maybe 5k or 6k a year , and i have read that the 318 engine is prone to condensation build up in engines that don't get run often and that this will result in slightly frothy oil . Is this true and a more likely culprit than an head gasket ?


what I am wondering is , is my engine cooked ? it starts and runs fine , no knocks . It leaks some oil but it is a 20 year old engine .

I would like to keep the truck as it runs very good and I know its quirks and what not . Plus i would rather not buy someone else s problems .

I won't be able to get around to fixing things for anther few weeks , but it has been like this for over a year or more so hopefully another couple weeks won't hurt .

any ideas what is going on and what i will need to do to fix it ?
 

Yeret

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Condensation buildup on the dipstick is far from an uncommon thing in a vehicle that sits, especially in the Winter. Both my sister's and dad's Expeditions would have this frothy stuff on the oil cap and dipstick during Winter since they didn't get much for drive time at the time due to mechanical issues (LOL, Ford).

You might want to consider renting an oil pressure tester and stick it in place of the oil sender. I'm not sure what the hot oil pressure at idle should be. It's not much, certainly not the 35 lbs that the gauge would have you believe. Maybe someone else here can chime in on what that should be?

And unfortunately, low oil pressure, especially if it only occurs at idle, could well be bad bearings. Oil pressure is created by clearance (or rather, lack thereof) between the bearings and connecting rods/main caps. If the bearings are healthy, oil has to fight it's way through and as a result of the pump continuously pushing volume behind it, pressure is generated and the oil will be forced throughout the engine. As the bearings wear, oil passes through easier and results in less pressure and as a result, the oil loses momentum and if the pressure drops too low, the oil may flat out not even circulate through the engine which will ultimately result in something breaking. Loudly. And messily.
 
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jawzs2

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Good suggestion to run a manual oil pressure test.

It's not uncommon for these to clog the oil pickup screen in the oil pan.
 

Yeret

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^ Good point on the oil pickup. That seems a somewhat common issue on these engines, especially if they don't get regular oil changes. And from what I've read/experienced, the Magnum engines are dirty. Hell, I've had my block's oil passages completely flushed and changed the oil several times within 2,000 miles after I had rings/bearings installed and my oil is still basically black at 3,000 miles. Well, maybe just dark brown but close enough, LOL.
 
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NStruck

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thanks guys, you input is appreciated . i will try dropping the pan and cleaning the oil pick up . it will have to wait till next weekend but i think i will start there as that is te cheapest and easiest thing to do , plus i am a few hundred kms over due on an oil change any way so might as well do it all at once . iwill post back with results .
 
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NStruck

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just following up on this . I thought I was going to be able to address this right away but it ended up taking almost 2 months to get to it .
Last night I swapped out the oil pressure sensor switch . It actually was not that bad a thing to do . I was anticipating a 2 hour fight with the thing , which is partly why i delayed messing with it so much .
when you look at where it is , it looks like it will be a night mare , but you can reach around on the passenger side , under all the wires and hoses and feel it . my clip was not brittle and i was able to pop it off easily .
I did buy the special socket from napa and I think that helped a lot . that fit over the unit easily and i just spun it out .
getting it back in started out to be a pain . Going by feel , i was trying to put it in the wrong spot , and the treads would just not catch . Turns out i was trying to spin it into the wrong spot . There are 3 spots in the same area that going by feel , feel like the right spot . once i got the correct spot it spun right back in again .
I was suppressed it only took about 20 min start to finish .

The old one was rusted on the bottom and looked to have seen better days .

when i start it up I have good pressure . once it gets hot , it does drop off again , but does not drop out of the safe zone . I can't honestly remember what it would do when hot prior to noticing the red light . so I don't know if it is normal or not .
at the leas , it is not dropping down to the red zone , and not fluttering around at idol . and the oil light is not fleshing at idol.
I still may have other issues like a clogged pick up , or i could have bearings that are starting to wear .
I just had the oil changed , and the mechanic did not mention anything about metal in the oil , but he may not have been looking for it . the oil in it now is 10w30 .
It is still probably a good idea to drop the pan and clean everything out . but that will likely take me another month or so . to get to .

thanks for all the info ppl gave , it was helpful , and i thought i should post a follow up in case anyone else is reading this thread with a similar problem .
 
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