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 ?
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 ?