LeesZ
Junior Member
Almost two months ago, I was driving my dodge. Riding down the road, and noticed that my oil pressure gauge was slightly below the middle line. Mind you I was riding on 95 doing about 70. It's always about a tad above that middle line. Noticing this I got off on my regular exit, and instantly the oil pressure started dropping. All the way down to 0, and then slowly rising back up again, and then dropping back down all the way to zero once again. I proceed to turn my hazards on, and drive about 15 mph in a 35 zone. Finally got to my stoplight, to make my turn. Once again the Oil Pressure gauge dropped. But this time it dropped all the way to zero, but for about 2 mins straight. I never heard a knock or a tick when taking a left at the light. Mind you that my RPM Gauge is sprung backwards, so I supposed it was the Dash Cluster. Pulled into my school parking lot, and parked the truck. Went into school, and talked to a couple of friends about it, we all came to the conclusion that it was just my dash cluster. This being with proof of no knock / tick. Went outside to fire up the truck scared out of my mind. Instantly heard the lifter tap, you could easily tell that it was RPM dependent. I owe money on the truck so I let it sit for about 2 months, and did not drive it until "I fixed it".
TL;DR :
2 months ago driving down 95, noticed that my Oil Pressure was lower than usual. Got off on my exit, oil pressure dropped all the way to zero, and started fluctuating. Kept driving down the road. Went to take my left turn, and the oil pressure dropped all the way to zero for 2 mins straight. Never heard a knock or a tick. This is until I parked the truck and went to school for the night, came back out and hear a lifter tap.
Fast Forward to today.
2 Weeks ago I replaced the Oil Pump on the truck. This being an extraordinary event because ever since I bought this ******* truck I didn't even know how to change rotors and pads. Thank god for YouTube. Replacing the Oil Pump, I also replaced the Oil Sending Unit ( Oil Pressure Switch ). Put the whole truck back together, and fired her up. Obviously I heard the lifter tap, and was feeling more confident in the truck. From the amount of research that I've done. You can run the truck with a lifter tap for years, of course adding oil additive, and using thicker oil. With this I put insurance back on the truck, and got the tags reactivated. First off after adding new coolant I drove around until the truck warmed up, and stayed close to the work area. Making sure that I got all of the air bubbles out, and not overheating the block. Doing this everything was running fine, was constantly watching the Oil Pressure gauge was rocking it, and doing great temperature was fine. I was in love, returned the loaner car that a friend of mine was letting me borrow for the time, until I got back on my feet. Finally started driving back to the house. About 30 mins away from home I noticed it again. I noticed that the needle was slightly below the middle line. Getting off on my exit, and merging back onto a highway. I watched the oil pressure gauge drop, and then go back up. Just like 2 months ago whenever the truck dropped the lifter. The truck indicated that it ran dry for almost 4 mins. Yes I did drop out of over drive, and put her to the floor. I was tired of the truck, and all of it's problems. No the Oil Pressure gauge did not move one bit. Pulled over, and stopped at a gas station. Checked the dipstick, I was low on oil. Needed what I thought was half a quart, walked inside got some oil poured half a quart in. Fired the truck back up, and the oil indicator was back to normal. Truck drove home perfectly after that. Didn't notice a difference in the volume of the lifter tap, truck was performing perfectly. Pulled into Advanced Auto, the lifter tap was gone. Of course when I had a worker look at it, it didn't tap. Checked the dipstick again, we were still low about a quart. instead of adding 5W-20, I added Lucas Oil "Oil Stabilizer". After doing this the tap is completely gone, and the gauge seems to be keeping up, and staying steady. Pulled into the house, and now I'm here.
TL;DR
2 weeks ago replaced Oil pump, and sending unit in truck. Got back on 95, got off on my exit merging onto the highway. Oil pressure gauge acted the same way it did 2 months ago. This time it sat on zero for about 4 mins straight. No volume change in the lifter tap. Pulled over checked the dipstick, added a half quart of 5W-20. Pulled into advanced, and the lifter tap was gone. Still needed about a quart, Added Lucas Oil "Oil Stabilizer" haven't heard it since, and the truck seems fine.
Conclusion :
Went out, and bought a mechanical Oil Pressure Gauge. Also went out, and bought a 1/8th inch brass tee. The plan is that I'm going to tie in the Oil Sending Unit to one side of the Tee, and the line that connects to the Mechanical Oil Pressure Gauge. I feel as if it's actually just the dash cluster, this being because the dash cluster is one cluster. Mind you that the RPM gauge is sprung backwards causing problems / and or the switch it's self is just ****** up. If you have any advice please write below, thank you for you're time and reading!
TL;DR :
2 months ago driving down 95, noticed that my Oil Pressure was lower than usual. Got off on my exit, oil pressure dropped all the way to zero, and started fluctuating. Kept driving down the road. Went to take my left turn, and the oil pressure dropped all the way to zero for 2 mins straight. Never heard a knock or a tick. This is until I parked the truck and went to school for the night, came back out and hear a lifter tap.
Fast Forward to today.
2 Weeks ago I replaced the Oil Pump on the truck. This being an extraordinary event because ever since I bought this ******* truck I didn't even know how to change rotors and pads. Thank god for YouTube. Replacing the Oil Pump, I also replaced the Oil Sending Unit ( Oil Pressure Switch ). Put the whole truck back together, and fired her up. Obviously I heard the lifter tap, and was feeling more confident in the truck. From the amount of research that I've done. You can run the truck with a lifter tap for years, of course adding oil additive, and using thicker oil. With this I put insurance back on the truck, and got the tags reactivated. First off after adding new coolant I drove around until the truck warmed up, and stayed close to the work area. Making sure that I got all of the air bubbles out, and not overheating the block. Doing this everything was running fine, was constantly watching the Oil Pressure gauge was rocking it, and doing great temperature was fine. I was in love, returned the loaner car that a friend of mine was letting me borrow for the time, until I got back on my feet. Finally started driving back to the house. About 30 mins away from home I noticed it again. I noticed that the needle was slightly below the middle line. Getting off on my exit, and merging back onto a highway. I watched the oil pressure gauge drop, and then go back up. Just like 2 months ago whenever the truck dropped the lifter. The truck indicated that it ran dry for almost 4 mins. Yes I did drop out of over drive, and put her to the floor. I was tired of the truck, and all of it's problems. No the Oil Pressure gauge did not move one bit. Pulled over, and stopped at a gas station. Checked the dipstick, I was low on oil. Needed what I thought was half a quart, walked inside got some oil poured half a quart in. Fired the truck back up, and the oil indicator was back to normal. Truck drove home perfectly after that. Didn't notice a difference in the volume of the lifter tap, truck was performing perfectly. Pulled into Advanced Auto, the lifter tap was gone. Of course when I had a worker look at it, it didn't tap. Checked the dipstick again, we were still low about a quart. instead of adding 5W-20, I added Lucas Oil "Oil Stabilizer". After doing this the tap is completely gone, and the gauge seems to be keeping up, and staying steady. Pulled into the house, and now I'm here.
TL;DR
2 weeks ago replaced Oil pump, and sending unit in truck. Got back on 95, got off on my exit merging onto the highway. Oil pressure gauge acted the same way it did 2 months ago. This time it sat on zero for about 4 mins straight. No volume change in the lifter tap. Pulled over checked the dipstick, added a half quart of 5W-20. Pulled into advanced, and the lifter tap was gone. Still needed about a quart, Added Lucas Oil "Oil Stabilizer" haven't heard it since, and the truck seems fine.
Conclusion :
Went out, and bought a mechanical Oil Pressure Gauge. Also went out, and bought a 1/8th inch brass tee. The plan is that I'm going to tie in the Oil Sending Unit to one side of the Tee, and the line that connects to the Mechanical Oil Pressure Gauge. I feel as if it's actually just the dash cluster, this being because the dash cluster is one cluster. Mind you that the RPM gauge is sprung backwards causing problems / and or the switch it's self is just ****** up. If you have any advice please write below, thank you for you're time and reading!