I have a 99 ram with a 5.2 I just did a oil change and know any time I go over 3000 rpm my oil pressure gauge goes to 0 and I get I ticking sound in the motor. If I shut the truck off and restart it back to normal and there is no ticking
I had a similar thing happen with a '97 Dodge I have. The truck has a lot of miles on the original engine (263,000). Last year it started losing oil pressure on acceleration. In the mornings the oil pressure would take forever to come up from a cold start. And yes, it would make noise at times. I figured I had gotten good usage out of it and was about to do something drastic until I got to thinking about why and how it could run perfect and have no oil pressure, but not use oil. I don't do internal engine work, so I got a local shop to replace the oil pump and screen. They didn't want to do it, historically that didn't fix an old high mileage engine and they would get the blame for it.
Long story short: The fix is in and the engine is running as near perfect as one can run. The screen on the pickup tube was clogged up to the point it couldn't pull any volume at speed. At idle it was OK. Now it holds 30 PSI or better at idle and at speed around 45 to 50PSI with no engine noise. I am hoping damage wasn't done, but for now we are driving it daily and doing fine. Cost to have it done wasn't bad, about $250.
+1 on the plugged pickup screen. Some oils are parafin based and will leave a wax residue in the engine when they break down. This will be noticed by a large sludge deposit inside the valve covers and oil pan. When you change your oil with a detergent based oil, it will break down SOME of that sludge and it can collect in the screen of the oil pump.
A quick way to tell is to pop off a valve cover and look for sludge formation on the inside. If it is present, just cleaning out the pickup screen won't cut it. You will need to pull both valve covers plus the oil pan and clean them real well. Clean out the pickup screen and run some cleaner through your oil (I have used a quart of diesel mixed with 4 quarts of oil). Don't drive it anywhere, just idle it in the driveway for about 10 minutes or so while keeping an eye on your oil pressure. Then replace the oil and filter (note: if sludge buildup was real bad, you may have to clean the pickup screen again).
As for preventing this from happening again, check the oil you use and make sure it isn't parafin based. Parafin based oils offer better lubricating properties than naptha based oil but if the oil isn't changed religiously, this is the result.
Hi,
I am the tech director at FRAM. We have seen many trucks and Jeeps of mid to late 90's with plugged or partially plugged oil pump pickup screens. You need to drop the oil pan to replace it but the part is not expensive. I can post or email repair instructions if you like.
Just email me at jay.buckley@framgrp.com
Clogged screen! Stop using the small oil filters also. Use a Fram PH8A(or equivalent). It's double the size of the one you have. More oil volume and better filtering. At some point Chrysler switched to the smaller filters to save a buck on production costs. Small blocks have used the PH8A style since their inception.
Wow, you should feel special! Even got the Tech Director from Fram involved. I love to see some of the vendor and product reps show up on forums from time to time. It lets you know they are actually listening.
I wouldn't assume parrafin buildup right away. Was the drain plug clean when you pulled it? I don't even think any modern oils still have parrafin in them do they? Diesel is the only thing I can think of. For your sake I hope it is wax, but experience says its dirt/crud or metal. Also take your last filter and cut it open and inspect.
Mixing diesel with oil isn't an idea I would recommend either. Even a few minutes with thinned out oil can ruin something.
The plug was clean. I took the filter apart there was a little metal in it the filter only had 200 miles on it
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