[NW Hunter]

I have a '95 Ram 1500 5sp. In '04, the engine blew at about 125k. Just minutes to the engine blowing, I noticed the oil gauge drop to 0 and then rebound several times to 40+. I was told by the stealership when it was towed in that the screen was clogged with garbage and that it blocked the pump, thus blowing the engine. It almost completely devoured itself from the inside. I thought at that time it was because I take the train to and from work everyday, trying to take care of the environment and saving $$$, so it sat for days without having to take it anywhere. I had to have a complete new engine put in with as little as possible from the previous one stuck on it. It is now at approximately 145k and while I was hunting this last weekend the gauge started doing it again. I noticed while limping home I could keep the pressure up by staying in the high end of 4th, but by the time I got home it had to be in the high end of 3rd. After giving some major thought on what the common factors were in the engine blowing the last time and what was going on now, I have come to the conclusion that it is one of the following; the oil place that I take it to, the oil place is not changing the oil filter like they say they are, it is the proprietary oil drain plug that the oil place put in it (Stupid of me to let them sell me on that one, I know), or the stealership didn't put in a crate engine like I asked and used as much as they could scavenge off of the blown engine. I need to get the thing in to a shop, but am a little leary at this point.
I have been reading up on this problem on other sites, but need some input from others that have had this problem and what the cause is. Some posts suggest that it could be the oil filter, the gauge, sound system, and other things that seem a bit more remote or even laughable.
Any help I could get from everyone here would be appreciated.

:help:

 

[01_OffRoad]

Moving this to "General Discussion" for better response.

 

[01_OffRoad]

If it's the oil filter not being changed by the place your taking it, they're responsible for ALL cost infered from your new engine. You'll have to take them to court for it (at least in TX you do), but it's worth it if your talking about several thousand dollars worth of motor.

If it's a stealership NOT putting a "crate motor" in, I'd take them to court as well. Same thing goes for them. If you paid for a crate motor, and you got a rebuilt POS, I'd have some real issues with that.... I'm assuming that when you went with the 'crate motor' it came with a new oil pump?

Oh, and start changing your own oil. That way you know it's been done right.

 

[NW Hunter]

After heavy thinking about it yesterday and last night, the only thing that it could be is the oil place and that drain plug of theirs. It is designed to vacuum the oil out so that they can get you in and out quicker. It has caused what I call a "black hatch" effect in the oil pan. The plug will allow them to vacuum out the oil, but it leaves all the normally accumulated sludge in the bottom until it creates a black hatch over the screen, clogs your oil pump, and then *BOOM*, time for a new motor.
They are going to have to pay for a couple of hunting/fishing trips gone bad because of the last motor blowing and now this one. :VHOT: Going to have to take them to court here in Oregon because I know that this is not going to get resolved when I slap them with a demand letter for 25k+. I think this monumental screw up on their part may just pay for a new truck! I will keep everyone posted. I am taking it to the stealership today with specific instructions on how I need things done for the lawsuit. Good thing I work for a law firm, I guess.

Lesson learned: Don't let anyone put anything on your truck unless you know what it is going to do for you, not for them.

 

[chizzle1]

Just an FYI while we are discussing quick service stations:
I was told by the dealer I bought my wife's Durango at that I can perform the services on her engine & tranny, without voiding the warranty, as long as I keep the reciepts of fluids used and a log book of when and what I service.
I just thought I'd pass this along incase someone is paying for oil changes due to their warranty.

edit: and if you don't want to change the oil yourself pay the extra $$$ to take it someplace that will do it right.

 

[Al13]

Al13

I was having the same problem with my 97 1500 on two occasions. Both times i was traveling on vacation. first time I replaced the oil pump and also cleaned out the plugged pick up tube. It was fine until about a year later when the same thing happened. I couldn't go any further and my buddy brought me a new pump. Luckily we only made it about 30 miles down the road. while we changed it in the rest area parking lot we noticed that the pick up tube was clogged again. there is a baffle that partially covers the scren and does not allow the junk to fall back to the bottom of the pan. we cut the baffle away and havent had a problem for over two years now. I also have added a little more pressure by doing this. i hope this info helps. Good luck.
Al13

 

[NW Hunter]

I will look into the baffle the next time I change my oil. I took it into the dealership that put the motor in when it blew. After telling them everything that happened prior to the last time and what was happening now, they charged me two hours of labor (almost $200) to take a look at it and tell me what was going on. If there was a problem they would call, blah, blah, blah.
I got the call the next afternoon that the Oil Pressure Sending Unit was the only thing that was wrong with it. They didn't have to drop the oil pan or anything as I asked them to, so they replaced the unit, and the oil filler cap which was missing (I think that one was my fault) and just charged me for the labor. So, $200 later, and after running it for about a week or so, it is running just fine.
It is amazing the strange symptoms that this truck gives when there is something wrong with it. It almost has as much personality as my '55 Buick did. Thanks for all the input everyone!

 

[AndrewGS]

It's not the dealer or the oil changer's fault, it's Chrysler's. Do a Google for "dodge" and "sludge" and see the results.