i put a tee in the block and have the mechanical hooked to the side and the stock sending unit on top of it. i will try to get a pic of it tomorrow in the day light. we mounted the gauge right behind where the aux cigarette lighter is. then we found what dodge calls the ash tray light that we never knew was there so i hooked into it for the gauge light so it works off the dimmer. i thought about getting a pillar pod for it but i like that i can see it while shes driving. on the plus side since the engine has clearly been out before maybe it's been changed and doesn't have as many miles as the truck shows

 

I've been down this same road on my Dakota, once you pull out the front axle housing you'll have plenty off room to get the pan off,but, I would also suggest ( since you'll be staring at the crank and rods) is to put a new set of standard size crank and rod bearings in also, they are cheap, and will tighten up the clearance to get your oil pressure back to decent levels, because there's a chance that a new oil pump alone wont be enough, Im sure your pickup screen will be clogged also, I know mine was..

 

ok so i pulled the front drive shaft and dropped the front axle down but left the half shafts still in place. it looeds like i should have been able to slip the pan out i unbolted the pan and it hits the rack and pinion almost right away so it looks like no matter what the engine still needs to be lifted.i'd say it has to go up 3-4 inches. the fsm i found is for a 02 so either you don't need to lift it on a 02 or maybe they forgot a step. either way i'm freezing so i quit for the night.

kinda hard to get a clear pic but here is how i hooked up both gauges the tee has a male thread on the bottom and the other 2 are female.
<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/user/jpryor27/media/DSCN0182.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k220/jpryor27/DSCN0182.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSCN0182.jpg"/></a>

 

at this point it looks like were gonna have to cancel our trip which sucks because i've been searching the entire country for the bed we were going to get.i'm so frustrated i'm ready to just junk the durango. today i took the distributor cap and oil sending unit off then unbolted the engine at the bolt that mounts the the engine side to the rubber mount. i am only able to jack the engine up about 3/4 of an inch before the trans dip stick is wedged against the firewall on the passenger side and i can't tell whats hitting on the drivers side. either way it doesn't look like there is anywhere near enough room for the pan to clear the rack still. i'm ready to just give up after spending 500 in parts over the past 2 weeks just to get it ready for the this trip. and this was the only time i can go untill next winter. can anyone point out what i'm doing wrong before i go crazy

 

The sending units are rather notorious for being flaky..... It's cheap, and easy, so, just replace it. Problem will likely go away.

 

after i got done throwing my tools around i dropped the rack and got the pan off. the pick up hardly anything in the pan but the pick up screen was almost completely clogged. new problem i bought a new melling pump part number m-72 and the pick up tube part number 200s right away i noticed the screen is alot smaller the new one is 2 1/8 acrossed and the stock one is about 2 3/4 so i went back to advanceds webpage and every review says it doesn't fit and hits the pan. i haven't been able to find an other parts stores that have a different brand in stock. what do you guys thing about just cleaning the stock screen real good and reuseing it? i would like to get this done tonight.
on a better note the parts truck is being dropped off in the morning. turns out it's an 01 not a 00 like the guy thought. it has the overhead thing with the mileage in it. our doesn't because we have the sunroof so i'm thinking maybe i can take just the screen out of the overhead extend the wires and mount it somewhere else.

 

brake cleaner and air hose, that's how I cleaned my pickup screen, looked pretty good after that, so I ended up reusing it..

 

got it all back together and so far it has higher pressure then it ever has for us. it has a little over 60 psi cold didn't run it long enough to warm it up to see what it drops to at normal temp. i ended up just cleaning the screen very good. i also changer the cap and rotor since i had them off to raise the engine and i tried changing the pcv but advanced sold me the wrong one so i'll pick 1 up before we leave. i did pick up a actual mopar oil filter i think well drive it till tuesday then maybe change the filter again just in case theres any more crud getting pumped thru the system
the parts truck was dropped off today and now i'm thinking about fixing it. the guy over reved it and it spit a cam follower thru the valve cover and cracked the head

 

The heads have a 50/50 chance of being cracked anyway, so I'm told by the trusted speed shop that did my valve work recently. Apparently 5.9 heads can just crack as years and miles pass.

 

we got to drive it around today. from a cold start we had almost 70 psi and once it was good and warm it settled in at 25 psi at idle and 50 psi by 1500 rpm. so i think it's good to go
heres what my screen looked like

<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/user/jpryor27/media/DSCN0183.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k220/jpryor27/DSCN0183.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSCN0183.jpg"/></a>