My oil pressure lately acording to the gage has been low, and lately ive been checking the oil more frequently to make sure its not low and it keeps coming up showing that its where its supposed to be on the stick, and i keep noticing that the oil pressure is getting lower over time, a while back (few weeks) at idle my oil pressure would be just a little above the low line, now lately its on the line and only rises when the throttle is applied and dosnt even point strait to the middle anymore,
Now when i first bought the truck the oil pressure at idle would be in between the low line and the middle line and whenever i gave it enouph gas it would go above the middle line and it would also move around pretty fast too like it had a fast responce,
Whats the deal with it, I want to know whats goin on and how to fix it

 

I personaly think its the oil pump but i still want to know what other people think
and how hard it is to replace if thats what it is

 

Its normal for older engines to drop oil pressure. The lines can get clogged. The oil guage can get clogged. Sometimes replacing the oil pressure sensor helps.

 

Yea but this morning it just hit 128,000 miles and that is low miles for an 87 compared to many others,
but what lines in specific are you talking about, in the engine?
and how does the gauge get clogged?, i thought it just measured the pressure unless its got its own line system, and how hard is it to replace? or would it have to go to the shop

and how can you clean the system out if it is a little clogged?

 

Does anyone have an anser for me, or is this topic completely unknown to everyone?

 

How can i get my oil pressure up to par?, (in other words where it should be)

 

Have you done any work since Crazy suggested you change the oil pressure sensor?

Look up how to change it either in the factory service manual or autozone repair guides, or the databases referenced in the FAQ. Also, if you do read the FSM, there are usually troubleshooting guides under the respective sections for possible solutions to problems. I know there is not a link to one here, but maybe someone knows where you can get one. It will be your best friend. And help you out a lot since many of us drive Magnum engines. And even though it isn't the best, a Haynes manual is better than nothing.

I would have to say that most of us drive Dakotas with Magnum engines, I personally don't know as much about the pre-Magnum Dakotas as I do about the Magnum.

 

I don't think Crazy means the gauge literally gets clogged with oil and sludge. Over time as the engine gets older, depending on maintenance schedule, the sludge builds up perhaps on the pickup screen in the pan (as mine did) and blocks proper oil flow to the rest of the engine including the oil pressure sending unit. Which in turn gives a low oil pressure reading. Sometimes by replacing the sending unit you will get a true reading and it will appear that the oil pressure has gone up when in actuality it was where it was supposed to be all the time but, you had a bad sending unit. If you have replaced the oil pressure sending unit and the oil pressure is still low, and the oil level is good, you may have the aforementioned clogged screen or as was also mentioned in this thread, a bad oil pump. From my experience, if you are taking the oil pan off to clean the screen and or the pickup tube from sludge, you might as well replace the oil pump. It's not that expensive and you've done all that work to get to it anyway. Just my opinion.

 

There are tons of oil passages/ lines through out the engine. Some send the oil to the piston area some send it to the rockers and lifters. Some send it to the timing chain area. It all can start to get build up and lower the pressures. And one passage to the sending unit. The sending unit it self can get clogged up.The only way to fully clean the engine passages out is a rebuild and take to to someone who can do a thorough cleaning. For a temp fix try some oil cleaner. Seafoam might be a good start.

 

I don't trust stock engine gauges at all. Hook up a mechanical gauge and verify there's an actual problem.