I am new to this forum i just bought my first vehicle a 1989 dodge dakota 3.9L 2wd and i am having a problem with oil pressure it will have some when its cold but once it warms up it has no pressure it has black oil so im going to change it do you think that will help with the pressure if not what will

 

I just went through this on an '88.

In order:

Go ahead and change the oil. I'm thinking 'low oil pressure' was why the truck was up for sale in the first place, but hey, you might get lucky.

Check the oil level when the needle zeros. If it's normal, the next step is to check the sender. If the level is very low, pull a rocker cover and make sure oil isn't being retained in the rocker covers. This happens sometimes on high-mileage engines. The oil return galleries can get clogged (or partially so) and prevent oil from flowing back to the pan quickly enough. I seriously doubt that's what's happened here, but checking it is easy to do, costs nothing, and might avoid having to do further diagnosis. It happened to me once on a Ford 302.

If the oil level is normal when the needle zeros, the next step is to make sure the problem isn't a gauge or sender. Go buy or borrow an aftermarket mechanical oil-pressure gauge and hook it to the sender port near the back of the engine.

If the aftermarket gauge shows low oil pressure also, the next step is to replace the oil pump. They're not very expensive and it replacing it isn't difficult - just kind of labor-intensive. Get a new pickup tube, too - it's cheap insurance. Incidentally, the oil pump is what it turned out to be in my '88.

If none of this fixes it, the problem is most likely excessive clearance in the bearings - time for major repairs.

 

well i haven't done any thing but read things on here some people said the oil sending unit could be the problem or it could be the pump or maybe the oil well what should i do

 

Did you read anything that xaenon posted? He told you what to do!!!

 

where can i borrow the gauge from

 

See if any of your friends have one; if not, you may have to buy one from Autozone or Pep Boys or something. Bear in mind you don't need an expensive one, a cheapie will do. I think they run about $18 to $20. You could also just swap out the sender unit and check the factory dashboard gauge. Personally, I prefer the mechanical ones myself, mostly because most OEM setups ......well, suck.

 

i think i will just get a sender unit for now and see

 

Good luck, I hope it's just the sender gone bad.

 

yeah me too

 

can somebody put a pic of a the sender on here